Corrugated cardboard is lightweight and stable, making it a preferred choice for shipping and transport boxes. However, precisely folding it is challenging. «High restoring forces are at work, which can lead to fold breakage, inaccurate fold lines and tool wear», explains Milan Jiruška, Production and Technical Manager at Solpap, Czech packaging manufacturer that produces more than 15 million packaging items per year. «With this production volume, it is very important for us to minimize rejects and customer complaints due to inaccurate folding».
In spring 2023, Solpap contacts Kaletech, Robatech’s representative in the Czech Republic. «When Kaletech presented the PerfectFold liquid creaser, I knew immediately that this system could be a good fit for us», says Jiří Horák, Head of Sales at Solpap. PerfectFold applies the “SpeedUp” creasing fluid contact-free to the two fold lines of the cardboard using one application head each. The creasing fluid reduces the stiffness of the corrugated cardboard, which is why it can be folded precisely along the fold lines with little effort.
This allows the folding box machine to work at a higher production speed. The effort for setting up the folding tools is reduced. No fold breakages occur on the fold lines and gap variance and fishtailing are prevented. PerfectFold consists of a supply unit, two Sempre 30 jetting heads, the AS 50 pattern control and an external operating unit with touch panel positioned next to the production line control panel. The pump and buffer tank in the supply unit enable a changeover of the liquid containers on the fly. An I/P converter ensures that the correct amount of liquid is always applied to the fold lines despite changing production speeds.
