OUR MANUFACTURING PROCESS
CORRUGATION
This is the basic process that gives us the corrugated
board. It is made on a long series of linked machines called a corrugating
line. The corrugating medium, which will become the wavy middle
layer in the typical three-layer corrugated board “sandwich,”
is pre-heated and steamed so its temperature nearly reaches the
boiling point of water, 212ºF. This softens the natural ingredients
in the paperboard, making it easier to form into flutes.
The web, or long sheet of paper unwinding from
the roll, is drawn between a pair of gear-like cylinders called
corrugating rolls. This shapes the paper into a series of precise
waves. Glue is applied to the tips of these flutes on one side —
just the right amount, and at just the right places — and
the flute tips are pressed against a flat liner. This creates a
singleface web, a continuous sheet of flat paper with fluted paper
glued to it.
To make single wall corrugated board, the exposed
flutes of the singleface web have glue applied to them, and they’re
pressed against a second flat liner.
The continuous web of corrugated board is now
so stiff that it can’t be rolled up. Instead, it’s cut
into flat sheets, just the right size for making the boxes that
have been ordered. The sheets are then stacked and set aside so
the glue can dry properly.
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