The Cutting Edge of Corrugated

Published: October 01, 2002, By Pauline Covell, Editor of Converting Today

Corrugated 2002 closed its doors June 15 acclaimed by both exhibitors and visitors. With some of the most senior CEOs and chairmen of the world's top corrugating companies spotted purposefully treading its Parisian aisles, the show welcomed 8,414 visitors over six days at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Ctr. Attendees came from a record 107 countries.

Organizer Reed Exhibitions reports, “The overwhelming message from exhibitors was that Corrugated 2002 delivered the key global buyers, and more business was placed at the event than ever before.”

Innovations were all around. Bobst's impressive stand demonstrated the company's latest offering in automatic die-cutting of corrugated: the SPO 160-APR Matic Autoplaten Automatic. Sheets are fed in register whether they are of uneven length or laminated with an uneven overlap, says the co. The correction range is length ±4 mm (0.160 in.), and skew ±2 mm (0.080 in.). Excellent edge-to-cut register of ±0.3 mm (0.010 in.) is claimed. During the show the Dynaload prefeeder and SPO 160-APR Matic were running an ice cream pack in G flute with 180 gpm² coated liner, six up on an 800×1,200-mm sheet. The flexo four-color plus UV varnish post print was produced on a Masterflex 160-A Matic.

Introduced by Esko-Graphics, the Kongsberg DCM22 for digital converting can load and cut board automatically, directly from CAM software. “It is ideal for cutting and creasing preprinted sheets from different sources in close register, such as silk-screen prints, digital prints, and flexo prints,” says Tom Naess, Esko-Graphics' product manager of samplemaking and SRP.

Causing plenty of interest on the Aprion stand was the Shaldag SP, Aprion Digital's ink jet press for packaging. Sheets up to 10 m thick and 160 × 260 cm in size are fed automatically into the printing section, where they are printed by the MAGIC drop-on-demand piezo electric engine. Cyan, yellow, magenta, and black inks are used with the option of light cyan and light magenta for detail. Following printing, the sheets are dried and unloaded automatically.

Valco Cincinnati demonstrated a series of innovative gluing and glue line inspection systems. For example, the 900 Combi station — which was launched at the show — is a completely reversible, all-electric valve system. Interchangeable, it can glue both outside and inside (top down and bottom up) on both the tab and the fourth panel. The company's glue inspection system was demonstrated on a Martin 61 E at the Bobst stand. The CGS 40 gate sensor checks adhesive volume to ensure the proper amount of adhesive is present. It verifies adhesive integrity for positioning and length.

These are just a few examples of the exciting new developments offered at Corrugated 2002. For information on future events, contact Reed at +44 (0) 20 8910 7861.