Better Treatment
Green Bay Packaging uses atmospheric plasma surface treating to increase folder/gluer productivity.
August 2009 by Tom Polischuk
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Benefits all around
According to Plant Engineering Manager Tom Vogel, the results have been impressive. "Previously, folder/gluer press speeds were limited by glue application speed and dwell time. With atmospheric plasma surface treatment, press speeds can be significantly increased while maintaining and even improving quality," he states.
Kelley concurs. "The most noteworthy benefit provided with the Enercon air plasma system is a quality glue bond on the polycoated folding cartons at increased run speed on our folder/gluers." In addition to increased production speeds and stronger glue flaps, the company has eliminated mechanical preparations of the flaps (such as skiving) and can use coldset adhesives rather than hot-melt. Coldset is generally less expensive and allows for quicker makereadies.
Addressing variations
Folding carton designs continually evolve, and materials including polycoated, polybacked, virgin kraft board, specially coated materials, UV lacquered surfaces, and recyclable materials can exhibit varied receptivity to glue bonding. For Green Bay Packaging, the use of an atmospheric plasma treater has significantly reduced bonding issues due to material variations.
The Dyne-A-Mite IT Elite also allows the company to respond to varying production needs. The portable system's locking wheels allow the system to be moved between various folders/gluers as the need arises. With four treatment heads available, the system can provide treatment to multiple glue flaps on a single folding carton configuration.
According to Kelley, Green Bay Packaging experienced very few problems with the implementation of the new surface-treating equipment. "The system works well on all paperboard substrates we use," he adds.
Vogel also says that the Dyne-A-Mite IT Elite is very easy to use with a PLC-based touch screen for controlling each treatment head, along with a Plasma Integrity Monitoring system that provides enhanced ability to troubleshoot should any problems arise.
"By adding atmospheric plasma treatment we have been able to reduce our lead times," Kelley says. "More importantly, we have confidence that we will always have a good glue bond at increased gluer speeds."
Green Bay Packaging Inc.'s investment in state-of-the-art surface treating technology has provided benefits to its own productivity, along with that of its customers pP
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Package Printing, Second Edition