US-12617175-B2 - Apparatus and method for production of a two-ply paperboard panel

US12617175B2US 12617175 B2US12617175 B2US 12617175B2US-12617175-B2

Abstract

An apparatus for production of a two-ply paperboard panel is provided. The apparatus comprises a supply of top paperboard panel web. A flap-cutting die cut module receives the top paperboard panel web and cuts a pattern of flaps therein. A flap-forming die roll in juxtaposition with a flap-receiving pocket roll defines an interface therebetween through which the top paperboard panel web is received. An adhesive-application station applies adhesive to surfaces of flaps formed on the top paperboard panel web. A supply of bottom paperboard panel web is provided, which is joined to the top paperboard panel web at a web-merging station. A hold-down system holds the top and bottom paperboard panel webs together while applied adhesive sets or cures. A method for producing a two-ply paperboard panel is also disclosed.

Inventors

Gregory R. Kula
James Alan Cummings

Assignees

Star Board Materials, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230821

Claims (11)

1 . A method of fabricating a two-ply paperboard panel, the method comprising the steps of: running a first paperboard ply into a labyrinth defined by a rotating synchronized roll set comprised of a roll with raised nubs and a second roll with recessed pockets wherein spacer flaps are created as the nubs of one of the rolls of the roll set force through the first paperboard ply with the spacer flaps folded into the pockets of the second roll as the rolls mesh, and pulling the first paperboard ply with the formed spacer flaps from the roll set and adhering the spacer flaps to an inward-facing surface of a second paperboard ply, wherein the inward-facing surface of the second paperboard ply faces toward an inward-facing surface of the first paperboard ply, wherein the inward-facing surfaces of the first and second paperboard plies are disposed substantially parallel to one another, and wherein the first and second paperboard plies are offset from one another to create a two-ply only paperboard panel, wherein the formed spacer flaps are formed from only one of the two paperboard plies.
2 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the raised nubs and recessed pockets of the rolls are in the shape of a circle, hexagon, rectangle, triangle or other suitable shape sufficient to push the spacer flaps from the first paperboard ply.
3 . The method according to claim 2 wherein the raised nubs and recessed pockets have edges, and the edges of the raised nubs and recessed pockets are smoothed with a corner radius and polished to facilitate formation of the spacer flaps.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising employing a rotary die cut module upstream of the roll set and synchronized with the roll set to create cuts in the first paperboard ply to facilitate the nubs of one of the rolls of the roll set forming the spacer flaps into the pockets of the other roll of the roll set in a regularly spaced pattern.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising heating the second roll with recessed pockets of the roll set to facilitate forming of the spacer flaps.
6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the step of heating the second roll with recessed pockets comprises applying steam to the first paperboard ply as the first paperboard ply passes through the roll set.
7 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising adjusting pressure between the rolls of the roll set to facilitate forming of the spacer flaps created in the first paperboard ply as required by variable paper basis weights.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of pulling the first paperboard ply with the formed spacer flaps under tension from the roll set by a tension roll that is run at slight over speed to that of the rotating roll set with the first paperboard ply having a significant wrap around the tension roll.
9 . A method of fabricating a two-ply paperboard panel, the method comprising the steps of: running a first paperboard ply into a labyrinth defined by a rotating synchronized roll set comprised of a roll with raised nubs and a second roll with recessed pockets wherein spacer flaps are created as the nubs of one of the rolls of the roll set force through the first paperboard ply with such spacer flaps folded into the pockets of the second roll as the rolls mesh, pulling the first paperboard ply with the formed spacer flaps from the roll set and suitably adhering the spacer flaps to a second paperboard ply to create a two-ply paperboard panel; pulling the first paperboard ply with the formed spacer flaps under tension from the roll set by a tension roll that is run at slight over speed to that of the rotating roll set with the first paperboard ply having a significant wrap around the tension roll; and employing the tension roll as a backup roll with exposed spacer flaps emerging from the second roll having recessed pockets, further having adhesive applied by a glue roll as the first paperboard ply with the exposed spacer flaps passes through a gap between the backup roll and the glue roll.
10 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising the step of introducing the first paperboard ply with glue applied to the exposed spacer flaps to a second paperboard ply to form the two-ply paperboard panel as the spacer flaps with glue applied adhere to the second paperboard ply.
11 . The method according to claim 10 further comprising the step of curing the two-ply paperboard panel formed using heat and hold down pressure as the two-ply paperboard panel transits a curing section.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of the filing date of 22 Aug. 2022 of U.S. Ser. 63/399,890, the complete disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120, as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 17/885,648, filed 11 Aug. 2022, and presently pending, which, in turn claims priority of U.S. Ser. No. 16/690,780, filed 21 Nov. 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,440,284 B2, which, in turn, claimed priority of U.S. Ser. 62/770,323, filed 21 Nov. 2018, the complete disclosures of all of which are also hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates generally to panels fabricated from paper, paperboard and/or corrugated paperboard, and methods for making same. More particularly, the invention relates to panels fabricated from paperboard which have a configuration different from conventional three-layer corrugated paperboard panels, such as are used for constructing boxes, containers, displays and related shipping materials. The present disclosure pertains to an apparatus for manufacture of a two-ply paperboard panel. More particularly the panel is of variable thickness as determined by dimensions of one or more spacer flaps that are created by die cut or other means in one of a paperboard ply with such spacer flaps being expanded and glued to a second paperboard ply thereby acting as spacers to offset the two plies. This two-ply panel is useful primarily for a wide variety of packaging applications. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Corrugated paperboard is a ubiquitous material in the fields of packaging and display devices, chosen for its light weight, strength, relatively low cost compared to other materials, and recyclability. Because corrugated paperboard products may be produced and sold in quantities numbering in the millions, hundreds of millions or even billions, it has become recognized that reduction in the amount of material used, even a savings of just a fraction of a percent of the material required in a known paperboard product, can result in a substantial cost savings. Corrugated paperboard panel material, for example, is fabricated from at least two layers of flat linerboard material, each layer being fabricated from one or more plies of raw paper sheet material. Between any two adjacent layers of flat linerboard material is provided at least one layer of corrugated medium. It would be desirable to provide a paperboard panel product that provides performance sufficient to requirements in terms of strength, durability and versatility, while providing a substantial savings in terms of material cost. The two-ply paperboard panel the apparatus of the present disclosure is intended to produce is envisioned as an alternative to conventional corrugated board that is comprised of two outer layers of linerboard that are spaced apart to a desired thickness by a medium (paper) that is corrugated and glued to the inner surfaces of the linerboard panels. Corrugated board enjoys ubiquitous use in the packaging industry with primary application in manufacturing of boxes that are used to contain a myriad of products to protect them and contain them from field for agricultural products or manufacturing facilities for hard goods to the market place. Depending upon the use or application of the boxes, the corrugated board used to manufacture them must meet certain specifications. These specifications pertain to the ultimate strength of the box to be manufactured which can vary widely. The strength of corrugated boxes is normally measured by Top-to-Bottom Compression (TBC) that defines the stacking strength of the boxes which are frequently loaded on pallets for transport to warehouses and subsequent distribution. Much work has been done to relate parameters of the linerboard and medium substrates to the ultimate stacking strength of the boxes manufactured. TBC's of the boxes are a function of the Edge Crush Test (ECT) of the corrugated board used to manufacture them. The ECT of the corrugated board has been shown to depend to a large extent upon the basis weight of the liners and medium used to manufacture the board. Research has shown a more or less linear relationship between board ECT and the basis weights of the papers used to manufacture the board. Manufacturing costs related to production of corrugated board are well understood and include things such as energy consumed during manufacture, labor cost, starch and raw material. The fiber content of the linerboard and medium used is by far the dominant factor normally comprising 80-85% of the manufacturing cost. Due to interest in minimizing corrugated box cost, much work has been done in matching the linerboard and medium paper basis weights used to manufacture a box to the precise application. This is particularly important as certain market applications include use of millions of boxes w