Bobst Premieres New Folder-Gluer

At the Competence 14 Open House, held at the end of November in Mex, Switzerland, Bobst premiered a brand new folder-gluer for corrugated and litho-laminated box making. Available in two sizes – ExpertFold 145 and ExpertFold 165 – and in several variants, the machine has been designed with the needs of both sheet plant and integrated manufacturers of fluted boxes in mind, the company said. 

Emilio Corti, Head of Sales BU Sheet-fed, said, “We conceived the ExpertFold 145 and 165 to reflect what customers told us they need from a folder-gluer. One feature they asked for was flexibility in the type and dimensions of the substrates that could be run. They also wanted good control of the blank as it goes through the machine in order to achieve high performance with excellent box quality. That control is particularly important these days with so much production being shelf-ready packaging or destined for auto packing lines.”

The design elements of the new ExpertFold which deliver these features include: AccuFeed blank alignment that ensures precise folding; a high accuracy pre-breaker which ensure excellent performance on machine-erect lines; and a folding process that minimizes fishtailing and gap. The latter is aided by an extra long folding section which creates smoother folding. 

Able to fold and glue substrates from N-flute to A-flute, including double wall and litho-laminates, the ExpertFold 145 and 165 can handle blanks of up to 1,700 x 1,100 mm in size and up to 25 mm thick when folded. The flexibility of the models means that they can also process blanks as small as 296 x 60 mm.

Jacques Reymond, Head of Product Marketing BU Sheet-fed, added, “We’ve designed these new ExpertFold models to be very robust, which means high levels of uptime along with superb control of the blank. At the same time we’ve made them truly user friendly. For example they have open side frames for ease of access, but they also have light barriers to protect the operators. Video monitoring helps the operators see what’s going on, while AccuEject and other Bobst quality assurance systems mean that they can keep on top of quality throughout the run. As you’d expect, these machines are also modular in design, so they can grow with the customer’s business.”