Bobst upgrades corrugated board folding and gluing machinery range

Bobst has updated its end-to-end folding and gluing solution for corrugated board with an automated blank aligner and digital capabilities for job and recipe management workflow. Expertfold 145/165 is now available in the 106 and 215 versions, designed to tackle clients’ specific application needs.

The international packaging equipment company says Expertfold 145/165 is equipped with features for smooth transport, exact folding, and long-lasting gluing, helping to ensure precise folding-gluing of corrugated board and delicate litho-laminated packaging.

The machine features the human machine interface SPHERE, which allows data exchange with the back office through the Bobst Connect platform.

The software can prepare job details remotely and make production data available through the platform. This is said to provide converters with access to manufacturing reports and equipment data across production sites and enable plan shifts and production monitoring.

The remote digital setup of Expertfold 145/165 comes with an automated blank aligner to further accelerate and simplify the setup processes. The company says reduced workload, increased data, and setup precision for operators are additional benefits of the changes made to its machine.

Additional widths and configurations

The two new widths and configurations of Expertfold 145/165 expand the options available to converters seeking a folder-gluer dedicated to particular production requirements, highlights Bobst. 

“A few years ago, the introduction of the special e-commerce configuration of the Expertfold 165, including a Polyvacuum and Gyrobox module for the inline application of self-adhesive tapes and opening stripes, has been an important step in specializing this all-rounder for a particular market segment.”

Expertfold 165 offers smaller micro-flute boxes with reduced width to save production floor space by keeping the machine footprint at a minimum. According to the producer, the machine contains all the technologies of its bigger version, ensuring the preservation of delicate packaging surfaces for the conversion of boxes.

Meanwhile, Expertfold 215 targets the folding and gluing of large blanks of up to 2,300 mm width. It is equipped with an extended feeder section and a 6,000 mm folding and a 6,600 mm delivery section.

Bobst describes it as a robust machine that does not compromise on folding quality. It is available in a configuration without a pre-breaker to reduce the machine length. It can also be equipped with Polyvacuum and Gyrobox XL to produce complex boxes in a single run.