New test rig for creased paperboard investigation to confectionery industry reconfigurable folders

In packaging industry, the duration of the carton folding plays a fundamental role in the production process; in particular in the erection process when each panel rotates around the die-pressed lines called creases. Their bending response can be very complex, depending on forming and environment conditions. The crease mechanical properties, such as geometrical parameters, temperature, moisture and folding speed, influence the overall production. It is therefore necessary to control all of these parameters, from both a theoretical and experimental point of view. About this, an experimental setup is expressly designed and built w.r.t. the rotation angle for a paper around the respective crease. The results of this research allow demonstrating the reliability of the experimental setup, the substantial negligibility of the geometrical errors and determining the number of sample so that the dispersion is compatible with the experimental errors. Then the test-ring is suitable for carton folding investigation.