How are collapsible rigid boxes made?

Why a collapsible rigid box needs different machines

A standard rigid box has four fixed walls. In a collapsible box two of the walls are side wings with triangle plates that fold flat, so the box ships and stores flat and is popped up by the packer. The wings are made separately from the case, wrapped and creased so they hinge, and then glued on. That is three kinds of machine instead of one line.

The parts of a collapsible rigid box

• The outer case: greyboard panels wrapped in cover paper. It forms the base, the back and the lid, and is made like a hardcover book case.
• Two side wings: a narrow middle board with a right-triangle board at each end, wrapped in paper and creased along the lines where it folds inward.
• The closure, usually a magnet in one panel and an iron sheet in the panel it closes against.

The four steps of collapsible box production

1. 01

   Prepare the board

   Slit the greyboard into panels on the HF-1300 and groove the fold lines of the case on the HF-1200. Recesses for magnets are drilled and the magnets pasted at this stage, before the case is wrapped.

2. 02

   Make the case

   The HF-550 feeds and glues the paper, positions 1 to 6 boards by camera and wraps the four edges, for cases up to 1000 × 500 mm.

3. 03

   Wrap the side wings

   The HF-8020 positions the wing board and the triangle plates to ±0.1 mm, wraps the paper and creases the fold lines.

4. 04

   Assemble

   The HF-1150 feeds the case, sprays glue, places the wings with three vision stations and presses them.

What the HF-1150 assembly machine does

In assembly the two wings have to sit square to the case on both sides, or the box will not stand up straight. The HF-1150 does this in one line: it feeds the finished case, sprays the glue, positions the two side wings by camera, sprays the triangle glue for the wings and presses the parts together.

It takes cases from 400 × 150 mm to 1150 × 500 mm and side boards from 230 × 50 mm to 700 × 150 mm. Three vision stations and two servo mould-adjustment modules work along the line, and positioning is set on screen. It runs 15–20 pieces per minute: up to about 9,600 pieces in an 8-hour shift on case shells 1 m long.

Collapsible box machines compared

Case making, wing wrapping and assembly machines for collapsible rigid boxes.

Parameter	HF-550	HF-8020	HF-800D	HF-1150
Speed	20–30 pcs/min	20–30 sheets/min	19–25 pcs/min	15–20 pcs/min
Largest job	1000 × 500 mm	800 × 200 mm	800 mm	1150 × 500 mm
Positioning accuracy	±0.1 mm	±0.1 mm	—	—
Power	10.5 kW / 380 V, 3-phase	14 kW	0.75 kW / 220 V	23 kW
Weight	3,000 kg	2,100 kg	350 kg	8,200 kg

Balancing the line: cases, wings and assembly

The case maker is ahead of the assembly machine, and one wing machine is behind it. A plant that wants the HF-1150 at its full 15–20 boxes per minute therefore needs more wing capacity than a single HF-8020 gives: a second wing machine, or wings made ahead and stocked. Wings and cases are flat, so both can be made in batches and stored before assembly.

HF-8020 or HF-800D for the wings?

The HF-8020 is a complete wing line: paper feeding, gluing, camera positioning, wrapping and creasing, 7 m long and 2,100 kg. The HF-800D is a 350 kg machine that wraps the wing only, at 19–25 pcs/min, and suits plants that already position by hand or on a positioning machine.

Two features of the HF-8020 remove work elsewhere. It creases the wing in the machine, pasting and grooving two vertical edges and one horizontal edge, which takes out a manual step downstream. And its corner nipping function reduces the need for a cutting die made for each product.

Making the case: one machine or two

The case of a collapsible box is a hardcover case, and there are two ways to make it. The HF-550 does it in one machine. The other route splits the job: the HF-1050 glues the paper and positions the boards, and the HF-900 wraps the four edges. Both run up to 30 pieces per minute. The differences are set out in case maker vs positioning and wrapping machines.

Power, air and space for a collapsible box line

The three automatic machines all need 380 V and compressed air. The HF-1150 is the heavy one, at 23 kW and 8,200 kg, so check the floor loading and the route into the building. The HF-550 is 10.5 m long and the HF-8020 7 m. Ask for the layout drawing of the HF-1150 with the quotation.

What to send us for a collapsible box line

• The size of the case laid flat, length × width, for your largest and smallest box.
• The size of the side wing, and the size of its triangle boards.
• Greyboard thickness and the cover paper and its weight.
• Whether the box has magnets, and any special shape.
• The output you need per day, and the machines you already have.

Machines in this guide

HF-550Automatic Case Making Machine20–30 pcs/min

HF-8020Automatic Folding Box Side Wing Wrapping Machine20–30 sheets/min

HF-800DAutomatic Folding Box Wing Wrapping Machine19–25 pcs/min

HF-1150Automatic Folding Box Visual Positioning Assembly Machine15–20 pcs/min