Single-station vs double-station paper box forming machines

What a paper box forming machine does

A paper box forming machine turns a flat die-cut blank into a three-dimensional lid, base or tray. It takes a blank from the stack, folds the four walls up and forms the corners, then delivers the finished part on a conveyor. The material is 210–350 g/m² white cardboard, kraft paper or similar. There is no greyboard and no wrapping paper, which is what separates a paper card box from a rigid box.

These are the boxes used for cakes, desserts and hardware: light, fast to make, and formed from one piece of card.

HF-4350 vs HF-3250: the numbers

Single-station and double-station paper box forming machines.

Parameter	HF-4350	HF-3250
Speed	17–23 pcs/min	34–46 pcs/min
Largest box	400 × 350 × 100 mm	350 × 250 × 80 mm
Smallest box	100 × 80 × 18 mm	120 × 80 × 15 mm
Blank length	220–700 mm	240–540 mm
Blank width	200–680 mm	200–420 mm
Box styles	2: long edge not pressing the short edge; long edge pressed over the short edge	3: long edge not pressing the short edge; long edge pressed over the short edge; wide edge with long side overlapping short side
Loading height	0.6 m (lifting platform)	0.5 m on each of the two tables
Refill interval	40–50 minutes	40–50 minutes
Motor or heating power	3.5 kW	5 kW
Footprint (L × W × H)	3800 × 1300 × 2000 mm, including conveyor	3700 × 1600 × 2000 mm, including conveyor

Twice the speed, or the same speed twice?

The HF-3250 is rated at 34–46 pieces per minute and the HF-4350 at 17–23: exactly double. Each station of the double machine works at the pace of the single machine. The gain comes from running two parts side by side.

For a plant that sells boxes as sets, the double-station machine also removes a job: lids and bases come off together, already matched, so they do not have to be counted and paired from two separate runs.

Box sizes and blank sizes

The single-station machine is the one for large boxes. It takes blanks up to 700 × 680 mm and forms boxes up to 400 × 350 × 100 mm. On the double-station machine blanks stop at 540 × 420 mm and boxes at 350 × 250 × 80 mm. At the small end the two are close: 100 × 80 × 18 mm on the HF-4350 and 120 × 80 × 15 mm on the HF-3250.

Box styles each machine forms

The style describes how the walls overlap at the corner. Both machines form two styles: the long edge not pressing the short edge, and the long edge pressed over the short edge. The HF-3250 adds a third, a wide edge with the long side overlapping the short side. If your box uses a particular corner construction, send the die drawing or a sample with the enquiry.

When to choose the double-station HF-3250

Choose the HF-3250 when you sell lids and bases as sets. Its two material tables and two forming stations run a lid and a base side by side, so sets come off the machine matched and at twice the piece rate. It also forms a third box style that the single-station machine does not.

When to choose the single-station HF-4350

Choose the HF-4350 when your boxes are larger than 350 × 250 × 80 mm, or when you run one part at a time, such as trays without lids. Its lifting platform holds a 0.6 m stack, against 0.5 m per table on the HF-3250.

Setup, power and floor space

• Both are controlled by a PLC with a movable touch screen, and sizes are set by entering parameters.
• The HF-4350 has servo control of the forming station lengthwise. The HF-3250 has servo control in both directions, and servo-controlled wall positioning for a neater formed edge.
• Both run on 220 V with compressed air at 0.6–0.8 MPa: 3.5 kW for the HF-4350 and 5 kW for the HF-3250.
• Footprint including the conveyor: 3.8 × 1.3 m for the HF-4350 and 3.7 × 1.6 m for the HF-3250, both 2.0 m high.

The machines before and after forming

1. 01

   Before: die cutting

   The printed sheet is cut and creased into blanks. The HF-1100 is a platen die cutter with an 1100 × 800 mm die frame and 130 tonnes of working pressure, at 20 ± 2 strokes per minute.

2. 02

   Forming

   The HF-4350 or HF-3250 folds each blank into a lid, base or tray.

3. 03

   After: packing for shipping

   The HF-650 erects the shipping carton and tapes its bottom at 5–15 cartons per minute, the HF-FA500 seals the filled carton, and the HF-30Pro stacks cartons of up to 30 kg on the pallet.

Machines in this guide

HF-4350Automatic Paper Box Forming Machine (Single Station)17–23 pcs/min

HF-3250Automatic Paper Box Forming Machine (Double Station)34–46 pcs/min

HF-1100Die Cutting Machine20 ± 2 strokes/min