Zray Engineering Team Develops Enhanced Feeding and Forming Mechanisms to Accommodate Wider Range of Corrugated and Solid Board Specifications

Zray Machinery has introduced a significant material-adaptation improvement to its carton forming machine platform, enabling reliable operation across a broader spectrum of paperboard grades — from lightweight E-flute corrugated board to heavy-duty BC-flute double-wall materials. The engineering upgrade, which modifies the vacuum feeding system, forming mandrel geometry, and folding guide parameters, was developed in direct response to customer requests for a single-machine solution capable of processing multiple board grades without extensive changeover procedures.

The underlying challenge, as described by Zray’s engineering lead, lies in the fundamentally different mechanical properties of various paperboard grades. Lightweight materials are prone to buckling under excessive feed force, while heavy board requires significantly higher forming pressure and longer dwell time to achieve clean fold lines. A machine calibrated for one grade typically produces inconsistent results when switched to another, resulting in rejected cartons, jammed feeding mechanisms, or poorly formed creases. Zray’s material-adaptation improvement addresses this through a combination of hardware modifications and intelligent parameter management.

• Vacuum cup array redesigned with independently adjustable suction zones for optimized grip across different board surfaces
• Forming mandrel pressure profile now dynamically adjustable via HMI based on board grade selection
• Seven pre-configured material profiles stored in the control system covering common corrugated and solid board specifications
• Changeover time between material grades reduced from approximately 45 minutes to under 10 minutes
• Crease quality consistency improved measurably across thickness range from 1.5 mm to 7.0 mm

“Our customers in the contract packaging sector frequently switch between different board grades — sometimes multiple times within a single shift — as they fulfill orders for different end-products,” explained the lead engineer on the adaptation project. “The ability to recall a stored material profile and have the machine automatically adjust its forming parameters is a genuine productivity multiplier.”

Technical Implementation Details

The vacuum feeding subsystem received the most extensive modification. The original single-zone vacuum plenum was replaced with a three-zone design, each zone controlled by an independent solenoid valve and regulated by a proportional vacuum regulator. This allows the system to apply maximum suction across the full cup array when handling heavy board, while reducing active cup count and suction intensity for lightweight materials that require gentler handling. The cup height and approach angle were also made tool-free adjustable to accommodate different sheet geometries.

On the forming side, the mandrel pressure control was upgraded from a fixed mechanical stop to a servo-driven positioning system with real-time force feedback. When the operator selects a material profile from the HMI, the servo automatically adjusts the mandrel stroke depth, dwell time at full insertion, and retraction speed to match the selected board grade. The folding guide plates, previously repositioned manually using bolts and slots, were redesigned with quick-release clamps and indexed position markings corresponding to each stored material profile. Together, these changes enable repeatable changeovers without the need for trial-and-error adjustments between production runs.

Zray reports that early-adopter customers have seen a noticeable reduction in carton rejection rates when running mixed board grades, along with a corresponding increase in overall equipment effectiveness. The company plans to make the material-adaptation package available as both a factory option on new machines and a retrofit kit for existing installations in the field.