GB2580650A

GB2580650A - Method of manufacturing a blank

Info

Publication number: GB2580650A
Application number: GB1900783.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lunn Adam
Original assignee: Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd
Current assignee: Coveris Flexibles UK Ltd
Priority date: 2019-01-21
Filing date: 2019-01-21
Publication date: 2020-07-29
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-21
Also published as: GB2580650B; GB201900783D0

Abstract

A first die 16 cuts a printable web 13. A barrier material 22 is laminated 18 onto the web 13. A second die 19 embosses the web. A third die 24 cuts an outline of the blank. Preferably, the steps occur in the order stated, or all the dies work simultaneously on the laminated web. The barrier material 22 is preferably a plastic film attached using a low migration ultraviolet (UV) cure adhesive applied to the web. The web 13 is preferably, paperboard. Preferably, the barrier material extends over a window aperture (52, 53, figure 4) in the web. Preferably, embossing 19 is carried out using rotary roller dies 72, 74 having corresponding bevelled (78, 80, figure 3), recessed (73, figure 3) and projecting portions (75, figure 3). Disclosed plastics include polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (OPP, CPP), polyethylene terephthalate, (PET), cellulose and polylactic acid (PLA). The blanks are formed into containers for food and drinks, especially sandwiches, wraps, salads, coffee and tea.

Description

Method of Manufacturing a Blank

FIELD

The present teachings relate to a method of manufacturing a blank for producing packaging and a blank that has been manufactured using the method.

BACKGROUND

For paper and cardboard packaging that is intended to be in direct contact with food or drinks, blanks are produced that are typically formed from a paperboard material that is laminated with a plastics barrier layer e.g. a layer of polyethylene (PE), oriented polypropylene (OPP), transparent cast polypropylene (CPP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), cellulose or polylactic acid (PLA) may also be employed. The plastics barrier layer enables the blanks to be used to produce packaging for food or drinks products such as sandwiches, wraps, salads, coffee, tea, etc. A problem identified with such blanks is that it is difficult to apply further effects, such as embossing, to the blanks without risking delamination of the plastics layer from the paperboard material. Such further effects are desirable, as they can give the packaging a more premium feel, making the products contained in the packaging more attractive to consumers. Such effects may also increase the rigidity of the blank without adding appreciably to the amount of material required in their manufacture.

The present teachings seek to overcome or at least mitigate this and otter problems

associated with the prior art.

SUMMARY

A first aspect provides a method of manufacturing a blank for forming a package, wherein a web of printable substrate is fed along a press in a first direction. The method comprises the steps of: feeding the web through a first die station, wherein the first die station comprises a die that cuts the web; Feeding the web through a second die station, wherein the second die station comprises a die that applies a design to the web by embossing; feeding the web through a third die station, wherein the third die station comprises a die that cuts an outline of the blank; and feeding the web through a lamination station, wherein a barrier material is laminated to the web.

This method produces in a single process a blank with a barrier material laminated to the blank, e.g. to retain moisture inside a package, where, importantly, at least a portion of the blank has an embossed design. This method also results in a low risk that the barrier material becomes separated (delaminated) from the web during the embossing step. Accordingly, this method allows a laminated package with an embossed design to be produced, enabling more 'premium' packaging to be produced at a cost level that is commercially viable for mass production.

The second die station may be located downstream of the first die station, such that step b) occurs after step a).

The lamination station may be located immediately upstream or downstream of the first die station, such that step d) occurs before step b).

As the lamination of the blank occurs before the embossing step, the risk of unsuccessful lamination is minimised, as the connection between the web and the barrier material is more reliable.

The lamination station may comprise an adhesive applicator and a roll of the barrier material. The adhesive applicator may apply adhesive to the web. The barrier material may be fed from the roll of the barrier material and laminated to the web after the adhesive has been applied.

This further reduces the risk of unsuccessful lamination as adhesive s applied before embossing, increasing the reliability of adhesion between the barrier material and the web. Further, as the lamination is done separately, the fibres of the web can be easily separated from the barrier material at a later date, making the blank much easier to recycle.

The barrier material may be a plastics him.

The adhesive may be a low migration UV cure adhesive.

This makes the blank particularly suitable for use in food packaging.

An aperture may be cut in the web at the first die station. The barrier material may be laminated to the web at the lamination station such that it extends over the aperture.

This creates a 'window' in the finished blank, so that a consumer can see the contents of the packaging as an aid to their buying decision.

The second die station and third die station may be combined such that steps b) and c) occur substantially simultaneously with a single die, By carefully controlling the structure of the die, the embossing of the design and the cutting of the outline of the blank can be performed substantially simultaneously, further increasing the efficiency of the process.

The first die station, second die station and third die station may be combined such that steps a), b) and c) occur substantially simultaneously with a single die. The lamination station may be located upstream of this die, such that step ci) occurs before steps a), b) and c).

By carefully controlling the structure of the die, the initial internal cutting, the embossing of the design and the cutting of the outline of the blank can be performed substantially simultaneously, further increasing the efficiency of the process. If the lamination station is located upstream of this die, the risk of unsuccessful lamination is further decreased.

The die at the second die station may comprise a female die and a male die. A space may be defined between the female die and the male die such that the web can he fed between the dies. The female die may have at least one recessed portion.

The male die may have at least one projecting portion that corresponds to the recessed portion of the female die. At step b), the web may be fed through the space defined between the female die and the male die in the first direction to apply the design to the web.

The die at the second die station may be a rotary die. The male die may be a roller.

The female die may be a roller, It has been found that rotary dies can apply a reliable amount of pressure to the web, resulting in consistent results for the embossed portions of the finished blanks.

The space between the female die and the male di = may be substantially equal to a thickness of the web plus the barrier material.

This spacing helps to ensure that the web forms to the shape of the space between the female die and the male die as the web is fed through, resulting in a well-defined embossed design on the finished blank.

The male die may comprise a gradual transition between a free end of the projecting portion and the remainder of the die. Optionally, the gradual transition may be a bevel with an angle of between 30 and 60 degrees.

This gradual transition on the male die reduces the risk of tearing; or undesired deformation, of the web as it passes through the die and the design is applied to the web.

The female die may comprise a gradual transition between the recessed portion and the remainder of the die. Optionally, the gradual transition may be a bevel with an angle of between 30 and 60 degrees.

This gradual transition on the female die further reduces the risk of tearing of the web as it passes through the die and the design is applied to the web.

The projecting portion of the male die may have a minimum width in every direction of at least 0.5mm.

This helps to avoid any 'fine points' which could result in the web being undesirably cut rather than embossed.

The method may further comprise the step of switching:e male die for an alternate male die with no projecting portion and/or switching the female die for an alternate female die with no recessed portion.

This allows switching between embossed and non-embossed designs with minimal disruption to the line.

The web may be a paperboard substrate. The web may have a thickness that is between 200 and 725pm. Preferably, the web may have a thickness that is between 250 and 350pm.

These ranges have been found to provide a suitable thickness for good embossing results.

The barrier material may have a thickness between 10 and 100pm. Preferably between 20 and 25prn.

These ranges have been found to provide a suitable thickness to reduce the risk of the barrier material breaking under tension.

The method may further comprise a step e) of printing indicia on a first side of the web. Step e) may occur prior to step d). Preferably, the method may further comprise a step f) of printing indicia on a second side of the web. Step f) may occur prior to step d).

The method may further comprise a step g) after tep e) of applying a varnish to a first die of the web.

A second aspect provides a blank produced by the method of the previous aspect.

A third aspect provides a blank for forming a package. The blank comprises a plurality of interconnected panels divided by a score line, fold line, or similar. A first surface of the blank is laminated with a barrier material. At least a portion of the blank comprises an embossed design.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a press apparatus for manufacturing blanks of the present teachings; Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embossing die for use in the press apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a further schematic cross-sectional view of the embossing die, through the plane 3-3 as shown in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a schematic view of an example portion of a finished blank that has been manufactured using the method of manufacture of the present teachings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S)

With reference to Figure 1 a flexographic (flexo) press apparatus indicated generally at 10 is depicted in a simplified form and is configured for manufacturing blanks for forming a package, according to the present teachings. A suitable apparatus is a Gallus EM 510 press manufactured by Gallus Ferdinand RUesch AG of St Gallen Switzerland.

The press apparatus 10 comprises an unwind roll 12 of a substrate that is printable.

in this embodiment, the printable substrate is a web of paperboard 13 having a specific weight of between 150 and 400gsm and a nominal thickness of approximately between 200 and 725pm. Preferably, the thickness of the paperboard web 13 is between 250 and 350pm.

Firstly, ink is applied to the paperboard web 13. This is done by continuously feeding the paperboard web 13 through the press 10 at a suitable tension. In this embodiment, the paperboard web 13 is initially fed through four print stations 14a to 14d where various colours are printed on an upper surface of the paperboard web 13 to provide product information and marketing information (which will ultimately be an exterior surface of the package that is made with the finished blank), or other indicia The paperboard web 13 is then fed through a turn bar 32 so the opposite unprinted lower surface of the paperboard web 13 is uppermost and indicia may he printed at four further print stations 14e to 14h, if desired. This lower surface is intended to be an interior surface of the packaging that is made with the finished blank.

In other embodiments, the total number of print stations and location of the turn bar may be altered as desired. In this embodiment, the final print station 14d before the turn bar 32 is used to apply a varnish to the outer face of the paperboard web 13 in a predetermined pattern, but this is not necessarily the case.

Following the printing, the paperboard web 13 is then fed through four further stations to finish the blank: a first die station 16, a lamination station 18, a second die station 19 (where embossing takes place -described in more detail below), and a third die station 24.

At the first die station 16, the paperboard web 13 is fed through and any internal cutting (I.e. any cuts that are not the final blank outline) necessary for the final blank design is made. Preferably, at the first die station 16, at least one 'reverse' cut is made. For example, to produce a finished blank 50 as shown in figure 4, at the first die station 16 an aperture 52 is cut in the paperboard web 13 with a reverse cut. The aperture 52 can he of any suitable shape. The waste material from the aperture 52 is also extracted from the paperboard web 13 at this station. The arrangement of the particular dies used in the first die station 16 can be configured to produce cuts of different depths at different areas of the paperboard web 13. In this embodiment, the cut to produce the aperture 52 passes all the way through the thickness of the paperboard web 13, such that the material inside the aperture 52 is separated from the remainder of the paperboard web 13.

The paperboard web 13 is then fed to the lamination station 18 at which the web 13 is laminated to a sheet of barrier material that is fed from a lamination roll 20.

in this embodiment the barrier material is a plastics film 22, more specifically polyethylene (PE). The sheet of plastics film 22 is typically the same width as the web of paperboard 13, but in some embodiments may be slightly wider so it overlaps the edges of the blanks. This helps to ensure that the whole paperboard surface of the web 13 is covered by the barrier material, as well as reduce the risk that adhesive (when used in the lamination process) will migrate to the dies and cause damage. PE is used due to its ability to retain its stretch properties at low temperatures and to heat seal effectively. However, depending upon application other laminate material such as oriented polypropylene (OPP), transparent cast polypropylene (CPP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), cellulose or polylactic acid (PLA) may also be employed.

To achieve lamination, an adhesive is applied to the paperboard web 13 with an adhesive applicator, e.g. using a suitable anilox roller arrangement to apply the right weight in an appropriate pattern and the two webs are then brought together between nip rollers such that they come into contact and are bonded together. In this embodiment, the adhesive is a low migration UV cure adhesive that is suitable for use in food packaging. The web is then exposed to UV light immediately downstream of the roller to effect rapid curing. In alternative embodiments, other suitable methods could be used to achieve lamination. For example, the plastics film could be heat welded or radio frequency (RF) welded to the paperboard.

In this embodiment, where an aperture 52 has already been cut at the first die station 16, the lamination of the plastics film 22 to the paperboard web 13 results in the plastics film 22 extending over the aperture 52. Accordingly, as well as acting as a barrier material between the paperboard and any product that is stored in the final packaging, the plastics film 22 also creates a transparent window so that the product stored in the final packaging can be seen. This also enables further process improvements to be introduced, such as applying embossing effects to the paperboard web, as will now be described in more detail. Preferably, the lamination station 18 is located upstream of the second die station 19, to reduce the risk of unsuccessful lamination, e.g. by trying to laminate an already embossed portion of the blank, which is difficult due to the bumpy surface, and help ensure a reliable connection between the web 13 and the plastics film 22.

To emboss the paperboard web 13, the web 13 is then fed to the second die station 19. The second die station 19 has a die 70 that applies an embossed design to the paperboard web 13. In this embodiment, the die 70 is made up of a female die and a male die. In this embodiment, as shown in more detail in figures 1, 2 and 3, the die is a rotary die, so the female die is a female roller 72 and the male die is a male roller 74. As will be described in more detail below, the male roller 74 has a projecting design and the female roller 72 has a corresponding recessed design such that, as the paperboard web 13 is fed between the rollers 72, 74, the rollers 72, 74 make an impression in the paperboard of the design. This causes the design to be raised (or depressed) on the final blank, relative to the remainder of the surface. It has been found that rotary dies are effective at applying a reliable amount of pressure to the web, resulting in consistent results for the embossed Portions of the finished blanks 50.

It will be appreciated, however, that a 'flat-bed' type of die could also be used, in which both the male and female dies are generally planar and one or both of the male and female dies are moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the web feed to clamp the paperboard web and apply a design to the paperboard web. This will typically produce what is known in the art as a 'push crease'. It has been found, however, that the pressure created by the rotary dies is more reliable and so can result in a more aesthetically pleasing emboss on the final blank.

In the rotary type of dies of the current embodiment, a space 76 is defined between the female roller 72 and the male roller 74. As the paperboard web 13 is fed between the female and male rollers 72, 74, the paperboard web 13 is clamped between the rollers 72, 74. The female roller 72 has at least one recessed portion 73 and the male roller 74 has at least one projecting portion 75 that corresponds to the recessed portion 73 of the female roller 72. The projecting portion 75 of the male roller 74 projects in a radially outward direction from the remainder of the circumferential outer surface of the male roller 74. The recessed portion 73 of the female roller 72 is recessed from the circumferential outer surface of the female roller 72 in a radially inward direction. In use, the rollers 72, 74 each rotate about an axis that is perpendicular to the direction of the Feed direction F (see Figure 1) of the paperboard web 13. The male roller 74 rotates in a direction R1 and the female roller rotates in a direction R2, which is opposite to direction Rl. In this embodiment, as shown in figures 1, 2 and 3, the male roller 74 is arranged to be uppermost and the female roller 72 is arranged to be lowermost, so direction R1 is anti-clockwise and direction R2 is clockwise, though these locations could be reversed; for example, if a debossed design was desired, rather than an embossed design. The rollers 72, 74 are also arranged such that the rotational orientations of the male projecting portion 75 and female recessed portion 73 are opposite to one another, e.g. when the male projecting portion 75 is in the 0 degrees (12 o'clock) rotational orientation, the female recessed portion 73 is in the 180 degrees (6 o'clock) rotational orientation, but when the male projecting portion 75 is in the degrees (6 o'clock) rotational orientation, the female recessed portion 73 is in the 0 degrees (12 o'clock) rotational orientation. In practical terms, this means that the male projecting portion 75 and the female recessed portion 73 can 'mesh' together once per revolution of the rollers 72, 74 to apply pressure to the paperboard web. Therefore, at the 'meshing point', the projecting portion 75 of the male roller 74 extends at least part-way into the recessed portion 73 of the female roller 72. The amount that the projecting portion 75 of the male roller 74 extends into the recessed portion 73 of the female roller 72 is represented on Figure 2 by the dimension Z. In this embodiment, the dimension Z is Ornrn, representing a zero interference fit.

The space 76 defined by the male projecting portion 75 and the female recessed portion 73 mesh together is a tortuous path. This tortuous path causes the paperboard web 13 to be creased as it is fed through the embossing station 19. The particular creases that are created depend on the exact configuration of the male projecting portion 75 and the female recesses portion 73. The resulting effect is that the paperboard web 13 is embossed with a particular design. in this embodiment, the space 76 between the female roller 72 and the male roller 74 is substantially equal to the thickness of the paperboard web 13 plus the laminated barrier material 22. This space 76 helps to ensure that the paperboard web 13 forms to the shape of the space between the female roller 72 and the male roller 74 as the paperboard web 13 is fed through, resulting in a well-defined embossed design on the finished blank 50.

The male and female dies contain features to help ensure that a crease is created rather than a cut. The male roller 74 includes a gradual transition 80 between a free end of the projecting portion 75 and the remainder of the roller 74. In this embodiment, the gradual transition 80 is a bevel with an angle of 45 degrees, though the exact angle could vary, for example anywhere between 30 and 60 degrees. The gradual transition 80 could also be a different shape entirely, e.g. a curve. This gradual transition on the male die reduces the risk of tearing of the web, or other undesired deformation, as it passes through the die and the design is applied to the web.

The female roller 72 also includes a gradual transition 78. The gradual transition 78 is between the recessed portion 73 and the remainder of the roller 72. In this embodiment, the gradual transition 78 is a bevel with an angle of 45 degrees, though the exact angle could vary, for example anywhere between 30 and 60 degrees. The bevels all have a dimension B as shown in Figure 2. In this embodiment, all dimensions B are equal at 0.05mm. In other embodiments, as the angle of the bevels varies, the dimensions B can vary from one another. The gradual transition 78 could also be a different shape entirely, e.g. a curve. This gradual transition on the female die further reduces the risk of tearing of the web, or other undesired deformation, as it passes through the die and the design is applied to the web.

The projecting portion 75 of the male roller 74 has a minimum dimension X (see figures 2 and 3) in the circumferential and axial directions of the roller 74 of at least 0.5mm. The recessed portion 73 of the female roller 72 has a minimum dimension Y (see figures 2 and 3) in the circumferential and axial directions of the roller 72 of at least X plus two thicknesses of the paperboard web 13 plus two thicknesses of the plastics film 22, plus an additional clearance. In this embodiment, this would be 0.5mm plus two thicknesses of the paperboard web 13, plus two thicknesses of the plastics film 22, plus an additional clearance 0.3mm. These dimensions help to reduce the risk of the paperboard web 13 and/or the plastics film 22 tearing, or deforming undesirably, during the embossing process. Dimension A is also shown in Figure 3, which represents the minimum distance between two parts of the projecting portion 75. In this embodiment, assuming the material to be used was 310 microns thick, dimension A would be 0.5mm + 0.31mm + 0.3mm 0.3mm + 0.5mm = 1.92mm.

It will be appreciated that the exact shape of the male projecting portion 75 (and corresponding female recessed portion 73) can be varied as required, provided there is no part of the projecting portion 75 with a dimension X in the circumferential or axial direction of the roller 74 that is less than 0.5mm. In other words, it is preferable that the 'width' of the projecting portion in all directions is at least 0.5mm. This helps to avoid 'fine points' which could result in the web 13 being cut instead of embossed.

The range of designs that can be embossed at the second die station 19 are effectively unlimited; and simply depend on the particular shape of the projecting portion 75. It will also be appreciated that the projecting portion 75 could be made up of a number of discrete 'islands' that project from the male roller 74, or could be a continuous single shape, depending on the desired embossed design. It may also be desired that embossing and debossing effects are both applied to the paperboard web 13. In this case, the male roller 74 may further comprise a recessed portion and the female roller 72 may further comprise a projecting portion.

Further, it may be desired that no embossed design is required at all for a particular batch. if this is the case, the male die can be switched for an alternate male die with no projecting portion and the female die can be switched for an alternate female die with no recessed portion. Normally, this would be done by briefly stopping the process, but it is envisaged that the switching could happen nearly instantaneously, with minimal downtime. in this embodiment, the male and female rollers 74, 72 with the projecting and recessed portions 75, 73 could simply be switched out for rollers with no projecting and recessed portions; the paperboard web 13 and plastics film 22 would simply pass through the embossing station 19 without any embossed design being applied. Advantageously, therefore, the process described in the current application enables a large amount of flexibility depending on whether an embossed design is required or not. Importantly, switching between an embossed design and a non-embossed design can be done with minimal disruption to the line. For a high-speed process like this, where thousands of blanks are produced per hour, minimising disruption in this way can result in significant cost savings. Alternatively, the same advantage could also be achieved by, instead of switching out the rollers 74, 72, moving them relatively away from one another in order to increase the spacing between them, e.g. by moving both rollers or just one. This would result in the paperboard web 13 and plastics film 22 passing through the second die station 19 without any effects being applied.

After the second die station 19, the paperboard web 13 of laminated material then passes to a third die station 24 where the outline (perimeter) 56 of the blank 50 is cut from the web.

At the third die station 24, score lines (or similar) are also added. In this embodiment, full or partial score, crease or fold lines may additionally be Formed in the paperboard web 13 portion but typically not into the plastics film 22. Alternatively, in some cases, full or partial cuts may be made through the plastics film 22 (e.g. a reverse cut). This can help ease folding by easing tension in the plastics film 22, if back-folds are required, for example. The score line 54 (or similar) enables the blank to be folded more easily at this point as part of the process of assembling the blank 50. This is achieved by carefully controlling the depth of cut of the die. The score, crease or fold lines may be formed by a continuous cut through part of the depth of the paperboard web 13 or intermittent cuts (i.e. perforations) through the full depth of the paperboard, or a combination of the two.

At the third die station 24, the waste material is separated from the blanks 50 by being wound onto a waste reel 28.

The remaining blanks 50 are then ejected from the third die station 24 and are suitably stacked an output end 30 of the press 10. In this embodiment blanks 50 are only formed one wide on the web, but depending on web and blank dimensions may alternatively be formed two, three or more wide.

At this point the blanks 50 may be collated for transportation to another location. For example, the blanks may be loaded into a suitable folder/glues machine, to start assembly of the final packaging, e.g. a sandwich skillet or salad box. In a further different example, the blanks could be fed into a cup erecting machine or potentially fed into a cup erecting machine that is arranged in line with the press. Alternatively, the blanks may be fed directly into a secondary process so assemble them, though this could introduce difficulties as the speeds of the processes would need to match.

In some embodiments where blanks are formed side-by-side on the web of substrate, adjacent blanks may be oriented at 180° to each other so as to maximise the utilisation of the web area. Adjacent blanks may even he interlocked, to further reduce waste.

The blank 50 shown in Figure 4 is a schematic example of a portion of a blank that can be produced using the process described. It should be noted that, for clarity, this example only illustrates part of a final blank. The blank comprises a plurality of interconnected panels 51, divided by the score line 54. It will he appreciated, though, that in other embodiments the score line 54 could be just a fold line where no full or partial cut has been made to the blank 50.

A plurality of discrete embossed portions 58 can be seen. The embossed portions 58 can vary in direction to create any desired design. Each embossed portion 58 corresponds to a part of the male projecting portion 75 on the male die 74, in this embodiment, the male projecting portion 75 is made up of a number of discrete substantially rectangular portions that form an embossed design as shown in Figure 4. As mentioned previously, however, the exact design can be varied as desired.

In this embodiment, there are also non-embossed portions 60 where self-adhesive labels containing product information could be attached, for example.

The aperture 52 defines a window 53 which is covered by the plastics film 22 which extends over the entirety of the reverse face of the blank 50. The film is substantially transparent and therefore acts as a "pane" in the window 53 such that when the blank 50 is erected to form packaging, the contents thereof are visible through the window 53.

Although the invention has been described above with reference to one or more preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that various changes or modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

For example, in other embodiments, the second die station and third die station could be combined such that the operations of the second die station and third die station are performed simultaneously at a single station with a single die. By carefully controlling the structure and depths of the die this would be possible and would further increase the efficiency of the process.

in other embodiments, the first die station, second die tion and third die station could be combined such that the operations of the first die station, second die station and third die station are performed simultaneously at a single station with a single die. The lamination station would be located upstream of this station, By carefully controlling the structure and depths of the die this would be possible and would increase the efficiency of the process. As the lamination station is located upstream of this die, the risk of unsuccessful lamination remains low.

It will be appreciated that the term "embossing' in this application is also intended to encompass debossing -the only difference between embossing arid debossing would be that the female and male dies are switched, such that the female die was uppermost and the male die was lowermost. This would result in the embossed portions 58 of the blank 50 being depressed relative to the top surface of the paperboard web 13, rather than raised. As mentioned previously, if desired, it is possible to configure the die at the second die station to apply both embossing and debossing effects to the web 13.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method of manufacturing a blank for forming a package, wherein a web of printable substrate is fed along a press in a first direction, the method comprising the steps of: a) feeding he web through a first die station, wherein the first die station comprises a die that cuts the web; b) feeding the web through a second die station, wherein the second die station comprises a die that applies a design to the web by embossing; c) feeding the web through a third die station, wherein the third die station comprises a die that cuts an outline of the blank; and d) feeding the web through a lamination station, wherein a barrier material is laminated to the web.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second die station is located downstream of the first die station, such that step b) occurs after step a).
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the lamination station is located immediately upstream or downstream of the first die station, such that step ci) occurs before step b).
The method of any previous claim, wherein the lamination station comprises an adhesive applicator and a roll of the barrier material, wherein the adhesive applicator applies adhesive to the web and the barrier material is fed from the roll of the barrier material and laminated to the web after the adhesive has been applied.
The method of claim 4, wherein the barrier material is a plastics
6, The method of claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the adhesive is low migration UV cure adhesive.
7. The method of any previous claim, wherein an aperture is cut in the web at the first die station and the barrier material is laminated to the web at the lamination station such that it extends over the aperture.
8. The method of any previous claim, wherein the second die station and third die station are combined such that steps b) and c) occur substantially simultaneously with a single die.
9. The method of any previous claim, wherein the first die station, second die station and third die station are combined such that steps a), b) and c) occur substantially simultaneously with a single die, wherein the lamination station is located upstream of this die, such that step d) occurs before steps a), b) and c).
10. The method of any previous claim, wherein the die at the second die station comprises a female die and a male die, and a space is defined between the female die and the male die such that the web can be fed between the dies, wherein the female die has at least one recessed portion and the male die has at least one projecting portion that corresponds to the recessed portion of the female die, wherein at step b), the web is fed through the space defined between the female die and the male die in the first direction to apply the design to the web.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the die at the second die station is a rotary die, wherein the male die is a roller and the female die is a roller.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the space between the female die and the male die is substantially equal to a thickness of the web plus the barrier material.
13. The method of any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the male die comprises a gradual transition between a free end of the projecting portion and the remainder of the die, optionally wherein the gradual transition is a bevel with an angle of between 30 and 60 degrees.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the female die comprises a gradual transition between the recessed portion and the remainder of the die, optionally wherein the gradual transition is a bevel with an angle of between 30 and degrees.
15. The method of any of claims 10 to 14 wherein the projecting portion of the male die has a minimum width in every direction of at least 0.5mm,
16. The method of any claims 10 to 15, further comprising the step of switchino the male die for an alternate male die with no projecting portion and/or switching the female die for an alternate female die with no recessed portion.
17. The method of any previous claim wherein the web is a paperboard substrate with a thickness that is between 200 and 725pm, preferably between 250 and 350prn.
18. The method of any previous claim wherein the barrier material has a thickness between 10 and 100pm, preferably between 20 and 25pm.
19. The method of any previous claim, further comprising a step e) of printing indicia on 3 first side of the web, wherein step e) occurs prior to step d), preferably further comprising a step f) of printing indicia on a second side of the web, wherein step f) occurs prior to step d),
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising a step g) after step e) of applying a varnish to a first die of the web.
21. A blank produced by the method of any of claims 1 to 20.
22. A blank for forming a package, the blank comprising a plurality of interconnected panels divided by a score line, fold line, or similar, wherein a nrst surface of the blank is laminated with a barrier material and at least a portion of the blank comprises an embossed design.