Once a sheet or web of paperboard has been printed, the shape of the container created in the design phase is used to manufacture the cutting die. Think of the die as an elaborate cookie cutter. Back in the early days of folding carton[carton?:carton box sample cutting machine] manufacture, printing[printing?:printing cutting finishing solution] was accomplished primarily on flatbed presses. The sheet was hand-fed into the press, wrapped around a rotating cylinder and printed as it passed over a reciprocating letterpress die moving back and forth beneath it, By removing the ink rollers and replacing the printing die with a cutting and creasing die, this same configuration could be used to cut and score the dried, printed sheet.
Hundred tons of pressure onto the sheet. This presses the sheet onto a counter plate which does two things: provides a stable surface against which the knives in the die can cut, and holds the female channels that receive the male scores in the die. These channels help create scores that will not crack upon folding when the carton is glued and subsequently erected and filled with product. Embossing or debossing may also be accomplished in the cutting and creasing station .
After the sheet leaves this section of the press, it is held together by tiny nicks in the die that keep it from falling apart until it reaches the stripping station. At this point, all internal and side waste is trimmed away. Some presses may even deliver separated and counted individual piles of cartons, neatly stacked and ready for the next converting process. A press this size, which can handle a sheet up to 44 X 64 inches, may reach speeds as high as 7,000 sheets per hour.
Rotary or flatbed die cutting[die cutting?:die cutting] may also be accomplished in-line at the end of a flexo graphic or gravure printing press. The Gallus/BHS flexo graphic press below is an example of a web press that starts with blank paperboard rolls at the feed end and delivers printed, diecut and scored carton blanks. This press can run at speeds up to 500 feet per minute.
