It presented the Alpina II folder-gluer at Bobst demonstration and training centers in Lausanne, Switzerland; New Jersey, United States; and Redditch, UK.

Whatever a carton producer might look for, whether to reduce production costs or to differentiate output in order to increase margins, Bobst claims that the new Alpina II will yield an unequalled return on investment.

Bobst points out the importance of several elements: modularity, operator friendliness; gain in time; safety; speed of the line; added value; and a large variety of services.

The company believes that, due to its technological innovations, the Alpina II will help to conquer high value added niche markets. It will minimise production costs thanks to simplified settings, the quality of the finished product and its reliability.

Due to its modular concept, there are more than 30 versions to choose from, enabling the user to choose exactly what it will do for him.

The Alpina was presented for the first time at Ipex in Buirmingham during 1998. According to Bobst, its cutting-edge design combined flexibility and productivity. Its quality together with innovative technical solutions aiming at improving altogether productivity, versatility and modularity met with customers’ expectations right away.

The Alpina has since been installed in the production facilities of some of the biggest companies in the world. Its modularity has enabled them to choose the technical specifications which best met with their production conditions at the time, with the confidence to be able to adapt it later thanks to retrofits and special equipment, whatever the evolution of their markets.

The Alpina II is even more productive, thanks to a speed which went from 450 m/min to 500 m/min in its basic version, and which can, later on, be adapted thanks to the “high speed option” to drive the belts at 625 m/min.

Thanks to a new drive, the level of noise in the workplace is much reduced and the end result is a much friendlier environment for operators.

Improvements have been made in the Combifolder and the maximum production speed for 4- and 6-corner boxes has increased from 35,000 boxes to 40,000 boxes per hour.

Flexibility has increased with the Gyrobox module which rotates blanks by up to 90°, thus enabling to fold and glue in one pass jobs which normally require two passes, freeing the imagination of box designers.

The Nick Breaker module breaks nicks in-line which have been left in-situ to allow for correct feeding.

User friendliness
A remote control regroups functions such as start-up, stop, inching and machine speed variation whilst the Cube II control unit with large colour screen eases the interface between man and machine.

Quality controls

Box following device:
The central control C.U.B.E. II, with colour screen, ensures that each box is followed through the various quality control devices (code reader, glue track detector).

Code reader:
A code reader guarantees perfect control of conformity, uniformity and quality of each batch of boxes.

Glue-track detector:
A glue-track detector guarantees perfect control of the presence and quantity of glue on the lower and upper glue tracks.

“Flipper” box ejector:
A “Flipper” box ejector ejects, at all speeds, all types and formats of non-conforming boxes, including E, F and N types.

Documentation
Bobst offers detailed documentation for its products, far beyond the simple supply of standard user and maintenance manuals. An embedded electronic version of the documentation is available on the Alpina II Matic.

The Web Open Data system enables the exchange of the data between the Alpina II and a centralised information system via the internet.

Bobst Group is recognised as aleading supplier of services to the packaging industry worldwide, with sales and service affiliates in more than 50 countries enabling it to answer customers’ needs very quickly.

Remote trouble-shooting
With Bobst VIEW, a Bobst engineer can access the heart of the Alpina II, identify any electrical problem and, where possible, put the machine back into production.

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