TIP 0304-62

ISSUED 1995 REVISED 2000 REVISED 2004 2004 TAPPI The information and data contained in this document were prepared by a technical committee of the Association. The committee and the Association assume no liability or responsibility in connection with the use of such information or data, including but not limited to any liability under patent, copyright, or trade secret laws. The user is responsible for determining that this document is the most recent edition published.

Checking the parallel of corrugating rolls with NCR paper

Scope Misaligned or out of parallel corrugator rolls can result in medium fracture, leaning flutes, and hi-lows. It can also reduce the life of corrugator rolls and the drive motor. The simplest method of checking the parallel of corrugator rolls is to use two copy no carbon required or NCR paper. Small narrow rolls are sold at most office supply stores for use in calculators or adding machines. Wider widths can usually be purchased from corrugating roll vendors. When fed through the corrugating rolls, the flute tips leave their impressions on the NCR paper where contact occurs as depicted in Figures 2 and 3. Safety precautions The safest method of checking the parallel of corrugating rolls is when the machine is cold. This procedure recommends taping the strips of NCR paper to a corrugating roll so that it passes between the nip while the machine is locked out and tagged out (LOTO) and then jogging the rolls until the taped end comes out of the nip. Then the machine should again be locked out and tagged out so that the strips can safely be removed. Keep hands away from the machine while the rolls are being jogged! Content This TIP describes a procedure for checking the parallel of corrugating rolls in a single facer using NCR paper. The impressions made on the paper by the corrugating roll flute tips are then compared to evaluate parallelism. Procedure Ensure the machine is cold and locked out and tagged out (LOTO). The pressure roll should be unloaded and backed away from the lower corrugating or it will shred the NCR paper. Tear off two strips of the two ply NCR paper approximately equal in length and use a small piece of tape (such as masking tape) to hold the two copies of each strip together at one end as shown in Figure 1.

TIP Category: Automatically Periodically Reviewed (Ten-year review) TAPPI

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Checking the parallel of corrugating rolls with NCR paper / 2

The width and length of the NCR paper are not critical for checking parallel. Widths ranging from 2 to 10 inches (5 to 25.4 cm.) are commonly used. As a rule of thumb, the length should cover at least 3/4 of the circumference of the roll. For example, if you had 12 (30.5 cm.) diameter rolls, you might tear off two strips of NCR paper approximately 28 inches (74 cm.) long. Label the strips for operator and drive sides. If the top roll has safety

guards, leave them in place for this procedure. While the machine is locked out, tape the strips of NCR paper to a corrugating roll equidistant from the ends so that they pass through the nip between the two corrugating rolls. One strip will be run through the nip point at each end of the rolls (operator and drive sides) simultaneously. Make sure everyone is clear of the machine. Remove the safety locks and restore power, air or hydraulics to the machine. Set the corrugating roll loading pressure to where you normally would run. Jog the machine until the taped end comes out of the nip. Then the machine should again be locked out and tagged out so that the strips can safely be removed. Keep hands away from the machine while the rolls are being jogged! If the NCR paper fractures you can back off the corrugator loading pressure a bit and run another set through. For B and C flute rolls, this is normally not an issue. The narrow width NCR paper typically does not work well for microflutes because they tend to shred the lighter weight NCR paper used for adding machines. The wide heavier weight NCR paper that can be purchased from roll vendors should be used in this case. Running the paper over where a finger or vacuum slot is located will ensure that the paper feeds all the way through and comes out over the pressure roll. Otherwise, the paper may fall off and end up under the single facer or in the starch pan.

Take the strips, which have been fed through the corrugator rolls and discard the top copy of each NCR paper strip so that you have the bottom copy, which will have the darkest flute tip impressions on it. Smooth the operator and drive side strips out on a flat surface (adjacent to each other) and align the flute tip impression marks. If the white spaces are even in width, the rolls are parallel as shown in figure two below.

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Figure 2. Parallel roll impressions. If the white spaces are not of equal width, then the rolls are not parallel. Note that out of parallel roll impressions can appear parallel as the light and dark bands will line up in one orientation. However when one strip is moved one flute impression over, the out of parallel condition is more easily seen. This is illustrated in figure 3 below. Figure 3 shows a comparison of operator and drive side strips. In the top picture, the light and dark bands line up. In the bottom picture, one strip has been moved one flute impression and the out of parallel condition becomes apparent.

Figure 3. Out of parallel roll impression. Verify parallelism several times by moving one line at a time and check alignment. Corrugator rolls with excessive wear will yield very wide flute impressions and in extreme cases will almost completely darken the NCR paper making it difficult or even impossible to recognize flute tip impressions from valley impressions. As always, refer to your equipment maintenance manual for the correct procedures to parallel the corrugator rolls.

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Checking the parallel of corrugating rolls with NCR paper / 4

Rolls, Corrugating machines, Single facers, Maintenance, Alignment Additional information Effective date of issue: November 18, 2004. Task Group Members John Troyke, Georgia-Pacific Corp., Chairman John Rutherford, Inland Container Corp. Ray Shultz, Beacon Container Corp. Richard Croker, Georgia-Pacific Corp. Don Scribner, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. Jeff Fratus, Corrugating Roll Corp.