Development of Adhesive Testing Equipment and Methodology to Study the Adhesive Setting Behaviour in Packaging Applications

This thesis concerns the study of the gluing process of wrapping materials used in packaging and identifies a solution to meet the need to perform quantitative measurements on the quality of bonding. Starting from an analysis of the properties that a glue joint must guarantee and the type of tests that can be carried out, a commercial solution for a device capable to cover all the requirements has been searched. As another option, a special test bench has been studied which allows, with a single device, to perform these tests on different types of materials and adhesives. The project completed has significant advantages compared to the devices already present on the market and allows enormous flexibility and reconfigurability to meet the continuous evolution of the sector where new products are continuously developed. The technical solutions used are high performance solutions typical of automatic machines and this allows the simulation of real conditions of use even in high speed applications. The type of material handled (paper, cardboard or other) can have different formats, even the types of glue and applicators can be the most disparate and can be updated later. The starting configuration provides for the use of a hot melt applicator and a water based adhesive that can be used alternatively or even simultaneously. The HW and SW structure also offers high-level performance and wide flexibility. The operator interface has been designed to allow complete control of the parameters combined with ease of use. This device meets the laboratory needs of both manufacturers of basic materials such as paper and adhesives, as well as manufacturers of packaging machinery.