Carton Cutting & Sizing Machine

A whole machine, not a part

This was a full special-purpose machine design rather than a component: welded frame, driven roller stack, gear train, creasing and cutting stations, infeed table and the structure that ties them together. The value in modelling it completely is that the interfaces — the places where machines usually go wrong — are resolved in CAD instead of on the shop floor.

The roller stack

The cutting and creasing rollers are the working heart of the machine. Their spacing sets the carton dimensions, so the bearing housings and the frame that carries them were detailed with adjustment built in, allowing setup to be trimmed without remaking parts.

Driving it in time

Every roller has to turn in time with the others or the carton is cut in the wrong place. The gear train along the drive side is what enforces that, and modelling it as a full assembly meant the ratios and the physical gear sizes were checked against the available space together — a gear that gives the right ratio but does not fit is not a solution.

The infeed

The flat infeed table sets how squarely board enters the rollers, and squareness at the infeed determines accuracy at the output. The table and its side guides were designed as part of the machine rather than as an afterthought bolted on later.

What was delivered

A complete machine assembly, fabrication drawings for the frame, machining drawings for shafts and roller components, the gear schedule, and a full bill of materials covering bought-out bearings, drives and fasteners.