High Speed Automatic Spiral Paper Tube Making Production Machine

How a Spiral Tube Winding Machine Works？

The process is called spiral winding because the paper is wound at a precise angle (typically 15-85 degrees) around a mandrel, creating a strong, continuous seam.

1. Unwinding: Multiple rolls of paper (kraft, recycled, specialty, liner) are loaded onto the unwinding stands. These become the piles (layers) of the tube.

2. Gluing: Each paper web passes through a precision glue application system (wheel, nozzle, or roller coater). A hot-melt or PVA (white) adhesive is applied to the entire underside of the paper strip.

3. Spiral Winding: The glued paper strips are fed onto a rotating steel mandrel. The key is the carriage that holds the paper rolls moves laterally along the mandrel at a controlled speed, creating the spiral angle. Each new layer is glued onto the previous one.

4. Forming & Pressure: The tube passes through forming belts or pressure rollers that ensure tight bonding and consistent wall thickness.

5. Cutting: As the continuous tube emerges from the mandrel, a rotating or flying cut-off saw cuts it to pre-set lengths.

6. Ejection & Drying: The cut tubes are ejected and often accumulated on a drying rack to allow the adhesive to fully cure before handling.

Key Applications of Spiral Tubes & Cores

• Textile Industry: Fabric rolls, yarn cones.

• Packaging: Mailing tubes, industrial cores for plastic film, foil, laminates, and flexible packaging (the largest market).

• Paper Industry: Cores for newsprint, printing paper, and tissue.

• Construction: Concrete column forms, sonotubes.

• Specialty: Fireworks, gift wrap, posters, displays.

Types of Machines & Key Components

1. By Level of Automation:

• Basic Machines: Manual roll changes, simple controls, lower output. Good for startups or specialty products.

• Semi-Automatic: Automated cutting and glue control, but may require manual loading/unloading.

• Fully Automatic: High-speed, with automatic spliceers (for non-stop roll changes), PLC controls, automatic bundling, and high output. Common in large-scale production.

2. By Mandrel Type:

• Solid Mandrel: Most common, produces straight, rigid tubes.

• Flexible or Cable Mandrel: Used for producing very long tubes that can be coiled for storage/transport.

3. Essential Machine Components:

• Unwind Stands: Number defines piles (e.g., 4-ply machine has 4 stands).

• Glue System: Precision is critical for bond strength and minimal waste.

• Mandrel: Diameter determines the Inner Diameter (ID) of the tube. Often changeable.

• Carriage & Drive: The heart of the spiral motion. A servo-driven carriage allows for precise angle control.

• Cut-off Saw: High-speed, clean-cutting saw (often diamond-tipped).

• PLC Control Panel: Controls speed, length, angle, and glue application.