Cardboard Tubes

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>Cardboard tubes can be made to fit a broad range of products, and are made in different levels of structural strength and thickness, depending on the level of protection required. Most commonly used for mailing tubes and shipping tubes, cardboard tubes are readily available for papers, posters, documents and pieces of artwork which are able to be rolled into a cylindrical shape. These postal tubes are able to withstand the pressure and stress that occurs during transit as they are formed from a material such as high quality kraft paper. Kraft tubes are strong and are often used in shipping and packaging. Other common uses for cardboard tubes include: paper cores providing structural strength to items such as rolls of fabric, paper towels or toilet paper, and electrical wires, coin banks for collecting money and donations, caulking tubes for construction projects, grease cartridges for use in the automotive and mechanical industry and paper cans which are used widely in packaging for foods, cosmetics and merchandise. Another specific use for cardboard tubing is by contractors and construction industries that use large, heavy duty and highly durable cardboard tubes, called Sonotubes®, for concrete pillar forming.

Most cardboard tubes are spiral wound and strengthened with adhesive additives. Firstly, large sheets of cardboard or paper board are cut into thin ribbons which are then coated in adhesive and wrapped on an angle around a mandrel of the desired shape. Numerous layers of cardboard can be added to the forming mandrel, depending on the desired strength of the tube. All paper tubes are measured and defined by their interior dimensions rather than exterior, and while they can vary greatly, most tubes are no longer than 48 inches in length to ensure structural integrity. For heavy duty applications when high strength, waterproof and resistant cardboard is needed, adhesives or interior waterproof sealing layers can be added to the tube fabrication process. The wood pulp-resin mix is formed and cured, and may be followed by further curing in an oven. While post forming heat treatments take place, the pulp and adhesives coalesce to provide a stronger product. The finished product is more durable and holds its shape better in humidity or when affected by elements of weather. These are important features, especially for the storage or transportation of products which in addition to regular transit damage, can be further damaged or ruined by elements of moisture or air.

For transportation, storage or mailing of fragile items, thicker cardboard should be used. Mailing tubes are designed to be strong enough to guard against denting, bumping and breaking during transit, and therefore it is important to purchase the correct size of tube to ensure the contents are not moving around more than is necessary inside the tube. Both ends of shipping tubes are typically closed with a plastic plug, one of which is removable, but may be sealed for postal or transportation purposes, especially of confidential documents or medical and scientific products. Or, the tubes themselves may fold in and close at either end. The measurements given to classify tubes are the interior dimensions of the tube, taking into consideration the wall thickness and closing space at each end. Shipping and mailing tubes are often stronger than boxes or other containers and the cylindrical shapes make an ideal shipping container as there are many products that it is preferable not to fold such as posters, artwork, large maps or blueprints etc.

The most common ways cardboard tubes are used range broadly in terms of function, size and industry. Tubes can be coated in colorful, customizable printed paper or foil. For food processing items, product information and logos can be printed out the outside of the tube. For gift packaging and holiday themed postal tubes, colors, patterns and designs can be incorporated into the cylindrical shape. Cardboard tubes are often manufactured from recycled paper and those made from more durable board can be used over again, making them a cost-efficient alternative to metal, plastic, glass and wood packaging. They are comparably cost-effective because cardboard materials are easier for manufacturers to cut, purchase and dispose of than most other materials. Cardboard tubes also rival plastic and metal tubes in strength-to-weight ratio, making them an ideal solution for mailing, shipping, storing and distributing almost any material. Heavy-duty cardboard tubes are difficult to dent and break, therefore mailing and shipping tubes offer superior protection from rough handling. However, cardboard is a porous material and therefore for specific applications such as those for electrical wiring or food processing, layers of non-porous material may need to be added to the interior or exterior of the tube as a barrier against moisture. Despite this drawback, cardboard tubes are tough, flexible and renewable, and therefore provide a great commercial and industrial solution to many tubing needs.

Image Provided by Ace Paper Tube Corporation

Images Provided by Valk Industries, Inc.

Cardboard Tube Types

• Cardboard Tubes are any tubes made from spiral wound cardboard material.  They serve many purposes from cores for various products to storage containers and shipping purposes.
  
• Coin bank is a small paper tube used to hold specific monetary amounts of coins of the same denomination.
• Corrugated tubes are tubes made from composite paperboard, which is a layer of fluted material sandwiched between two layers of linerboard.
  
• Fiber tubes are tubes made from fiberboard and can be used for individual roll storage, to protect sensitive fabrics from crushing, to separate secure small lots, to provide a location for return goods and to make "bottom" rolls accessible when an entire roll is not cut.
  
• Mailing tubes are cardboard tubes that paper products are rolled up into for compact shipping that does not bend or crease the material being shipped.
• Shipping tubes, also called mailing tubes, are tubes, potentially having graphic advertisements printed on them, which are used for the express purpose of shipping items that fit conveniently in a tube. End cap materials include wood, metal or paper.
  
• Sonotube is a large, water-resistant cylinder paper form used in concrete pouring applications.
• Paper tube cores are tubes that are typically spiral wound and used for any material that requires a center, including such things as paper towels, fax paper rolls, tape and film products.
  
• Paper cans are composite containers typically made from paperboard material with an inner liner that provides a protective barrier. Thicknesses and sizes vary, as do types of closures and label options.
  
• Spiral wound paper tubes have longer cores.

Cardboard Tube Terms

Composite or Paperboard Can - A package comprised of a body with two ends made from a variety of materials and available in many shapes and sizes. The container bodies are paper tubes and various liner materials to achieve barrier requirements and a printed label for package graphics of paper tubes.

Corrugating Medium - The fluted middle portion of a corrugated boxes or paper tubes that are made from paperboard and typically produced on a Fourdrinier machine as a single layer, using varying combinations of virgin and recycled fibers.

Cylinder Paperboard - The paperboard produced from recycled fibers on a cylinder machine consisting of multiple plies that are bonded together in the papermaking process.

End Closure - Rigid metal caps, film caps, plastic caps, paper caps or paper structures that are mechanically attached to the end of a package or a layered plastic film, foil or paper membrane heat-sealed to the end of a rigid package.
 
Engineered Carriers - Paper tubes, Cardboard Tubes, and cores of paper or plastic that serve as product carriers for film tubes, paper tubes, tape tubes, textile tubes, metal tubes and more.  The carrier tubes are highly engineered to permit take-up of these materials at extreme speeds.
 
Fiberboard - A composite material made from compressed wood fibers and glue.
 
Fourdrinier Machine - A machine divided into a wet end, a press section, a drier section and, typically but not always a calendar section that is employed in the manufacture of all grades of paper tubes and board.
 
Kraft Paper tube - A coarse paper made from a type of chemical wood pulp, whose color is dark brown but may be bleached to lighter shades of cream. Taking its name from the German word for strong this paper is typically used for wrapping and packaging.
 
Mandrel - The core elongated mold around which resin-impregnated fiber, paper, fabric, tape or filaments are wound to form pipes, tubes or structural shell shapes.
 
Membrane Closure - A flexible material attached to the end of a rigid package with a peelable heat seal.  This material can be a coax plastic film or a layering of plastic film, foil or paper with a heat-seal coating.
 
Paperboard - A subdivision of paper that is generally heavier in basis weight, thicker and more rigid than paper. All sheets of 12 points (0.012) or more in thickness are considered paperboard with some exceptions, such as blotting papers, felts and drawing paper in excess of 12 points, while some corrugating medium, chipboard and linerboard of less than 12 points are still categorized as paperboard.
 
Recovered Paper - Paper and paper derivatives separated, removed or diverted from solid waste disposal for the purpose of sale, use, reuse or recycling, whether or not such material necessitates further separation and processing.
 
Spiral Winding - The process in which cut ribbon of cardboard, coated with adhesive is wrapped in a helix pattern around a set round mandrel to produce spiral wound paper tubes. It's done at an angle that will produce a continual flow of product that can be cut to any specification.