Continuous lamination technology

The process of covering furniture boards and ribbons with foil in the HOT MELT LAMINATION technology ensures excellent quality of the surface finish of the products. All thanks to a very even application of a controlled minimum basis weight of PUR reactive adhesive, on which a polymer film is immediately applied. Such a finish is characterized by perfect smoothness and exceptional quality.

At Melaco, we use the HOT MELT LAMINATION technology in the production of COMPLETE SKIN postforming furniture boards and strips. The adhesive joint is highly resistant to moisture and elevated temperature, which means that our furniture elements are often used in the production of kitchen and bathroom furniture. They are also perfect for bedroom and room furniture, guaranteeing high durability and reliability for years.

HOT MELT LAMINATION – preparation of raw materials

What does the production process in the HOT MELT LAMINATION technology look like? Let’s start with the substrates, i.e. the raw materials necessary to carry it out, the availability of which we ensure after receiving the customer’s order. Depending on the type of order, these are:

• MDF raw and laminated on one side FSC® with reduced formaldehyde emission DIN EN 16516,
• raw and double-sided laminated particle boards FSC® with reduced formaldehyde emission DIN EN 16516,
• polymeric thermoplastic films for 2D application,
• duroplastic films for 2D application,
• PUR HOTMELT hot melt adhesives.

Raw materials are pre-treated to prepare them for the HOT MELT LAMINATION process. The scope of these works includes their cutting, milling and planing, and more precisely:

• cutting of MDF boards and chipboards to the gross width, which will then be subjected to the gluing process on the continuous gluing line;
• cutting polymer thermoplastic films into rolls with the intended width on a cutting machine;
• planing of POSTFORMING longitudinal edges on a sizing and tenoning machine using cutters ensuring the highest efficiency and machining accuracy and with a curvature radius from R2 to R65 mm.

The course of the technological process – gluing the board surface

The gluing of the surface of MDF boards or chipboard with a thickness of 6 to 40 mm with special core parameters intended for deep milling is carried out continuously using polyurethane hot melt adhesives and polymer thermoplastic PVC films with a thickness of 0.15 mm to 0.8 mm and duroplastic films finish type with a weight of 60-80g / m2.

In this process, the wide surface of the board is glued first, followed by the rounded longitudinal edges of the POSTFORMING type.

Polyurethane glue with a temperature of 135-140 degrees C is applied to the board surface with a roller. The amount of glue applied to the board surface is 60-80 g / m2. An important issue is to provide the technological process with appropriate air humidity (35-45%) and temperature (18-25 degrees C). All process parameters are monitored and recorded, and the whole process is carried out fully automatically in one cycle.

The product that leaves the production line is then directly packed on pallets and put into the buffer of semi-finished products in order to achieve optimal parameters of the adhesive joint. We provide them thanks to the cross-linking process, i.e. the absorption of water vapor, which leads to the formation of chemical bonds. This process requires 7 days of storage, very strict humidity conditions (min. 35%) and a minimum temperature of 18 degrees C. The joint must be hardened, but it must also retain permanent flexibility. Only after these parameters are achieved, the product is sent to the customer.

Products of the technological process

The products of the HOT MELT LAMINATION technological process are products with varied or homogeneous surface properties (color, texture) – unprocessed or subjected to final treatment, in accordance with the customer’s order. They can be:

• COMPLETE SKIN – 2D flat pressed furniture boards with external surface finished in commercial or customer-specific formats.
• COMPLETE SKIN – 2D POSTFORMING furniture ribbons with a finished outer surface and two longitudinal edges with a radius of R2-R65 mm in customer-specific formats.