Glossary

The substance used to hold plies of solid fiberboard together, to hold linerboard to the tips of flutes of corrugated medium, or to hold overlapping flaps together to form the joint or to close a box.

A shaped unit of materials, enclosed in a fiberboard container or other wrapping, bound by strapping, rope or wire.

An attribute of containerboard, but the values may be determined from the combined corrugated board. When determining the basis weight from combined board, the take-up factor of the corrugated medium, which varies with flute size, and the weight of the adhesive must be considered.

The ability of containerboard or combined board to be folded along score lines without rupture of the surface fibers to the point of seriously weakening the structure.

A flat sheet of corrugated board that has been cut, scored, and slotted, but not yet glued together.

The types of paperboard used to manufacture folding cartons and set up (rigid) boxes.

In the U.S., a statement printed in a round or rectangular design on a corrugated box flap that certifies the box conforms to all applicable standards, and identifies its manufacturer. This is sometimes referred to as a class stamp or cert stamp.

Distinctive configuration of a box design, without regard to size. A name or number identifies styles in common use.

Multiple layers of corrugated board glued together to form a pad of desired thickness, normally used for interior packing.

Unpackaged goods within a shipping container. Also, a large box used to contain a volume of product (e.g., “bulk box”).

A small group of boxes grouped together for shipment, usually with plastic banding.

Usually expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils) or sometimes referred to as “points.” Caliper measurements are also used as an indirect measure of manufacturing quality.

A thin, stiff pasteboard used in the creation of playing cards, signs, etc. Term is often misused to refer to Boxboard (folding cartons) and Containerboard (corrugated boxes).

A folding box made from boxboard, used for consumer quantities of product. A carton is not recognized as a shipping container.

As used by the packaging industry, a corrugated or solid fiberboard box.

A paperboard generally made from recycled paper stock. Uses include backing sheets for padded writing paper, partitions within boxes and the center ply or plies of solid fiberboard.

A fabricated sheet assembled from several components, such as corrugated or solid fiberboard.

A corrugated box’s resistance to uniformly applied external forces. Top-to-bottom compression strength is related to the load a container may encounter when stacked. End-to-end or side-to-side compression may also be of interest for particular applications.

The paperboard components (linerboard, corrugating material and chipboard) used to manufacture corrugated and solid fiberboard. The raw materials used to make containerboard may be virgin cellulose fiber, recycled fiber or a combination of both.

Corrugated board is comprised of one or more layer of wavy corrugated medium (fluting) and one or more layer of flat corrugated linerboard.

The machine that unwinds two or more continuous sheets of containerboard from rolls, presses flutes into the sheet(s) of corrugating medium, applies adhesive to the tips of the flutes and affixes the sheet(s) of linerboard to form corrugated board. The continuous sheet of board may be slit to desired widths, cut off to desired lengths and scored in one direction.

A style of fiberboard trays or caps, having flaps scored, folded and secured at flange side walls forming the depth, as opposed to a slotted style having a set of major and minor closing flaps.

A box that is stamped out from a steel rule die, as opposed to being produced on a flexo folder gluer. Die-cut boxes provide greater design options and tighter size tolerances.

A corrugated board construction where two layers of medium are glued between three layers of flat linerboard facing.

For a regular slotted containers (RSC), box dimensions are expressed as length x width x height, always using inside dimensions.

The Edge Crush Test is a standard industry measure of the stacking strength of corrugated board. The amount of force needed to crush on-edge combined board is a primary factor in predicting the compressive strength of the completed box. When using certain specifications in the carrier classifications, minimum edge crush values must be certified.

Sheets of linerboard used as the flat outer members of combined corrugated board. They are sometimes called inside and outside liners.

A general term describing combined paperboard (corrugated or solid) used to manufacture containers.

Extension of the side wall panels that, when sealed, close the remaining openings of a box. Usually defined by one scoreline and three edges.

A machine, usually capable or running at high speed that prints, folds, cuts, and glues sheets of corrugated board, converting them into shipping boxes.

The wavy layer of corrugated medium that is glued between the flat inner and outer sheets of linerboard to create corrugated board. Fluting generally runs parallel to the height of a shipping box.

The opposite edges of the blank glued, stapled, wire stitched, or taped together to form a box.

German word meaning “strength”; designating pulp, paper or paperboard produced from wood fibers.

A creased fiberboard sheet inserted as a sleeve in a container and covering all side walls. Used to provide extra stacking strength or cushioning.

The flat sheets of paper that comprise the outer surfaces of a sheet of corrugated board.

The paperboard used to make the fluted layer of corrugated board.

The Mullen Test is a standard industry measure of the bursting strength of corrugated board.

A design feature wherein the top and/or bottom flaps of a box do not butt, but extend one over the other. The amount of overlap is measured from flap edge to flap edge.

A corrugated or solid fiberboard sheet, or sheet of other authorized material, used for extra protection or for separating tiers or layers of articles when packed for shipment.

Securing and loading containers on pallets for shipment as a single unit load, typically for handling by mechanical equipment.

A “face” or “side” of a box.

One of the two major product categories of the paper industry. Includes the broad classification of materials made of cellulose fibers, primarily wood pulp and recycled paper stock, on board machines. The major types are containerboard and boxboard. (The other major product group of the paper industry is paper, including printing and writing papers, packaging papers, newsprint and tissue.)

Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.25 mm, 0.010 in, or 10 points) than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a grammage above 224 g/m², but there are exceptions.^[1] Paperboard can be single- or multi-ply. Paperboard can be easily cut and formed, is lightweight, and because it is strong, is used in packaging. Another end-use would be graphic printing, such as book and magazine covers or postcards. Sometimes it is referred to as cardboard, which is a generic, lay term used to refer to any heavy paper pulp–based board. Paperboard is also used in fine arts for creating sculptures.

Terminology and classifications of paperboard are not always uniform. Differences occur depending on specific industry, locale, and personal choice. In general, the following are often used:

Boxboard or carton board: paperboard for folding cartons and rigid set-up
boxes

Folding boxboard (FBB): a bending grade capable of being scored and bending without fracture

Chipboard: a recycled, low quality board

White lined chipboard (WLC): a white, often clay-coated chipboard

Kraft board: a strong virgin fiber board often used for beverage carriers. Often clay- coated for printing

Laminated board: a lamination of paperboards and other materials, for example liquid packaging board

Solid Bleached Board (SBB) or Solid Bleached Sulphate (SBS): clean white board used for foods etc. Sulphate refers to the kraft process

Solid unbleached board (SUB): board made from unbleached chemical pulp

Containerboard: a type of paperboard manufactured for the production of corrugated fiberboard

Corrugated medium: the inner fluted portion of corrugated fiberboard

Linerboard: a strong stiff board for one or both sides of corrugated boxes. It is the flat covering over the corrugating medium.

Binder’s board: a paperboard used in bookbinding for making hard covers.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperboard

A set of corrugated, solid fiberboard or chipboard pieces that interlock when assembled to form a number of cells into which articles may be placed for shipment.

Any of the several layers of linerboard or solid fiberboard.

Term used to describe the thickness or caliper of paperboard, where one point equals one thousandth of an inch.

The puncture resistance of combined board indicates the ability of the finished container to withstand external and internal point pressure forces and to protect the product during rough handling. This method is used on heavy double wall and triple wall as an alternative to burst.

A box style created from a single sheet of corrugated board. The sheet is scored and slotted to permit folding. Flaps extending from the side and end panels form the top and bottom of the box. The two outer flaps are one-half the container’s width in order to meet at the center of the box when folded. Flute direction may be perpendicular to the length of the sheet (usually for top-opening RSCs) or parallel to the length of the sheet (usually for end-opening RSCs).

A sheet of corrugated fiberboard with one or more scorelines, slots or slits. May be further defined as a box blank, a box part, a tray or wrap, a partition piece, or an inner packing piece.

An impression or crease in corrugated or solid fiberboard, made to position and facilitate folds.

The junction created by any free edge of a container flap or panel where it abuts or rests on another portion of the container and to which it may be fastened by tape, stitches or adhesive in the process of closing the container.

Boxes that have been squared, with one set of end flaps sealed, ready to be filled with product. An article that is packed for shipment in a fully assembled or erected form.

A rectangle of combined board, untrimmed or trimmed, and sometimes scored across the corrugations when that operation is done on the corrugator. Also, a rectangle of any of the component layers of containerboard, or of paper or a web of paperboard as it is being unwound from the roll.

A flat sheet of material used as a base upon which goods and materials may be assembled, stored and transported.

A cut made in a fiberboard sheet without removal of material.

Shallow knife cuts made in a box blank to allow its flaps and sides to be folded into a shipping box.

A wide cut, or pair of closely spaced parallel cuts including removal of a narrow strip of material made in a fiberboard sheet, usually to form flaps and permit folding without bulges caused by the thickness of the material. Common widths are 1/4 in. (6 mm) and 3/8 in. (9 mm).

The maximum compressive load a container can bear over a given length of time, under given environmental/distribution conditions, without failing.

Indicates the containerboard’s resistance to breaking when it is pulled into or through equipment during the converting and printing processes.

A sheet of combined boards, scored and folded to a multi-sided form with open ends. It may be an element of a box style or a unit of interior packing that provides protection and compression strength.

A large group of bundled or unbundled boxes, banded and/or stretch filmed together for shipment.

A load of a number of articles or containers, bound together by means of tension strapping, plastic shrink or stretch films.

A continuous sheet of paperboard or paper.

A scored and slotted sheet of corrugated fiberboard that is formed into a box by folding it around its contents. The user makes both the flap and joint closures.