Futura harnesses the sticking power of water for lamination


JOI Hydro-Bond is a new technology from Futura which, for the first time in tissue converting, achieves perfect adhesion of tissue plies using water alone – no glue.
The technology is the result of months of experimentation at FuturaLab – Futura’s hub of innovation – and the results have been a revelation.
“There are no chemicals at play here,” says Futura’s Chief Technology Officer Giovacchino Giurlani. “Perfect adhesion of the tissue plies is the result of a combination of the uniform nip pressure of JOI’s renowned Zero Deflexion steel marrying roll, which evenly connects the plies using water to create permanence to the tissue-to-tissue bond which results.”
The technology has been tested and proven under real-life operating conditions, using a wide variety of toilet tissue, including conventional and structured. And thanks to collaboration with our customers, Futura has been able to verify the process in everything from warm and humid to cold and dry climates, using the varied local water quality available. The results have consistently confirmed the validity of Hydro-Bond even with 3 and 4 plies.
The end result is a product which is more hygienic and pleasant for the consumer to use, and more sustainable, from both an environmental and economic point of view. “The roll which results from JOI Hydro-Bond retains all its qualities, but is better thanks to what it is missing,” says Sergio Tonarelli, Futura’s Chief Sales Officer.
The production process without glue will provide increased output. Removing glue from the equation also means reduced contamination of the machine with the benefits which this brings. While glue represents a cost, the main impact is the efficiency-related savings in the process, which mean increased Overall Equipment Efficiency.
“Our task now is to continue sharing this genuine innovation with the industry,” says Tonarelli. “FuturaLab is going to be a busy place as we can now show tissue makers how JOI Hydro-Bond works with their specific paper.”
An open house demonstration to launch JOI Hydro-Bond will take place on Thursday 28 March 2019 at FuturaLab in Lucca.