Interview with Fulvio Petratto, Design, Production, and Sales of Post-Press Machines of Petratto S.r.l. at Print4All.
Today, we’re here at Print4All for the Corrugated Experience. I’d like to introduce you to our die-cutting and foil stamping machine, and show you a few samples produced on it.
This is a microwave sheet, 1.5 mm thick, currently unprinted. The machine is called the PDF 74—it’s specially designed for die cutting and hot foil stamping, suitable for both digital and offset printing.
It can register sheets using sheet edges for offset-printed sheets, or print marks for digitally printed ones, like this sample. This ensures every sheet is perfectly positioned.
Petratto S.r.l. is an Italian company specializing in the design and production of innovative post-press equipment for the carton converting and bookbinding industries. Founded in 1976 as an evolution of a family business dating back to 1938, Petratto is known for its folding-gluing lines, creasing machines, and digital die-cutting systems.
— Oh, I see the gold foil on corrugated! It’s my first time seeing that.
— Actually, we’ve been doing this for about eight years.
This is a very versatile machine—it works with B2 and B1 formats, is fully automatic, and entirely digital. As you can see, there are no manual tools required. The operator controls everything through a central panel.
The system includes a hot stamping unit with a three-zone heated plate, each zone with individual temperature control. You can use multiple foil colors, like gold and silver, in one run.
A key innovation: each axis of the machine has its own motor. The press, grippers, and side lay all move independently, allowing precise coordination and fast setup. That’s what makes this system so compact and advanced.
Now, let me show you an example—this job features four foil stamp positions using a single die (cliché). You can digitally program the stamping sequence, including the press timing and foil dwell time, as well as repetitions per position.
We can load five sheets, hit start, and the machine feeds, aligns, stamps, and delivers the sheets—all automatically. Over here, you can also see the foil unwinding system.
Now here’s the final result.
On the same machine, we also have a steel frame for die cutting with a wooden plate using the standard centerline system. Switching between foil stamping and die cutting is quick—you just change the frame, although it’s a bit too complex to show right now.
This machine runs at 110 cycles per minute, which is impressive for its size and precision.
Next, let me introduce our folding-gluing solution. It’s not a standard-size folder-gluer, which usually runs 20 meters long—this one is much more compact.
We start with a small feeder and a pre-folding unit that breaks the corrugated lines. Then we move into the crash-lock module, where flaps are lifted and glued using two glue points on the small flap and another on the main closing flap.
Following that, the plough folds both flaps simultaneously to complete the box. Let’s run a sample.
Oops—looks like we forgot to switch on the vacuum or the delivery is off. No problem—it may look like a toy, but it’s a fully functional folding-gluing unit with excellent precision for compact corrugated applications.
— Thank you very much for your time!
— Thank you too, it was a pleasure!
corruga.expert
