CARDBOARD TUBES – Moti Packaging

Mailing Tubes – Cardboard Mailing Tube

A mailing tube is a sturdy, solid and durable cardboard container designed for shipping long slender devices and products or rolled up maps, banners and posters. The indestructible interior of mailing tubes offers protection and security for its contents as well as easy handling.

Mailing Tubes comes as triangular prisms, cylindrical tubes and square prisms. They are made of highly durable and sturdy paperboard or corrugated board. Cylindrical Mailing tubes have sheets of kraft and test paper wound around a mandrel to form them, while triangular and square tube are made like boxes and are foldable. Regardless of the tube shape, all mailing tubes are designed to with stand the handling and stress associated with mailing and shipping.

The Raw Material for mailing tubes are Kraft Paper, Test Paper and Paper board that are glued or folded into tube shapes. The choice of the types of materials is based on how durable the mailing tube needs to be, since they can contain Precious and Valuable items or confidential blueprints and drawings. Mailing tubes are sealed with plastic or aluminum caps, cardboard folded over, or tape. The type of seal is dependent on the items being shipped and the security requirements.

Types of Mailing Tubes

Packing and shipping materials have developed and changed over the years to meet the requirements of technology and different shipping methods. Initially long items to be shipped were placed in boxes or wrapped in paper with the hope that they would not be damaged in transit.

Modern mailing tubes have been perfected and improved to meet the demands of modern shipping. They come in varying lengths, widths, shapes and materials to exactly meet the need of business. The sturdiness and durability of mailing tubes makes it possible to use them successfully. Even when they have outlined their usefulness, the raw materials in mailing tubes can be recycled and repurposed.

Mailing Tube Types:

Telescoping Mailing Tubes

Telescoping mailing tubes, also known as adjustable tubes, can have their length extended to accommodate different sized documents, maps, banners, parts and posters. They have a Spiral Wound construction with thick heavy duty cardboard walls. Telescoping mailing tubes are a tube where the inside tube easily slides in and out of the exterior tube to match the length of the item to be shipped.

The durability and sturdiness of telescoping mailing tubes make them ideal for shipping metal rods, long industrial parts and other heavy elongated objects. They allow for instant customizing of the tube to match any length. To prevent the tube from retracting, tape or a label is placed over the connection between the tubes.

Snap Seal Mailing Tubes

Snap seal mailing tubes or crimped and mailing tubes eliminates the need for tape and end plugs. To load an item into a snap seal mailing tube, one end of the tube must be crimped while the other end is left open. Whatever is to be shipped can easily be slid into the open end. Once fully loaded the open end can be crimped. The simple crimping process can effortlessly seal snap mailing tubes. Of the many types of mailing tubes, snap seal mailing tubes are the most economical but still have the same strong rigid structure found in other mailing tubes.

The easy to open and close ends of snap seal mailing tubes save time and forms a tight firm seal that remains closed. Snap seal mailing tubes are made of wound craft paper that is glued on a mandrel. They came in length of a few inches up to three or four feet.

Triangular Mailing Tubes

The manufacturing of Triangular mailing tubes is similar to that used to produce boxes. They are die cut with flaps to be folded and glued. The main benefit of Triangular cardboard mailing tubes is that they lay flat and can be stacked without rolling or shifting. In the majority of cases, they are made of corrugated board with flaps and come in a wide variety of lengths from ones less than a foot up to ones that are three to four feet.

The three sides of Triangular mailing tubes also come in variety widths, which the manufacturer can adjust to for the specific requirements of a product. The three diminishes of a Triangular mailing tubes are its length, the width of the sides, and the size of its opening, each of which can be customized.

Unlike Wound Cylindrical tubes, Triangular mailing tubes have a choice of types of openings. With one type, the tube opens at both ends with three flaps that overlap to seal the tube. Items to be shipped are placed in the tube much like a cylindrical tube by being slid in one end.

The other configuration of triangular mailing tubes is similar to a box with flaps and a lid. With this opening type, one of the sides of the tube serves as the lid. The ends of the tube are much like the ends of a box and are tightly sealed and glued. Items to be shipped are placed in the side of the tube after which the lid is closed and taped.

The different configuration of openings of Triangular mailing tubes makes it possible to adjust the tube to precision fit the needs of a product. It is a kind of flexibility that has led to the popularity of Triangular mailing tubes.

Plastic Plug Mailing Tubes

Plastic Plug mailing tubes are an alternative to Snap mailing tubes and have a plug that fits into the end of the tube to replace the Snap configuration. They are manufactured using the same method as Snap mailing tubes by being wound on a mandrel with overlapping layers of kraft paper. Plastic Plug mailing tubes come in several different designs, which vary depending on the type of plug being used.

The variation in Plastic Plug mailing tube are in relation to the sealed end of the tube, which can be closed with a permanent metal plug, a flap of cardboard, a permanent plastic plug or a removable plug. The type of end of a plastic plug mailing tube is dependent on the manufacturer and the tube’s design.

Plastic Plug mailing tubes comes in a wide assortment of lengths and diameters, with lengths ranging up to several feet and diameters from a few inches up t close to ten inches. Plugs for the tubes are designed to be forced into the tube such that they form an impenetrable seal to keep out dust, dirt, water and other materials.

Metal Plug Mailing Tubes

An alternative to plastic plug mailing tubes is metal plug mailing tubes, which are more permanent and durable. Metal plugs can take different formats with ones that are similar to Plastic Plugs and can be wedged into the end holes of mailing tubes. Another type of Metal Plugs is self-gripping or self-locking which is permanently attached to the ends of a mailing tube after being inserted using a mallet.

Metal Plug mailing tubes have one accessible end with the other end permanently secured. The Plug are made of highly durable heavy-duty materials that makes them capable of being used multiple times and come in diameter sizes from a little over an inch up to nearly nine inches.

In the mailing tube packaging industry Plastic, Metal or other forms of plugs are also known as enclosures and are specifically designed to meet the varying shipping needs of a wide variety of applications.

Curled End Mailing Tubes

Curled End mailing tubes are also referred to as rolled edge canisters. They come in two or three piece adjustable or telescoping tubes or single piece tubes. In one design of a Curled end mailing tube, one end of the tube has its circumference folded inward with a round piece of heavy paper or cardboard glued to the top of the curled ends.

In a two-piece adjustable Curled End mailing tube, the telescoping piece is curled and sealed with a piece of paper or cardboard. A three piece Curled End adjustable mailing tube has a single piece tube without either end sealed and fits into two Curled End tubes that have one end curled and sealed.

The two Varieties of Curled End mailing tubes are:

Paper Cap Mailing Tube

Paper Cap mailing tubes are one of the oldest forms of mailing tubes with ends that are paper shaded caps placed over the end of the tube. The end caps are made of sturdy craft paper, with one end glued or stapled while the other can be slipped off to load the tube.

Square Mailing Tube

A square mailing tube has the same structure as a box and is die cut. They can be open at one end like a long box or be open on the side like a traditional box. Like triangular mailing tubes, Square mailing tubes sits flat and can be easily stacked without without concern for them rolling or shifting. They can be made from white coated paperboard or corrugated paper board either of which are durable and capable of with standing the rigors of shipping.

After being shaped, square mailing tubes are shipped flat to be folded by the customers, which can be completed swiftly and secured with tape or glue.

CARDBOARD TUBES