RollPack

RollPack is the denomination of a machine, which packages a mattress compressed into a roll, thus creating a roll mattress. The machine was patented in 1996 by a german company in the city of Mannheim. The name is increasingly being used also for machines of other producers, which compress mattresses and package them into a roll. This is done with various different processes. The basic idea to compression roll certain mattresses (foam) is much older than the appearance of the "RollPack" machine, but received an immense uplift by the new technology of that machine. Since then big distributors like ikea deliver most of their rollable mattresses in many countries in that form of packaging.

Rollable Mattresses

Foam Mattresses

Foam mattresses are the main bulk of rolled mattresses. The foam must have certain minimum quality, in order to recover after unpacking without loss of volume and with unchanged comfort properties. For PU-foam there is a basic rule, that density of the foam should not be below 30-35 Kg/m³(1.87 - 2.18 pounds/cubicfoot). Possible compression ratios can go to factor 5, but with higher quality foams (higher density = more plastic and less air) the compression goes only to one third of original volume.

Latex Mattresses

Latex Mattresses are considerably more sensible against being compressed than foam mattresses. The compression ratio must be lower, the shelftime in compressed state is shorter and they are much more sensible against high temperatures in storage. As a rule of thumb compression should never exceed factor 3, shelf time should not be more than a month, and temperatures controlled. The formula of the latex foam has an important impact too. In mixes with natural latex and synthetic latex, the higher the natural component percentage, the better will be the recovery after compression. The foaming process has also an impact: Talay latex foam is considerably more resilient than others. One most critical factor is high temperature in compressed storage: A container of rolled mattresses crossing the equator on top of the ship under the hot sun, has a very good chance of being returned as a reclamation, as mattresses don't recover, when unpacked.

pring Mattresses

Spring mattresses can also be rolled, but it must happen by using the process of vacuum packaging: The mattress is pressed flat before being rolled, in order to avoid entangling of springs. But even with that there is a certain plane shift effect between upper and lower side of a spring mattress.

Processes

Vacuum Packaging

In vacuum packaging the mattress is first packed into a plastic bag, which is left open at one side. In a press the mattress is compressed completely flat, forcing the air out the opening of the bag. Then the opening is closed by welding. This vacuum package is then rolled manually or by machine, and pushed into an outer bag. The outer bag is necessary to contain the roll, because the vacuum will not keep. (The film is not really airtight) A variant consists in using a bag with a long tail at the open side, which can be wrapped after the pressing around the roll, and then is welded with itself into a ring around the roll surface, thus not using a separate outer bag.
plastic film usage for a single mattress(1x2m): approx. 6 m².

wrap mattress with film into a roll

The mattress runs on a conveyor against a plastic film curtain, which hangs down freely. It pushes this film into an opened furling drum formed of driven rolls, which then closes and starts to pull in and roll the mattress, while rolling the film together with it. The mattress enters all the way into the roll drum, pulling the film with it from the storage roll. At the end the film will be wrapped a few times around the roll, and then secured by scotch tape, glueing or welding. A variant wraps the mattress around an axle instead of using a furling drum.
plastic film usage for a single mattress(1x2m): approx. 6 m².

Rollpacking

A special machine (the "RollPack") transports the mattress into a furling drum, where it spirals into a roll of the fixed diameter built into the machine, getting more and more compressed in the process. Then a mechanical pusher plate pushes this roll out of the machine, passing through an outlet tube (or "nozzle"), over which the outer bag has been slipped in preparation. There is no inner bag, the mattress is directly in the outer containing bag, which can be closed by clip, scotch tape or welding.
plastic film usage for a single mattress(1x2m): approx. 1.5 m².

= Summary =All processes lead to the same result: a mattress, which has a greatly reduced volume for transport by pressing out the air, and containing it in a bag. The processes differ mainly in the way how to get there, but also in respect to the cost of packaging material and the ecological aspect of waste reduction.