Put your crayons to use while learning about Ontario history! We turned pictures from our special collections into colouring pages. Can you find the one featuring Riverdale Branch? Skip to main content.
Birth to 5 Teens. How are crayons made? How are Crayons and markers made? Liquid paraffin in a mold during the crayon manufacturing process. Click picture for a 5-second movie clip. Pigment Paraffin wax, stored in heated 17, gallon tanks.
Making Crayon Labels " ". A national poll in revealed blue and red are the most popular crayon colors. After coffee and peanut butter, the scent of a crayon is the third most recognizable scent.
On average, a child uses crayons by their 10th birthday! Crayola Marker Manufacturing " ". Click picture for a 5-second movie clip showing a new pen getting capped.
The barrel is molded from plastic resin. The barrel is screen printed. A cotton-like filament that holds the ink is inserted into the end barrel. That mixing equipment must have the power and specialized operation capabilities to handle the viscosity of the melted wax. The system must also handle the mixing process quickly and efficiently so the pigments and additives get hydrated and dispersed throughout the mix without clumping or staying concentrated in a particular area.
That efficient mixing also helps the company keep the manufacturing process moving to produce more units per day. With the pigment powders and strengthening additives effectively mixed in, the melted paraffin wax is ready to go into the molds. The rotary-style mold features several cavities shaped like crayons positioned around a circle. This allows a large number of crayons to be produced at once. The round mold continues turning, with cavities being refilled with more melted wax as older crayons finish hardening.
The machine injects the molds with the tinted melted wax, filling the cavities completely for a solid, bubble-free crayon. Because the top of the mold is flat, the machine is able to scrape off the excess wax, creating smooth ends to the crayons for uniform size and shape.
The steel mold uses a water-cooled system to quickly harden the newly molded crayons. The cool water swirls around the mold from the bottom to quickly lower the temperature of the melted wax so it reaches a hardened state. It only takes about four to seven minutes for the crayons to cool and harden fully inside the mold. The specific cooling time often depends on the color, as the type and amount of pigment in the mixture affects the process.
Once hardened, the crayons reach the ejection station, where they are pushed up and out of the molds and retrieved by an automated arm. This arm then moves the crayons to the labeling station where the manufacturing process continues.
The standard crayon mold produces crayons that are about 3. Many manufacturers also produce specialty crayons in different sizes and shapes, but these require different molds.
For example, some companies produce fatter crayons that are designed to allow younger children to better grasp them. This would require a larger mold. Other companies produce crayons shaped like characters or other objects. The process to produce these special crayons is similar, with the melted wax going into the specialty mold until it hardens. The labeling and packaging process is highly automated in many crayon factories.
A single color of crayon goes into a hopper in the labeling machine. Labels on a large round metal drum go around one crayon at a time, sealing it in place with adhesive. Many companies use a label large enough to go around the crayon twice as an extra bit of strength to prevent breakage. This is much different from the early days of the Crayola company, when farmers would apply the labels to crayons during the slow farming periods.
The molded and labeled crayons go through an inspection process to look for any broken tips, irregularities or blemishes that might cause them to be rejected. A worker picks up the crayons and inspects both sides to look for any issues. Once the crayons pass inspection, they go into stock boxes, where they stay until they are needed in the packaging department.
In packaging, each color of crayon goes into its own section of the machine. The colors used depend on the specific package size. Some packages may also have a special color theme in which unique colors are combined. A machine automatically dispenses one of each color onto the surface, where an automated arm picks them up and inserts them into the crayon packaging. Crayons are made of paraffin mixed with various chemical pigments.
Because paraffin will not mix with water or water mixtures, the pigments are in powdered form, although they may have been made from a water mix and then dried. Pigments are made by suppliers following formulas dictated by the crayon manufacturer.
Individual pigments are made of chemicals mixed together in wooden tanks and forced through filters to remove excess water, leaving chunks of the individual pigments. The pigments are then kiln-dried for several days. After drying, the chunks of pigment are mixed according to the formula for the desired color, pulverized into a powder, and blended for color consistency. The mixes are sent to the crayon factory.
Over the past 10 years, additional ingredients have been added to crayons. One of the most popular is glitter, small pieces of reflective material that make the crayon-produced work shine as it catches and reflects random beams of light. Perfumes and other scents can also be added to the mix. Crayon manufacturing is a simple process, but one which is still relatively labor intensive.
Until recently, the paraffin-pigment mixtures were poured by hand from the tubs into a bucket and then into molds. Newer machinery now automates the process and pumps the mixture directly into the molds.
In some large, older factories, both processes might be used. In the early days of crayon manufacture, an entire factory floor might be devoted to the production of a single color for a day or more.
0コメント