Double E - 50 Years of Innovation

Double E has had 50 wonderful years full of innovation and advances to the converting industry.
In celebration of this milestone, we are excited to share our accomplishments over the years!

1960s-1970s
Bug Light Inspiration

Double E founder Ed Flagg was inspired by the Duxbury Pier Lighthouse, also known as the "Bug Light", in Plymouth, MA to create a shaftless unwind, solving an industry wide problem of how shafts grip onto the core. With his new innovation, he decided to leave his previous position and start his own company.

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1972
Double E Was Founded!

Double E was founded in 1972 by Ed Flagg. From running the business out of his home to its current West Bridgewater facility, Double E’s manufacturing processes have helped it evolve into an efficient, modern and innovative company with offices all over the world.

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February 1985
Product Launch: Pneumatic Mechanical Shafts

Double E pioneered the PM-1000 pneumatic mechanical shaft. This shaft was an upgrade from the industry-standard mechanical shaft that required hand cranking to expand and collapse its gripping surfaces. This shaft was much faster to operate using air to deflate the shaft and springs to expand the shaft.

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September 1989
Carbon Fiber Shaft Housing

Double E pioneered the use of carbon fiber as a shaft housing material in 1986. Carbon fiber shaft housings provide a stiffness and strength equal to steel shafts at a fraction of the weight. Today, tens of thousands of Double E carbon fiber shafts are in use by converters all over the world.

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December 1993
Product Launch: UC-3000 Bladder Chucks

Double E introduced the lightest and the first cut-resistant bladder chuck in the world. Still an industry standard today, Double E’s UC-3000 Bladder Chuck product line has sold over 50,000 units world wide.

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November 25th, 1997
Interlocked Core Shaft Patented

The XL-3000 Interlocked Core Shaft was a patented design by Don Ianucci and Double E. It featured a unique series of interlocking aluminum extrusions which when joined formed the body of the shaft.

The XL-3000 uses multiple small diameter bladders to expand its leaves; minimizing inflation and deflation times while enabling fail-safe operation. If one bladder fails, the opposite set will continue gripping the core and the problem bladder can easily be replaced after the production run.

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June 29th, 1999
One-Piece Core Plug Patented

Michael Van Deurse and Double E patented the One-Piece Core Plug in 1999.

Built on an economical and time-proven design, the Double E CP-1000 Core Plug features a patented one-piece design. Constructed from a heat-treated steel body, carbon fiber carrier beam, and U.H.M.W. polymer journal it is a safe, quick and performance-enhancing addition to any tissue line.

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June 29th, 1999
One-Piece Core Plug Patented

Michael Van Deurse and Double E patented the One-Piece Core Plug in 1999.

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July 9th, 2002
Expanding Core Plug Patented

In 2002, Michael Van Deurse patented the Expandable Core Plug and Double E introduced the MCP-2000 Core Plug for the tissue and nonwovens industry.

The design allowed for the gripping elements to expand, allowing for a tighter grip and better centering on master rolls. This feature increases safety and efficiency by allowing for larger-than-normal variations in core I.D. and also assists in extending core life/usability.

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April 6th, 2004
Metal-Sleeved Carbon Fiber Anilox Roller Base Patented

Mark Fortin and Will Gardner patented the Metal-Sleeved Carbon Fiber Anilox Roller Base to combine the light weight characteristics of carbon fiber with the durability of a steel roller.

At that time the industry was solely using aluminum or steel rollers, the introduction of carbon fiber allowed us to create lower inertia rollers while maintaining the same surface durability characteristics. Customers were now able to run their lines at higher speeds and accelerate/decelerate more quickly.

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September 11, 2011
Manufacturing & Sales Facility Launched in Italy

In order to better serve our European customers and offer a greater wider range to our other markets, Double E established Double E Europe as a manufacturing and business hub on the European continent. With the presence of Double E Europe, Double E has been able to get more products faster to customers worldwide. Double E Europe offered manufacturing integration that has been vital for Tissue and Non-Wovens customers.

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January 14th, 2015
Product Launch: Carbon Fiber Reel Spools

Double E launched the Hybrid Carbon Reel Spool (HCRS), created by Michael Van Deurse and Dave Forensic, in 2015.

It was a great addition to Double E's line of energy efficient products for tissue and paper towel production. These reel spools provided high structural integrity, similar load carrying capacity, and a long life, offering solutions for both cored and coreless applications.

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December 12th, 2015
Product Launch: Ultra Light Strip Shafts

In 2015, Double E introduced the Ultra Light Strip Shafts to the market. The new proprietary aluminum extrusion minimizes shaft weight in both light and heavy–duty applications (over 20% lighter than Double E’s standard SR–2000 strip shaft while maintaining the same strength).

These shafts were the most ergonomic on the market and their design ensured that core distortion was minimized if not eliminated.

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March 14th, 2016
Epoch Was Acquired

Epoch had been supplying idler rollers to the converting industry for nearly 30 years, specializing in lightweight, low-inertia aluminum and carbon fiber composite rollers. They also produces steel and stainless steel rollers.

This comprehensive line of rollers complements Double E’s broad range of web handling accessories perfectly, making Double E an even better resource for the highest quality web handling products.

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April 28th, 2016
Auto-Lock™ Safety Chuck

Double E introduced its new Auto-Lock™ Safety Chuck in 2016 and was officially patented in May 29, 2018 & October 29,2019. This safety chuck's design used preloaded spring tension to lock the chuck in the closed position, guaranteeing roll security throughout the winding process.

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August 19th, 2016
Appleton & CartMover™ Were Acquired

Appleton Mfg. Division was the industry’s leading provider of core cutters, core handling and finishing equipment, roll and cart movers, and related core processing and handling solutions. Its origins date back more than 100 years in the paper and web handling industry.

The Appleton Manufacturing/Double E combination resulted in a stronger team overall, allowed us to leverage the skills and specialties of both organizations into a company that delivered ever more value to our customers.

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March 14th, 2018
Convertech Joins the Double E FCIS!

Convertech, a leading supplier of web handling components to the narrow and small web industry joined Double E in 2018 complementing Double E’s technological leadership in the converting industry.

Larry Taitel, Convertech’s President at the time, “The Convertech/Double E partnership [was] ideal for both companies. It [allowed] us to leverage our combined advantages to deliver better products, technologies, and solutions to our customers even more rapidly.”

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April 2nd, 2019
Product Launch: ShaftSafe™

ShaftSafe™ was designed by Michael Van Deurse and Greg Sandford, and patented April 28, 2020.

Building on Double E's history and reputation for developing innovative safety and performance-enhancing products for the converting industry, ShaftSafe was the industry’s first real-time air shaft pressure monitoring system.

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September 20th, 2019
Schlumpf Joins the Double E FCIS!

Schlumpf joins Epoch, Appleton Mfg., Convertech and Double E Europe comprising the Double E Family of Converting Specialists manufacturing custom engineered, mission-critical components for the international converting industry.

With the addition of Schlumpf’s customized roll and shaft handling products, Double E was able to handle all aspects of material handling in a converting application.

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November 5th, 2019
Product Launch: Carbon Fiber Core Plugs

Double E introduced its Carbon Fiber-based Ultra-Light Core Plug in 2019. Capitalizing on carbon fiber’s incredible weight to strength ratio, Double E engineered it's critical components using advanced composites that dramatically lower the weight of the core plug while assuring its performance integrity.

In doing so, Double E introduced the lowest weight core plug ever available to the Tissue Industry.

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2022
50 Years of Engineering Excellence!

Since its humble beginnings in Ed Flagg’s garage in 1972, Double E has exhibited a continuous history of offering the web converting industry a series of innovative and paradigm-changing products and solutions.

Today, along with the Double E Family of Converting Specialists partners Epoch, Appleton, Convertech and Schlumpf, Double E has dramatically expanded its product line and offers a full spectrum of critical converting products and material handling solutions to increase the efficiencies and safety of web converting lines world wide.

Learn More: https://bit.ly/35HVUIr