Slitting Scene

X-ceptional capability claimed

Universal Converting Equipment claims its new X9 machine will "take slitting and rewinding to a new level - allowing film and paper converters to take total control of all the process parameters that are critical to obtaining high quality reels". Speeds of 700m/min can be achieved with rewind diameters up to 800mm.

The X9 has been designed to require the minimum of operator input. All operations have been integrated to maximize productivity and produce a consistent quality of product day in day out with total traceability, says UCE. The TTCS system provides closed loop control of both unwind and rewind tension, using loadcells for tension feedback, to ensure the highest quality rolls can be produced at high speed.

The standard machine incorporates a shaftless unwind, digital guider, automatic knife setting, differential rewinds, automatic core alignment and the latest digital AC drive and control system. A set-up wizard ensures the optimum conditions for all materials. Closed loop measurement of all the key parameters gives "total quality control" with actual tension profiles of all the rolls wound stored or printed at the end of each run, providing traceability for converter and customers.

Safety has been designed into all aspects of the machine. A combination of light barriers and physical guards prevents access to the moving parts. Automation of the edge guide system, knife positioning and the use of vision systems eliminates the need for the operator to have access to the machine whilst it is running. To comply with handling and lifting regulations, the machine incorporates floor pick-up of the roll. If a shafted unwind is preferred, use of carbon fibre unwind shafts minimizes the weight to a level that one person can handlecomfortably .

All operating parameters are set through the operator interface, and can be saved in the machine recipe system and remotely by the Ethernet connection. The actual winding tension profiles of all the rolls produced can also be saved, giving total traceability of production conditions. These parameters can then be loaded into other X9 machines anywhere in the world to replicate the production conditions.

The industrial PC incorporates the latest networking technology using an OPC server to allow all data to be transferred to widely used software packages such as Microsoft Access and Excel. It is then easy to archive the information for traceability and to produce reports on all aspects of the machine's operation, says Universal.

Sapphire sells

Already sold "in large numbers" to customers in Germany, the US and the UK, Ashe Converting Equipment's Sapphire model is available for both narrow and wide web width applications on an extensive range of materials. The machine's design is said to offer the operator easy access to the knife system for rapid change of slit width or from razor to shear.

The S2 version, unveiled at drupa 2004, is designed to operate at up to 700m/min. All AC driven, all electrically operated, it incorporates dovetail mount slitting assemblies with fast set-up and change-over of slit patterns for razor, shear and crush (score) cut slitting. New software is said to provide the operator with full control, both through the integrated PC and colour touchscreen. A removable remote control gives freedom to access all areas of the machine.

Turret machine's target is tobacco

One of Canadian manufacturer Deacro's latest European sales is a model T18 fully automatic turret slitter to convert large volumes of laminates for the tobacco industry. To be installed later this year, it will be supplied with an automatic packaging line from SCM.

"This is the second unit which will be supplied as a result of the SCM/Deacro partnership," says Tim Self, of Deacro agent TS Converting (see April issue). "These systems provide huge capacity for the customers, often replacing up to four conventional machines."

The T18 has many automatic features, including knife setting, film transfer, cut-off, tail taping, reel ejection, core insertion and positioning, tape-up and start sequence. It will produce multiple sets of finished reels without operator intervention, "guaranteeing production volumes and quality".

The SCM system communicates with the slitter and accepts the finished reels from its unload system. It automatically weighs each reel individually, prints and applies a label on both the core and outside of the reel. The reels can be automatically wrapped or stacked in a variety of configurations onto a pallet. The high speed manipulator inserts separation boards between each layer of reels.

The PSG Group, in London, has ordered a second Deacro model for its cleanroom, for conversion of food and medical grade packaging films. "We have been very pleased with the performance of our first machine," says managing director Lawrence Gardezi (see November issue). Other recent installations include Ritrama, Alcan Packaging and another cleanroom at Bekaert, in Belgium.

Panthere provides complete control

DCM Usimeca recently supplied a Panthere duplex slitter rewinder to a UK company. With a top speed of 600m/min using state of art PLC and drive technology, it incorporates a shaftless unwind to ensure direct access to the knives and minimal web length in the machine.

This concept is said to allow for maximum web control for the range of films and laminates from 12-400 micron.

Another advantage of the Panthere is that with the standard design the rewind diameter is up to 800mm and does not involve any additional cost from a 600mm diameter machine, says DCM. The machine is available in widths from 800-1,600mm, with a range of unwind designs. The knife system location allows for immediate access and knife change does not involve any shaft removal.

Other features are a three-motor AC drive and DCM's Digital Pilot touchscreen control for operator setting and memory storage with dynamic fault tracing.

Time savings on offer

Specialist in machinery for conversion of PS adhesive materials Ghezzi & Annoni says its new RS-240 automatic slitter is ideal for producing flaw-free rolls of BOPP masking tape, duct tape and similar materials on cores of 3in OD and 1 and 1.5in ID. "Designed for maximum uptime and minimal downtime," the machine offers a production cycle time of 19s for 50m rolls, and a slitting width change-over time of just 15min.

The RS-240 operates at up to 500m/min and is available in working widths from 600-2,200mm. Slitting is either by razor or score knives with a minimum precision slit width of 9mm, and maximum diameter of finished rolls at 240mm. The machine can be equipped with a pack-roll system to obtain 'super clear' rolls, and a roll conveying system (a flat, individual accordion tower type) to the packaging machine. Other options include an unwinder with automatic jumbo roll change-over.

G&A plans to launch several new automatic tape slitters that will complement the RS-240 and, it claims, "set new benchmark standards".

Titan meets Morane's needs

Since its launch at drupa 2004, the Titan SR8 cantilever slitter rewinder is said to have gained rapid approval by both small, independent converters as well as larger, multi national converting groups worldwide. The versatility of this machine is reflected by its winning approval for novel applications and in niche markets, the company boasts.

Recently, Morane, in Banbury, UK, ordered a 1,650mm wide model. Morane is a leading European manufacturer of high quality coated film for print protection, as well as security film for authenticating documents such as passports. The SR8 will be commissioned later this year and will be processing the full range of Morane's PET/PE and BOPP/PE laminates in a range of 27-250 micron.

The machine will feature automatic knife and laser core positioning systems, automatic slit reel unloading, and closed and open loop tension control.

Perhaps the most important part of the specification will be a 50.4mm top differential rewind shaft together with a 76mm bottom differential rewind shaft. A special thread path roll change system will enable quick and easy change of roller types for the different materials to be processed. The machine will also be capable of slitting MOPP self adhesive tear-tape material (26-125 micron) for Morane's sister company PP Payne.

Together with fellow Bunzl company Laminex, PP Payne and Morane are to merge this month into a single business to be known as Payne. It is expected to generate annual sales of £50M.

Thermal market remains hot

In a recent survey by US manufacturer Jennerjahn, converters agreed that demand for single ply thermal rolls would continue to increase rapidly over the next several years. They also said the thermal market will continue to be the most competitive segment of their business. In fact, 91 per cent of those surveyed indicated that using fully automated slitting and rewinding machinery would be critical to their ability to remain competitive in this industry.

Jennerjahn has responded with an entirely new machine concept for this market - the DJJF rewinder. Its core concept was simply to share several common, but expensive components such as a core hopper, bowl feeder, log eject conveyor and roll processing line between multiple rewind stations. Converters can now acquire fully automated equipment for only a fraction of the usual investment while lowering their labour costs by 75 per cent, it is claimed.

An Australian company placed an order for the first machine in January, and the next will be going to a US customer.

Knife advance

Parkland International has developed a system for fast and precise crush cut knife setting that, it claims,"takes knife positioning an important step forward". One of the first installations is on a five metre wide machine for a UK customer. The knives are mounted onto individual dovetail brackets that are located on a linear knife movement system for accurate and easy positioning. The datum reference for the slitting pattern is set and the digital knife positioning unit moved along a linear beam until the required measurement appears in the display for the position of the first knife. This is then repeated for all knives. A pneumatic clamping strip on the rear face of the beam carrying the dovetail brackets then inflates to lock the knives in position. The system is available on new Parkland machines; it can also be retrofitted.

Smart system suits non wovens

Independent Machine has developed a system for slitting and traverse winding of hook and loop, and other non woven material. The 14in wide system features 16 computerized modular traverse winding cubes capable of different winding patterns. The slitting station and separate two-position unwind are modular and completely separate from the spooling station. Each unwind supports a maximum 48in diameter roll and has programmable tension controlled by ultrasonic diameter measurement. The slitter is the main speed reference for the system, with a speed range to 1,000ft/min. It accommodates interchangeable assemblies for reciprocating razor, score and shear slitting.

Each cantilevered Smartwinder-2000 position produces spools up to 20in wide x 25in OD on 3 and 6in cores, operates independently of all other positions and has a computerized, fully adjustable, servo driven traverse.

User input taken on board

New from CMC Cevenini is the ED420-NM5 automatic log slitting machine, developed following clients' suggestions. New features include: a flip safety guard to protect the operator when the main shield is opened; a programming panel on a swivel arm for clear display of the pre-selected working data; and a front mounted stainless steel backwater tank. There is also an automatic programmable blade sharpening unit with de-burring assembly adjustable from the machine front, and fast speed blade carriage indexing by means of a brushless motor.

The new machine has a capacity of 420mm diameter and 1,650mm maximum working width. According to CMC, four important European clients have already ordered ED420-NM5 models.

Briefly...

GB Brooks & Co has installed an ALS 400 S-Tec automatic log slitter in its plant at Cheadle Heath, UK. The company specializes in log slitting, slitting and rewinding, sheeting and guillotining a wide range of materials. Owner and managing director Clive Brooks says: "We have a number of large customers and many smaller ones. The flow and diversity of materials we are asked to convert makes the selection of new equipment extremely important. The new 400 S-Tec will increase our capacity significantly and provide a rapid turnaround for the most difficult materials."

The use of doctor rewinders for salvage work, instead of using an expensive slitter rewinder to edit out faulty material is growing. However, editing at the end of the manufacturing process is often expensive and wasteful. Australian company Aldus Engineering has built several full width editing machines for clients in Australia and Asia, all of whom are said to have commented on the rapid payback and on-going cost savings. The latest model was recently supplied to a new flexible packaging operation in Manila, The Philippines. The fully reversible machine has a 1,300mm web width with a self loading rewind/unwind suitable for 800mm diameter rolls. A multi motor drive and dual linear dancer roll tension control system give the ability to run a wide range of material and web widths at up to 300m/min.

Most recent innovation from Dienes is the PSG-DF knifeholder with Genious automatic slit adjustment. It incorporates a system which provides automatic depth adjustment. The Genious is based on the patented PSG-DF shear cut knifeholder, with a touch panel for easy selection of the material to be slit. The system then finds the optimum adjustment automatically. It offers integrated knife size recognition and control using BUS technology.

Isopak is now exclusive UK distributor for Norwegian company Bragernes Maskin's base rewinder, counter roll rewinder and banderoller. Different models are capable of converting paper from 25-120g/m², and plastics from 25-75 micron. The machines have touchscreen control and a production monitoring system. They can be connected to a printer or a PC to collect production data. Isopak is also a distributor for Rotomac, the Italian manufacturer of rewinders and complete packaging lines.