Cut to size

Atlas takes new direction

Recently sold by the Bobst Group in a management buy-out, UK-based Atlas Converting Equipment supplies its Atlas and Titan brand slitting and rewinding equipment to the film and flexible materials markets. The company already has an installed base of more than 3,500 machines worldwide.

In a statement, the new Atlas management affirms: “Atlas and Titan have been at the forefront of the market for over 30 years and it is our intention to continue the investment in technology and service for our customers now and in the future. We expect to build further on our success and strengthen our global market position.”

Atlas recently commissioned a Titan SR8 twin-shaft cantilever slitter rewinder at US flexible packaging converter Plastic Packaging’s facility in Hickory, North Carolina. Specialised converting is the main focus of the Hickory operation, including slitting of various flexible materials for bags, pouches, sleeve labels and other rollstock, and the ability to handle a wide variety of flexible materials at high production speeds was an essential part of the slitter specification.

The 1,650mm wide SR8 has a maximum rewind diameter of 800mm, running at speeds of up to 600m/min with a laser core positioning system providing a quick, accurate guide for the operator in positioning new rewind cores for re-starting the slitting process. Slit widths can be as narrow as 25mm and the Titan machine also features an automatic knife positioning system.

Handling and unloading of the finished reels is also an important consideration. The SR8 is fitted with an automatic reel stripping system which enables the finished slit reels to be safely pushed off the rewind shafts and onto unloading booms.

“We installed our first Titan slitter – an SR5 - over 20 years ago and then added a second SR6 machine three years later, so we know how well the Titan machines perform,” explains Preston Bryant, VP of Operations at Plastic Packaging. “The SR8 slitter is impressive and we were able to see it in action before we made our final decision to purchase.

“That was enough to convince us it would be the perfect solution for our current slitting requirements, which it has proved to be. The machine is performing extremely well,” he confirmed.

The highly versatile SR8 is the most successful model in the Titan range, with more than 200 machines currently in operation with converters worldwide.

Slitting narrow web polyester film

The converting of polyester film is quite demanding for slitter rewinders, especially when the film is thick, and very narrow strips have to be slit and wound. The challenge is to control the extreme stresses within the film that are released when it is slit into narrow webs, so that the transportation of the webs remains smooth between the slitting section and the rewind. The released stresses tend to cause an unstable run of the web, resulting in dust forming at the trimmed edges.

Also, the material tends to build up at the edges of these films, which causes raised edges on each finished roll.

To overcome these problems, the narrow web slitter rewinders built by Germany’s Bastian Winder Technologies are said to combine precise drive and web tension control with a corresponding guiding system for the web and the roller, together with a special surface texture on the roller itself.

According to Bastian, the optimised interaction between all these criteria makes it possible to convert, for example, polyester up to 500 micron thick and with an initial width of approximately 300mm into strips starting at 5mm width and roll diameters of 450mm.

Bastian claims to offer converters ‘an excellent compromise between the required accuracy and a fast changeover to different slitting widths’. The complete bottom knife shaft can be exchanged easily by using a specially developed changing device. The precise immersion depth and the lateral contact pressure can be pre-set ‘very easily’ and the settings can be reproduced without difficulties, the company states.

The narrow strips are wound onto two expansion or friction shafts which are continuously adjusted to the growing diameter of the roll. Thermal losses and wear and tear are minimised with the help of a highly sensitive control of the friction pressure. A specific texture to the surface of the adjacent two contact rollers ensures that the webs have a good grip and do not shift to the side.

Bastian offers a variety of handling devices to unload the narrow and sensitive finished rolls. They are custom-made to suit individual production processes and operator requirements.

Bastian’s narrow web slitter rewinder has a maximum effective width of 1,250mm and can be also used to handle wider slits and rolls up to a diameter of 700mm. This is said to allow multi-purpose use to suit most converters.

Economical and ecological

‘Think economically and slit ecologically’ is the theme with which Czech Republic based Soma Engineering launched its latest slitter at K2010. The new Pluto eco system can be supplied in basic format to provide an entry-level or start-up machine for standard volume work, then added to as and when the user’s requirements change.

The Pluto eco is Soma’s response to converters looking for a reliable but economically priced slitter rewinder that offers maximum production versatility. It is aimed at companies processing high volumes of material and has been developed to both reduce investment and running cost and with preservationof the environment in mind. This has been achieved by eliminating hydraulics to reduce power consumption and permit clean, oil-free operation. A special web path permits slitting of material for food and pharmaceutical packaging.

Soma recently supplied two slitting and rewinding machines from its Planet range to Italian flexible packaging manufacturer Safta. The Pluto II and Venus II models join six existing slitters at the Piacenza-based company and are part of its plans to improve quality and production efficiencies.

Both 1,350mm wide slitters include Soma’s Tensomat II system for precise rewind tension control through a PLC, automatic knife/razor and laser core positioning, as well as intuitive controls to simplify operation.

Safta was impressed by the Pluto II demonstrated at the last ICE show, and the purchase of this machine was soon followed by an order for the larger, AC servo-driven Venus II model.

Safta’s Marco Murelli says: “We have standardised slitting and rewinding production to around 1,600mm web widths and have six other models from other manufacturers. “The decision to purchase Soma was judged on the grounds of best price versus quality ratio. We believe Soma is one of the best from this point of view. These are very versatile machines and we use them to slit a wide range of high quality products - five days per week, three shifts per day.”

Inspector is especially fast

AB Graphic International featured its new VSR vertical slitter inspection rewinder at Labelexpo Americas 2010. A recent addition to the UK-based company’s Omega range, the VSR offers ‘new levels of production’ at speeds of up to 400m/min. It is designed to meet the demands of inspecting, slitting and rewinding of a wide range of label substrates and is available in both standard and servo-driven versions.

“The vertical design of the VSR provides an ergonomic alternative for operator location,” explains Tony Bell of AB Graphic. “We believe its speed is unrivalled at 400m/min. The missing label, flag or splice detection system is capable of stopping the error incident in a precise location at speeds up to 300m/min.”

The VSR inspection rewinder is available in 330, 430 and 530mm widths to comply with modern press width trends. The standard machine comes complete and ready to slit, rewind and count self-adhesive labels and many other substrates. A full range of options includes motorised roll lift, razor and crush slitting, missing label, splice or flag detection and 100% print face inspection through a PC-based camera system.

“With the increased use of servo-driven printing presses, many of our customers are now required to convert a wider range of delicate substrates,” adds Mr Bell. “The VSR servo-driven version provides precise material handling throughout the machine and includes closed loop tension control and servo-driven unwind.”

Inspecting Turkish labels

Rotocontrol has received a second order for an RSC slitter rewinder inspection machine from leading Turkish label producer Reslan Labels.

Reslan owner Sedat Soysev was pleased with production results from his company’s first Rotocontrol RSC 330mm wide machine equipped with a Nikka vision system - and the training and technical support provided by local agent Feyzi. As a result Mr Soysev again selected Rotocontrol for a new 440mm wide machine.

The RSC series is said to be an economical, compact machine designed to maximise operator efficiency. Standard features are a cartridge slitting system, vertical inspection zone, automatic tension control, S-Drive servo-driven operation, job save and simple, functional controls.

New year – new customers

Following a successful K Show last November, UK manufacturer of roll slitting machinery ALS reports it is having a busy start to 2011, with orders from new customers in Switzerland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the USA.

Machines in production include the compact design 425 S-Tec slitter, which is said to suit tape distributors and converters particularly, and the 500 Sibtec ’intelligent slitter’ with twin-axis servo control for high accuracy slitting and higher yields, especially suited for 24-hour operation.

Both S-Tec and Sibtec models slit a wide variety of materials including foam, rubber, cork, graphite, non-wovens, vinyl, pressure-sensitive tapes, self-adhesives, foil, and coated materials.

New developments planned for 2011 include a recycling unit for cutting fluids to minimise running costs.

Customising drives developments

Laem System says its development of various customised slitting and rewinding machines in recent years has led the to upgrading of existing models and increased the innovation in their design and technology.

User-friendly technology and high performance are the main focus for each machine delivered – aimed at ensuring customers are able to run a non-stop production with high quality results - and which are easy to use and quick in production changes.

In recent years, Laem has focused on supplying slitters that can produce narrow finished reels at high speed, with large diameters, reducing the downtime and maintaining a good quality-price ratio, according to the company.

This has resulted in the upgrade of the entry level RB model, with an overhead web path and a shaftless unwinder with pneumatic expansion chucks of 3 and 6 inch as standard.

This is said tomake loading of the mother reels easier for the operator and safer, as the maximum diameter of the mother reel can go up to 1,200mm.

The RB series features slitting tangent, semi-wrapped and in-air configuration, and can be adapted with semi-automatic positioning of slitting stations and counter knives to minimise set-up time.

In rewinding, the RB offers both dual-shaft and turret configurations with automatic changeover. Special rewinding shafts are now available, where the minimum size on a 6 inch core can be 30mm wide with a diameter up to 600mm. It is also possible to rewind 20mm, but on different and smaller diameters, thanks to a new generation of spring-loaded friction rings. Perfect tension and a high quality finished reels are promised.

All functions are managed through an ‘easy-to-use’ Siemens operator touchscreen.

Indians impressed

Italian manufacturer Prati was represented by its distributor Reifenhauser India at Labelexpo India 2010, in New Delhi. On display was the company’s Sun TE330 full servo slitter inspection rewinder, which was sold to Indian label converter Wintek Flexo Prints - the fourth Prati machine bought by the Bangalore based company in 18 months.

The Sun TE330 enables winding, inspection, slitting and rewinding in a wide range of applications, including pressure-sensitive labels, unsupported paper, cartonboard and plastics substrates. The high speed machine is said to meet the needs of the majority of narrow web printers as it can process web widths up to 330mm. Prati claims it considerably reduces the costs of finishing and converting of paper and plastics substrates.

The machine can be integrated with a digital camera, allowing for 100% quality inspection. Its new HMI touchscreen is said to be extremely intuitive and multi-lingual software provides access to all accessories by means of a simple password, saving the costs of engineer intervention.

“This slitter is very versatile and productive and can diecut plain and preprinted labels,” comments Chiara Prati, Sales Director at Prati, which now has more than 10 machines operational in India. “It is also fully automated, which helps reduce costs and runtime.”

Elite choice generates transatlantic activity

US converter Platinum Packaging spent a considerable time researching slitter manufacturers before choosing the Elite Cameron brand. The Paramount, California, based company focused on items to reduce set-up times and provide consistent high quality product, such as automatic tension control, differential rewind shafts, and laser knife and core positioning.

“We decided to bring all our slitting in-house with the purchase of a new Elite Cameron machine,” explains Nick Lowe, Platinum’s President. “This significant investment has enabled us to provide a better service to our customers with total control of the process, which is very important when the product is used directly in the food packaging sector.”

Cameron brand machines are well known in the USA and Europe, dating back to the early 1900s with thousands of installations, most of which were manufactured in New Jersey. Ten years ago, manufacturing was moved to the UK, where all the latest range of Elite Cameron machines are now built.

Company Director Tim Self says: “Since consolidating our manufacturing facility we have been able to focus on product development and cost savings, providing high quality, custom engineered solutions at very affordable prices. We continue to provide excellent support in the USA through Camtech, based in Appleton, Wisconsin, with experienced sales personnel, engineers and spare parts service staffed entirely by ex-Cameron employees.”

The latest CW range of centre winders is manufactured using high quality, locally sourced components such as Fife Tidland, Allen Bradley PLC, Parker SSD touchscreen and digital AC drives, all of which have international support. The US machines comply fully with OSHA and UL regulations for safety.

“The machine runs exceptionally well on all grades of film, producing high quality reels for the consumer,” says Nick Lowe. “We are so pleased with the performance that we have launched a contract/toll slitting side to our business.”

He continues: “The new machine is already nearly reaching capacity and we are considering a purchase of a second machine”.

The 63 inch wide machine has a 36 inch unwind and 24 inch rewind capacity, equipped with shear and razor slitting for all types of flexible films and multilayer laminate materials, as well as many other general packaging materials such as paper.

Duplex designed for versatility

In December Italian manufacturer Bimec delivered a TCA/64-E model duplex turret slitter rewinder to an important customer in Switzerland.

The customer is a converter of flexible packaging materials, mainly for the food industry and for this reason chose the version with overhead web path in order to avoid contamination with dust or other particles. The machine has been equipped with a splice table on the separate shaftless unwind stand. This table and the rewinding have been fitted with special sealing bars that save time by avoiding the use of self-adhesive tape and gluing of the web tails on the board cores.

Thanks to the new automatic and easy set-up of the shear knife slitting unit, roll size change is said to be particularly fast even for short production runs, making the duplex turret slitter very versatile and suitable even for small volumes.

Finished rolls are unloaded by an auto-push system combined with a side station that opens and rotates through 90 degrees horizontally simultaneous to the arm opening.

Narrow cuts and demanding materials

Kampf claims its Microslit CON slitter will achieve the highest degree of accuracy and quality even when dealing demanding substrates. With a production speed of 500m/min, the slitter has been set up for a German customer to process the thinnest films.

This development of the Microslit CAP, for processing thin films for capacitors, handles widths from 5mm up to a reeling diameter of 300mm, and cutting widths of less than 5mm are possible.

Soma’s Pluto has promise. Pluto eco Looking at labels. AB Graphic The RSC is Rotocontrol’s inspector. RSC The ALS 600 Sibtec. ALS The RB series by Laem System offers minimal set-up time. RB Prati’s system preferred by Wintek. Prati Machines now made in the UK. TS Converting Bimec has focused on rapid roll changes. Bimec Cutting thin films. Kampf

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Atlas Converting Equipment
Bastian
Soma Engineering
AB Graphic
Rotocontrol
ALS
Laem System
Prati
TS Converting
Bimec
Kampf