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Energy efficient adhesive coating

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Energy efficient adhesive coating

The next generation of ITW Dynatec Dynamelt™ S Series Adhesive Supply Units have been designed to reduce the amount of energy required to operate efficiently, thereby also reducing their TCO (total cost of ownership).

Reducing energy consumption.
The new Dynamelt™ S unit consumes 20% less energy and significantly less air than similar adhesive supply units while advanced diagnostics, quick-change components and a larger filtration surface significantly reduce maintenance cycles and required labour. Modular parts – including pumps, filters and electronics – combined with simplified maintenance procedures reduce the amount of time operators and engineers need to spend keeping this already efficient adhesive supply unit running at maximum capacity.

Dynamelt

Longer lasting parts.
Nanotechnology has been used with a new nano ceramic hopper coating which is 5 times more durable than competitive PTFE coatings to withstand wear.


All system parameters at a glance.
The display on the new ITW Dynatec Dynamelt™ S Series Adhesive Supply Units is intuitive and easy to read, which combined with the significant energy saving features makes the Dynamelt™ S Series a smart choice for the cost and energy conscious coater.

Efficient coating and laminating.
Universal Converting Equipment recommend the Dynamelt™ range of hot melt adhesive supply units for use with Universal range of coating and laminating equipment. ITW Dynatec equipment and parts are supplied in the United Kingdom by Universal Adhesive Systems Limited.

 

 

Actively reducing energy usage

Reducing energy consumption and costs with a Slitter Rewinder

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Efficient slittingIndustrial machinery has a reputation for being noisy and it’s taken for granted that ear protection needs to be worn when working with very large machines, but how often have you walked past a noisy machine only to realise it doesn’t appear to be actually doing anything? The energy consumption of large processing, printing, packaging and converting facilities can be so large that it puts a dent in a company’s bottom line, and by reducing energy consumption companies are not only helping protect the environment they are also protecting their profitability.

Most companies would love to be able to claim they are actively reducing their energy usage, but making these claims a reality can be a big challenge, especially in a large company with an established culture of process routine (which in themselves are by no means a negative effort). There are very easy ways in which companies can instantly reduce their energy usage, by powering down inactive machines between jobs (for example), but such simplistic moves can be very low impact and the resulting dent in productivity can be damaging to profitability.

If companies can’t make big savings by changing the way they work maybe they can actively reduce their energy usage by carefully choosing the tools they work with. Energy efficient slitter rewinders can reduce energy usage by powering down components not being used for some jobs, but there are more ways that the machinery manufacturers can fundamentally reduce energy usage, and most start on the drawing board.

Here are Universal Converting Equipment we design the majority of our slitters and winders to use the brake energy from the unwind shaft to power the rewind shaft, thereby drastically reducing the overall energy consumption of our machinery. This is just one example of the innovative ways Slitter Rewinders are designed and built at a controls level and how these ideas can reduce your energy costs, there are also many mechanical ways that waste can be reduced.

It may seem unusual to discuss slitter rewinders without talking about the materials they process, and by carefully handling and processing the material web as it is processed further savings can be made. Material waste can be reduced by using a machine designed to have a very short web path, this reduces the amount of material wasted when setting the machine up for each job. Ensuring that knives and cores are accurately set up (perhaps with automated systems) greatly reduces the amount of material that is spoilt, and therefore wasted. Reducing energy consumption with your Slitter Rewinder requires a holistic approach.

Slitter Rewinders designed with closed tension control, knife alignment, laser core alignment and web-guiding don’t only ensure an exceptionally high quality of wound rolls, they also reduce energy usage and material waste.

So when purchasing a new Slitter Rewinder ask your supplier what they are doing to reduce the energy consumption of their machines, it could make a big difference to your profitability. But these savings aren’t only available to companies investing in new machinery; here at Universal Converting Equipment we help our customers reduce energy consumption while improving reliability and profitability by building new control systems for old and third party slitter rewinders, after all one of the best ways to reduce overall energy consumption is to actively recycle!

Further reading on slitter efficiency:

Ideas for efficient converting…

Laser core alignment, what’s in the kit and how does it work?

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Laser core alignmentThere has recently been a surge of interest in our laser core alignment system, so we have written this post to explain how the system is installed and how it works.

Core positioning.
We fit our ComputaCore Laser Core Alignment System to many of the slitters we manufacture, and we also offer our laser core alignment system as a kit for installation on slitters made by other manufacturers.  A measurement is taken from a fixed point (a ‘datum’) to ensure that the position of the cores is correct in relation to the slitter knives.  We have a great deal of experience in upgrading third party machinery and if you feel you would benefit from a more integrated approach to controlling your slitter rewinder we can replace the control system.

Installation.
The ComputaCore Laser Core Alignment System has been designed to be very easy to install on almost any slitter and while the majority of our customers use their own engineers to install the system one of our engineers can install the system for you if required.

The laser core alignment kit consists of four main components:

  1. Laser pointer
  2. A linear actuator rail (manufactured to the correct width for your slitter)
  3. A control box with touchscreen
  4. Instruction manual

We do not provide the support arms that hold the laser core alignment system above the slitter rewind shafts, but can fabricate these for you for a small additional cost.

Core sizes.
We are often asked which cores sizes the laser core alignment system is compatible with, and the short answer is ‘all of them’ – because the laser pointer beams a line of light across the rewind shafts it does not matter what diameter your cores are, the line of light will still be in the correct place for your operator to correctly align them.

Conclusion.
Installing a Universal ComputaCore Laser Core Alignment System is simple and will greatly reduce job set up time while increasingly accuracy.

Lithium-ion and solar cell manufacturers increasingly embracing web processes

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Lithium Ion and Solar Cell web manufactureUniversal Converting Equipment are exploiting their substantial knowledge in web-based manufacturing processes to facilitate customers’ development in emerging energy technologies.

Lithium Ion and Solar Cell manufacture are two fields enjoying exponential expansion and with such rapid expansion comes a greatly increased need for innovative manufacture processes. Universal’s extensive experience in developing new manufacture processes places the company in an increasingly strengthened position when it comes to assisting Lithium Ion and Solar Cell manufacturers in refining and improving product lines.

“Lithium Ion and Solar Cell technologies have proven themselves and are widely accepted by both manufactures and end-consumers as being ‘the way forward’. We specialise in integrating technologies such as web handling, tension control and coating, with other systems to provide a complete production cell offering an efficient and cost effective solution to the processes required to manufacture these emerging products. One of the challenges is reducing the manufacturing cost of these products to increase their acceptability.” says Managing Director Alan Jones.

Web guider goes touch screen

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Web guiding touchscreenUniversal’s popular retro-fit edge, line and broken line guider the ‘Converter Guide 4’ (which has strengthened the company’s reputation for increasing machine efficiency through reducing waste and simplifying setup) is now fitted with a touch screen human interface as standard.

“When we spoke to customers about web guiding systems in general they told us that needlessly complex and overly comprehensive user interfaces (from some third-party suppliers) often led to stoppages and excess waste. In response to this feedback we developed a touch screen system that prioritises the important functions, without hiding more infrequently used controls behind complex menu systems. Customers have responded extremely well to this development.” says Managing Director Alan Jones.

“In addition to having a very simple two-step setup process, the ‘Converter Guide 4’ has been designed to be simple enough for any customer with an in-house engineer to install themselves. This machine can make huge improvements to any machine anywhere’. says Technical Director Dave Ward.