In 2013, Reifenhäuser introduced the high-performance extrusion lines for PET thermoforming sheets with the patented mechatronic polishing stacks of the MIREX-MT-V design series. Now Reifenhäuser introduces the next generation of this line type. 

Reifenhäuser Combines Improved Components 

Industrie 4.0

Polyethylenterephthalat

Extrusionswerkzeuge

Extrusion

Flachfolien- und Plattenextrusion

Folien

Verpackungsmaterial

New Generation of PET Thermoforming Sheet Lines 

With innovations in metrology, processing and automation, the film industry is again pursuing the goal of process optimization and digitalization this year. But efficiency and sustainability are also the focus of the machine manufacturers, who will be serving up pioneering innovations at K 2019.

The Circular Economy – Sustainable yet Efficient?

Flachfolienanlagen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Extrusionsanlagen

Blasfolienextrusion

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Verpackungstechnik

Logistik

Folienabzug- und -aufwickelmaschinen

Faserverarbeitung

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Folienreckanlagen

Folienblasanlagen

Kreislaufwirtschaft

A Perfect Concept All Round

For the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, 2020 is an anniversary year in three different ways. The RWTH Aachen University is celebrating its 150th anniversary, and is marking the occasion, by hosting the International Colloquium of Plastics Technology for the 30th time – with special feature on the previous day. A preview of the celebrations.

Institute Director Professor Christian Hopmann expects 800 participants to attend the 30th International Colloquium of Plastics Technology

A Varied Menu

Spritzgießen

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Temperiertechnik

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Additive Fertigung

Reason to Celebrate 30th International Colloquium of Plastics Technology and  70 Years of the IKV

Manufacturers of standard extruders sometimes incorporate oversized drives into their machine designs in order to be able to cover a wide range of requirements. In times of high energy prices, however, this is no longer economical. An extruder should be equipped with a drive package that is matched to the gearbox and the processing unit. But what are the requirements governing the design of the drive system?

Drives on the test bench: this type of motor test bench is used by Veka to collect experience about the operation of some 700 twin-screw extruders and 300 single-screw extruders used in production facilities worldwide at the most favorable operating point

Process-Oriented Design of the Main Drive for the Extruder

Elektrische Antriebe

Antriebe

PVC-Profile

Extruder

Rohr- und Profilextrusion

Ingenieurwissenschaften

Elektrotechnik

Energieeffizienz

Energy-Efficient Use of Drives

New polymer composites for the production of multi-layer small tubes are being developed to give products specific functions. With suitable co-extrusion dies and a thermal barrier option, even complex layer composites with melt temperature differences of more than 50 °C can be processed reliably and in high quality.

CV-T 5-layer co-extrusion die in pilot plant operation: tubes with small cross-sections that fulfill a multitude of demands can be produced by  co-extrusion

Combining Polymers with Very Different Processing Temperatures

Temperiergeräte

Gießanlagen

Baugewerbe (Hoch- und Tiefbau)

Medizintechnik (KU)

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Bautechnik, Sanitär

Extruder-Folgeeinrichtungen

Extrusions-Zubehör

Automotive

Fahrzeugbau

Co-Extrusion with Thermal Control

In the area of pipe and profile extrusion, the focus remains on increasing efficiency. In addition to energy-saving systems, the focus on efficiency increasingly includes flexibilization of plants and processes, as well as reproducibility of quality in production.

Optimization of Components and Expansion of Plant Control Systems Offer Potential  for Improvement

Efficiency Remains the Order of the Day

Desire for hygiene and food safety increase worldwide demand for flexible packaging films.

Plant of Brückner Maschinenbau in Siegsdorf, Germany

Unternehmen

kunststoffe.de

KU-Verarbeitungsmaschinen allgemein

Kunststoffverarbeitungsmaschinen

 Brückner Maschinenbau to Increase Order Intake Significantly in 2020

Union Officine Meccaniche designs and produces inside its industrial unit a wide range of extrusion lines for sheets, boards, rigid and foam profiles and advanced equipment for the production of sheets and foam boards in XPE, XPS, XPP and XPET.

The new XPS lines for foam boards are equipped with all the options necessary to operate in the most varied process and raw material conditions, obtaining all the various types of products required by the market.

XPS Lines for Sheets, Boards, Rigid and Foam Profiles

Jafra Plastic Industries LLC, based in Amman, Jordan, has successfully completed the commissioning of a new EVO Ultra Flat Blown Film line from Reifenhäuser.

“We decided for the Ultra Flat Technology because it provides best film quality that will save costs on many levels. Our main objectives of the investment are increasing output, provide higher quality films, reduce the CO<sub>2</sub> footprint by downgauging and ultimately increase our product portfolio.”, said Naji Abu Shehab, Managing Director of Jafra Plastic Industries 

Flat Blown Film Line for the Middle East Region

Brückner Maschinenbau focuses its trade show presence on higher plant efficiency and sustainable film production.

BOPP and BOPET are among the most popular packaging films. They are now produced on lines at speeds of over 600 m/min.

16:9

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe-international.com

Faster and Wider BO Lines

By the manufacturer’s account, Meaf extruders, thanks to their efficient design, have a carbon footprint that is up to 30 to 65 % lower than conventional products, and thereby ensure a reduction of raw material consumption.

Meaf offers an extrusion line for manufacturing recyclable backing materials for artificial turf. 

Solutions for the Packaging and Carpet Industry

The aim of the cooperation is the joint marketing and further development of the automation system designed by maku for coextrusion adapters and slot dies.

From left to right: Reto Maeder, Managing Director and Co-Owner Maku, Bernd Reifenhäuser, CEO Reifenhäuser Group, and Uwe Gaedike, Managing Director Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems, at K 2022.

Reifenhäuser Extrusion Cooperates with Maku

World premieres, technological advancements and joint projects: there was plenty of evidence at K of the impressive progress made in sustainable solutions in extrusion in many different directions over the past number of years.

During the daily machine show, Windmöller & Hölscher demonstrated a fast product changeover per autopilot. When K finished, the line was delivered to IsoFlex Packaging, in Nashville, TN/USA.

In the field of film extrusion and processing the number one topic at this year's K was the circular economy and sustainability.

Schröder, Susanne

A Common Goal: The Circular Economy

The finite elements method was used in the past almost exclusively for calculating simple extrusion dies or die segments. More recent developments now enable it to be used for more complex dies, too. 

Spritzgießsimulation

Pipe Extrusion: The Calculation of Spiral Mandrel Dies 

A new extrusion system allows changes of diameter during production. This capability increases productivity while reducing personnel and material costs. The greater production flexibility additionally shortens delivery lead times and cuts inventory. 

Pipe Extrusion: Dimension Changes in Running Pipe Production 

Precision setting of a coextrusion adapter or a flat die usually requires a highly intuitive operator – and a lot of time. At K 2022, Reifenhäuser presented an automation system that uses motorized screwdrivers to speed up start-up and product changes in flat film and sheet production.

Coextrusion: How a new automation system speeds up start-up and product changes in flat film and sheet extrusion.

Starting up a flat film extrusion line takes a lot of experience and time. A whole swath of individual operations have to be completed before the coextrusion adapter and die are set correctly. Up to now, the task of setting the profiling the individual film layers in the adapter has usually been done manually and with the line at a standstill. Often, the adjustment of the die lip is regulated by means of thermal expansion bolts. These are imprecise, have a sluggish response and consume a great deal of energy because they need a permanent supply of power.

Reifenhäuser’s solution to this problem is an automation option for coextrusion adapters and slot dies for use in flat film and sheet production and extrusion coating. This system, called PAM (precise, autonomous, mechatronic), is essentially simple technology. Two motorized screwdrivers each move automatically along the adapter and die, adjusting all the set screws automatically with great precision. The high degree of automation greatly simplifies start-up and product changes for the machine operator, while boosting productivity, film quality and overall equipment efficiency (OEE) – according to the manufacturer.

Furthermore, recipes that have been set once can be stored and retrieved during product changes. They can thus be reproduced exactly – even by inexperienced operators.

Stored Recipes Enable  Reproducible Results

This is a decisive advantage, because a shortage of skilled workers has plagued manufacturing companies everywhere for years. The stored settings facilitate not only production runs, but also the tracing of individual products, while providing proof for the company’s own customers. Another advantage of the fully automated solution with PAM is that the line operator no longer has to work on the hot components, a fact which increases work safety. There is also a reduced risk of damage being done to the line components as a result of manual screw adjustment. PAM is available as an option for new Reifenhäuser “Pro” coextrusion adapters and for various dies, but can also be retrofitted to existing lines. For dies, the system is also available for third-party systems, irrespective of manufacturer.

Profiling of the Individual Layers while the Line Is Running

According to the manufacturer, the Pro coextrusion adapter is the only coextrusion system on the market that allows individual layers to be profiled while the line is running. Unlike conventional solutions, this does not require elements located in the adapter to be removed, processed and reinstalled in a time-consuming process. Instead, the profilers can be flexibly controlled either individually or together during operation via a central adjustment.

“The PAM option goes one step further,” says Dr. Hanna Dornebusch, applications engineer at Reifenhäuser Cast Sheet Coating. “PAM uses integrated recipe management to automate the setting of the layer distribution and simplify adjustments and optimizations. This is especially worthwhile where multiple product changes are needed in production and for manufacturers of multi-layer films.”

With simple 3-layer composites, the coextrusion adapter is adjusted in a few steps, but barrier composites comprising 11 layers may require 70 profilers to be adjusted. Compared with manual adjustment by a machine operator, automation saves about half an hour of changeover time, with the exact time depending on the number of profilers to be adjusted.

PAM is the next logical successor to solutions based on translator technology and individual drives and is the outcome of decades of development in the field of die control. Boasting two motorized screwdrivers, the system combines energy efficiency with a control system that is easy to set up and operate.

PAM allows for autonomous and mechatronic adjustment and control of the flex lip via the system control. To an extent depending on the die design, autonomous adjustment of the dust bar, width adjustment and lip opening are also possible by adjusting the lower die lip.

“With this option, we now offer our customers a highly convenient solution that yields a fast return on investment,” explains Tim Bänsch, product manager at Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems. “Compared with dies that are adjusted  using thermal expansion bolts, changeover time and energy consumption are significantly reduced.” Switching from thermal expansion bolts to PAM on a 3000 mm wide die saves about 224,064 kWh per year. This is a decisive advantage, given the current high energy costs in Europe.

The newly launched system is a joint development by Reifenhäuser’s “Extrusion Systems” and “Cast Sheet Coating” business units. The PAM option can be selected independently for coextrusion adapters and dies – but it is only when they are used in combination that the automated components develop their full strength.

Strategic Partnership with an Automation Expert

The developer of the automation system – Maku AG – has entered into an exclusive strategic partnership with Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems. The aim of the partnership is the joint marketing and further development of the automation system.

Uwe Gaedike, Managing Director of Reifenhäuser Extrusion Systems, explains: “Maku’s technology and experience are the perfect complement to our hot part expertise. With the automation option, we can now offer our customers a perfectly coordinated overall system that is second to none. We will work together with Maku to establish the technology in the market and continuously develop it further. What makes this special is that we also offer it as part of our refurbishment portfolio for all lines in the market.”

Reto Maeder, Managing Director and Co-Owner of Maku, adds: “We are very pleased to have found a strong partner in Reifenhäuser to market our technology globally. Together, we will leverage the potential of our cross-process expertise to create benefits for our customers. We combine hot part expertise with a high level of automation in the market. Maku will continue its classic retrofit business on existing dies unchanged. Reifenhäuser’s global service network enables us to offer our system to more customers outside Europe.”

Reifenhäuser GmbH & Co.KG Maschinenfabrik 

https://www.reifenhauser.com

Ausgabenartikel

A clever solution: two motorized screwdrivers travel along the die, automatically adjusting all the set screws.

The Coextrusion Adapter Pro enables profiling of up to 11 individual layers – while the line is running.

The PAM system enables precise, autonomous and mechatronic adjustment and control of the flex lip.

Hauptartikel Reifenhäuser

Automation of Flat Film Lines

You can find further information about the PAM system and two videos about the mode of operation at: <a href="https://www.maku-ag.ch/en/" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3w6wRZv</a>

Read the German version of the  article in our magazine <i>Kunststoffe </i>or at <a href="https://www.kunststoffe.de/a/fachartikel/wunsch-folie-auf-knopfdruck-3361177" target="_blank">www.kunststoffe.de</a>