sensors & systems - Industrial Technology Magazine

POWER TRANSMISSION
Brakes, Clutches & Couplings
Tension control in narrow
web labelling machines
Equipped with a comprehensive range of cooling systems,
Andantex claims its new EMP series of brakes and
clutches is the widest and most reliable on the market
Resolving web handling problems
by improving tension
control is a cost-effective way
to refurbish existing equipment
or to enhance the performance of new
equipment. It allows an increase in linear
speed, production quality and flexibility,
and reduces waste. To do this, Andantex,
with Merobel, have launched a new
range of EMP brakes equipped
with the most comprehensive
range of cooling systems –
necessary components to
achieve higher linear speed –
and a new digital tension
controller, the DGT 300.
When it comes to applying
variable torque in tension control,
EMP brakes and clutches are more
reliable (wearless) and easy to implement
(constant torque) than friction systems
and more cost-effective and easy to
maintain than Shaftless systems.
The reliability of the Merobel EMP
brake and clutch comes from a
combination of many different design
improvements including factors such as
specifically developed
wearless surface
treatments, magnetic
properties of the
chosen steel quality,
powder composition,
ball bearing optimisation
to resist to
high temperatures,
sealing quality and
thermal resistance. In
addition, computer simulation of
the exact working conditions
allows the temperature level in
any crucial part of the brake to be finely
defined. The best solution in terms of
cooling system (cooling fins, axial fan,
radial fan, or water jacket cooling system)
can then be chosen from known machine
working conditions.
Wide torque range
As the versatility of narrow web label
machinery has become more important,
so the available global range of torque,
from 2Nm to 1,000Nm has also become
more crucial when considering the
application needs. The capability for the
EMP brake and clutch technology to offer
the widest available continuous torque
range is one of its key features. This
capability relies on constant research and
development for solutions to decrease the
drag torque, as well as for the internal
magnetic field optimisation to allow a
better linearisation of the characteristic
curve.
Even using the world’s best brake, a
tension control system must also include
controllers and sensors in order to reach
its goal: a guarantee of different, accurate
and consistent tension levels on any of the
product that the application may require
(up to 1% precision). The DGT300 offers
all the special features required to deal
with the application parameter variations:
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
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Conveyor applications
Another Solution Product is Klik-Top polymer
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More details: Write in 240 on the card
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INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • May 2008