Converting

Converting

Contamination removal in converting industry

The converting process industry covers a wide range of applications, materials, and product widths.  Predominantly handling thin calliper materials in roll-to-roll, or sheet-to-sheet formats, the converting process covers unwinding, sheeting, extruding, coating, drying, calendaring, laminating, delaminating, die cutting, laser cutting, slitting, printing, packaging, winding, and many more.

Frequently used web materials are papers, foils, plastic films woven and non-woven textiles.  Process speeds can be slow for very intricate conversion processes but are frequently at high speeds to maximise productivity and profitability.

Processes can be on a large industrial scale, or small scale at a single end user but in both cases a large amount of power and control is needed to drive the machinery and process performance.

From its raw material form the different processes convert and add value to an enhanced product in roll or sheet form (to pass onto another production stage), or to the final product at the end of the line.

High speed material transfers often lead to static charge build up resulting in material misbehaviour on machine, ink laydown problems, and contamination attraction (from processes or environment).  If not controlled process speeds become limited or changes in conditions require speeds and productivity to be reduced. 

Surface contamination can become embedded affecting coating and print quality resulting in down stream product performance or poor presentation.

The high level of automation and control equipment requires high power draw and significant amounts of cooling solutions for standard operating or high seasonal peak temperatures.

With an unrivalled range of static control, static generation, sensors and datalogging, non-contact and contact type web cleaning, air-efficiency and air-cooling systems, Meech delivers a suite of cost saving solutions into the converting industry which enhances productivity, maximises yields and supports customers with the latest industry offerings to get the work done.

Our Zero Faults Forward Approach

We have identified a number of applications within the converting industry that are prone to contamination on the line. By applying the right solutions at these points, you make sure there are no weak links to your production chain. We explore these below and demonstrate our solutions…

Converting supply applications

It is critical that static electricity is controlled during converting applications. Below are some of the main areas affected by static charges during production, and our solutions to remove static charges and other contaminants:

* All drawings are for illustrative purposes only. The position of the static control and web cleaning solutions most suitable for your process will depend on certain factors of your application.

Web Cleaning Solutions

Meech is a leading Web Cleaning manufacturer with a comprehensive range of four systems. Each system is based on a different cleaning principle, this uniquely allows us to provide our customers with a system best suited for their application. All Meech systems incorporate the latest shockless  AC static control bars as standard which is crucial for comprehensive contamination removal. Meech has more than 200 successful web cleaning installations in a range of industries including Packaging, Printing and Converting.

Meech CyClean™ has been designed in response to demand for a compact, high performance, non-contact web cleaner.

Through the application of advanced computational fluid dynamics, CyClean removes and extracts contamination below 1 micron.

The CyClean-R provides a specialised solution for low-tension web cleaning.

The CyClean-R is designed to be positioned on the roller, where the web tension is at its highest, therefore bypassing the issues of low tension and still delivering excellent surface cleaning.

RoClean is the latest contact web cleaner, delivering excellent surface cleaning results for the battery film manufacturing industry.

RoClean effectively cleans the web surface through the use of both static control and an efficient bristle roller brush. 

Air Handling Units. Meech

Meech web cleaners are supplied with Meech Air Handling Units (AHUs) to ensure air balance is maintained to perfectly control accuracy of air pressure and vacuum. These are compact, industrial specification units and can also be performance monitored via PLC control.

Static Control Solutions

Meech is a market leader in manufacturing and supplying static control products since the 1960’s; offering a wide range of electrostatic products that provide anti-static and ESD protection and measurement, static generation, electrostatic control and elimination.

Powered by 24V DC the Hyperion 924IPS is the most compact pulsed DC bar available on the market.

The 924IPS features Meech’s Ion Current Monitoring (ICM) technology, this ensures performance is maintained with local and remote alerts when the bar needs cleaning.

Voltage Sensor. Meech

ur closed-loop feedback system takes advantage of the adjustable balance of pulsed DC ionising systems.

The system comprises a Hyperion SmartControl and up to 5 Hyperion ionising products for closed-loop feedback. Once connected to the SmartControl sensor, measures the voltage on the web downstream of the ionising bar.

This measurement can be fed back to the ionising product which automatically adjusts the balance of the output to achieve a completely neutral web. This is a continuous process that constantly measures and adjusts to achieve the very best static control at all times.

The Model 983v2 Static Locator provides a clear indication of electrostatic charges on materials.  It is intended for general industrial use and has a wide measuring range of +/-200kV, measured at 150mm distance.

The 983v2 can operate in “Continuous” or “Peak Hold” mode to record changes in the level of charge or the highest charge detected respectively. It is suitable for providing a good indication of the level of static charge for use by production, maintenance, inspection and quality engineers. The 983v2 can be used on any material where static charge may be an issue.

SmartControl Touch is the latest innovation from Meech designed to meet the needs of modern automated industries and the growth of Industry 4.0 to achieve maximum productivity and output quality.

SmartControl Touch allows the user to monitor, control and adjust the performance of multiple connected Hyperion ionising bars and sensors via the integrated touch-screen or remotely.

Could we help improve your converting manufacturing process?