With the continuous expansion of the canakers' product responsibilities to the customer's factory, the can makers need to keep up with the development of the latest sealing mold setting technology.
The responsibility of can makers for empty cans has expanded to a large extent and has long exceeded the gates of their factories. High-quality canned products depend not only on the application of raw materials, but also on the use of cans and lids on cans and closures.
This is why many can makers do not bill the customer before checking the sealing equipment in the customer's factory. These are all part of the service.
However, in the mind of a can maker, care should be taken to ensure that the sealing machine operates well. The so-called sealing specialist is a group that is declining, and who should seek help when a customer encounters a sealing issue? The greatest possibility is to turn to the can maker.
All methods that can improve the safety and predictability of the sealing process are therefore welcome. As any clarification of the so-called "black art" (ie keeping the sealing system can be checked during prolonged production stages).
Two important developments are making this all a reality. The first one seems to simplify and speed up the skillful work of adjusting the gap of the roller correctly. The second, that is, the maintenance plan for the sealer, this work has already been well implemented.
The use of a sealing device is often difficult to predict. A study by Ofer Laor (Israel Quality by Vision) showed that when a Japanese brewery's capper was adjusted to the same specifications, some of them would be able to seal more than three times the number of cans of other equipment. The equipment production efficiency that needs more frequent adjustments is very poor.
Quality by Vision was asked to solve this problem and sought to adjust the technique of adjusting the gap between the reel roller and the reel clamp. The use of this probe also led to excessive variability. This approach is not only slow, but even two experts cannot come to a similar conclusion.
To solve this problem, Laor has used a computerized optical measurement system called a gap gauge. This system has been used in a Japanese brewery and an European premier winery is also evaluating it. Laor is also very excited about the potential utility of this system.
"Subjectively to find the most perfect 'acceptable point', that is, the 'best point' for perfect sealing and the longest running time of the sealing machine," he said. "Use today's device to find the wheel. "The best location" is hard to find the best, and finding the best location is more complex. â€
“This situation is aggravated by companies that need to use a sealing device to produce many types of cans. If you cannot use a gap gauge to quickly and accurately position the rollers, changing the rollers and rearranging the rollers will be a long one. And the expensive process."
The gap gauge measures the gap between the indenter and the roller and displays the image of the die after it has been set into the roll cap of the machine.
Laor said anyone is fully able to use the device to quickly and accurately adjust the sealer, and its variability is "negligible." Once the roller is in place, he thinks it is not necessary to perform a wide range of sealing tests. And the system can give an accurate report on different sealing positions on the sealing device along the roller on a specific date.
He also suggested that * The analysis of the data generated by the system can calculate the best position of the roller and can be improved according to the original technical specifications of the manufacturer. To better support his claim, Laor has worked with Angelus on a 121L sealing machine for the production of 202 neck-contracting beverage cans to collect data.
This also helps explain why a similar seal may be produced when the gap between the roller and the indenter is different. Laor suspects that this is related to the elastic difference in the seal.
That is a mature area of ​​research. At the same time, Laor is collecting information he had collected prior to the application of this system. He hopes that he can use this information to uncover many secrets in the operation of the sealer, thereby enabling the operator to master the technologies that have so far been retained by experts.
At the same time, food and beverage canners are increasingly demanding unplanned downtime for capping equipment that can last a long time without high costs.
“Today the problem in the beer and beverage industry is that they don’t want unplanned downtime,†said Peter Moran, sales engineer at Carnaud Metalbox Sealing Systems Engineering, a UK-based company that says: “The sealer must now operate from a maintenance plan. To the next maintenance plan."
Industry has changed the status of the sealing machine. It was usually experts who were active in this area ten years ago. Operators now have a more general understanding. However, a significant change has driven the demand for equipment manufacturers or suppliers that require cans and caps to provide expertise, and the number of those demands is decreasing.
"The design of the machine has been improved, and it can be made to operate under conditions of very low maintenance, and efforts are made to achieve continuous operation for three to five months without downtime."
This objective reality has enabled customers to start repairing plans rather than waiting for problems to stop work, or fearing that there is no regular wear and tear, and that the time between downtimes is shorter, for example, when there are very few production stops at weekends.
The improvement of the sealing mold has largely made it possible. A 12-station capper at a beer and beverage factory using an old roll-up roller before it has to be replaced may be capable of producing 150 million caps within 10 years. "Now you can make 500 million caps. ,†Moran said, because better molds and bearings have been used.
These molds can usually last longer than this. However, rather than waiting for the wear to begin affecting the quality of the seal, it is not as good as the customer to plan for maintenance downtime earlier. The result is a more stable seal.
But that does not mean that quality inspection is superfluous. The test still has to be done and the quality records kept are showing that the inspection of the sealing quality every 4 hours has been done. Because it is still possible that the quality of the coating on a bottom cap with a line sealant or a tin can be lower than the standard. This is also the main direction that empty can suppliers must bear from customer complaints, so it is extremely important to ensure that the quality level remains the same and it seems that it must be.
The principle of planned shutdown that has been widely promoted in the beer and beverage industry is increasingly being applied to the canned food industry, and the promotion of this principle has led to a new generation of sealing machines.
It usually takes two weeks for a machine to be removed from the production line and returned to the processing plant to complete the overhaul. The latest design of Angelus and Ferrum allows the attachment components to be removed and replaced in a matter of hours, while the wearing parts become easier to replace. The circulatory lubrication system guarantees less wear without the need for regular lubrication.
The introduction of the 12M sealer from Angelus two years ago also raises this question: The servo drive of the cover-split element speed control makes it possible to quickly replace the cover part while eliminating complicated mechanical drives. A servo drive also controls the rising adjustment of the height of the upper hex pin and other servo drives are used to limit the time and operate the sealing-related canned equipment. Communication between the computer's Ethernet and the instrument allows the operator to keep track of the machine's data and make adjustments.
Compared to the problems that arise, or the use of molds that have almost exceeded the useful life, planned maintenance provides greater cost-efficiency and accuracy, making financial plans and customer service more trustworthy. "The molds that are replaced when there are planned downtimes won't increase your costs," Moran said. "It's wrong to risk continuing to use these molds."
An Indian seal mold specialist Imeta. Roberto Baroni strongly agrees with this view. "In recent times, canners have been pursuing reductions in maintenance and improving the reliability of their production lines," he said. “Some products (such as tomato ketchup) have a very short production season, so the production line must operate 24 hours a day, and maintain the maximum reliability.â€
"Canners have realized that the cost of sealing dies has no obvious effect on the final cost of the product, so they have invested in high-end technology."
Techniques for converting to sealing machines
The Swiss sealing machine manufacturer Ferrum has gradually added improvements to its products so that increasingly lighter beverage cans and larger diameter food cans can be sealed at high speeds.
In November, the company completed the development of a drive uplifter for its commonly used F308 capper, which was used in three food cans and two beverage cans. This feature prevents slip seals and allows for thinner can bodies.
The F812 high-speed beverage can closure technology at Ferrum12 has been used in the production of new F809 sealing machines for large cans of food cans. With nine stations, the machine allows a 99 mm diameter jar to operate at speeds in excess of 1000 cans/minute. This has all the usual characteristics of Ferrum: Stainless steel construction, automatic lubrication and easy to clean.
Grinder tool's effect on the price of rotating parts
Rolled rollers are required to have a surface that has been ground and the price paid is the same as that of AIT.
AIT, located in Carson City, NV, said this includes 440-C stainless steel, D2 or S7 die steel, and carbide materials. All extended wear resistant coatings can be supplied with silicon nitride ceramic bearings. It is also supplied by PSZ, the only supplier of ceramic roll seals in the United States. The demand for such rollers has recently grown substantially.
AIT has promoted the use of patented patented two-slot double reel ball bearing rollers on Angelus P series capping machines, which have alleviated the degree of over-lubrication problems that have plagued the sealing equipment industry for many years. AIT says that this type of roller is the only roller that can be made of cemented carbide and that allows "floating" during normal can body sealing operations. All extended wear coatings are optional.
AIT Chairman Lee Bertucci said: "With the addition of a studor grinder, the strength of our production line has been greatly enhanced. This allows us to dominate the rotating parts in the high-speed beverage industry and carbide roller The price offers molds with the best surface conditions."
Replacement components help non-standard roll seals
Because there are no commonly agreed standards among manufacturers, canned rectangular fish can often be difficult to seal. And more often, lids from many suppliers (four equal lengths, four equal ovals, and 65mm, 84mm, and 99mm) must be applied to the same sealer.
Spain's sealing equipment maker Sommetrade solved this problem by providing a minimum number of replacement parts. Alejandro Martunez, Soummetrade's sales manager, said: "In most cases, the parts that need to be changed are the contour of the sealing roller, the volume clamp and the ejection device. The main changes should include the bottom clearance, the transmission star gear and the guide. (When changing from a conical tank to a straight tank, or vice versa), add the support and the stencils of the mold that adjust the tank height difference."
“For example, just recently we have provided us with an importable Spanish tuna canner who already owns an Elsa sealer with a 99mm can shape and has a set of molds and replacement parts. 240g tinplate cup with lid or aluminum foil lid; 240g or 160g aluminum cup with Faba Sirma common lid or easy-open foil lid; two lids with tin lid for Franpac and lid with tin lid for Auxisilar Conservera tank."
Advanced equipment can help us unveil the mysterious veil of sealing technology, but more importantly, the advanced production, equipment and technology management concepts brought by advanced equipment are more worthy of our deep thinking and discussion.
1. The development trend of the can making industry is how to reduce or even eliminate irregular and sudden downtime through practical and feasible maintenance procedures. This coincides with the motivation and purpose of launching a comprehensive promotion and update management model that we are currently considering. To increase production efficiency, we must avoid sudden downtime. The frequency of such unscheduled downtime events and the degree of damage control are very important for our production of seasonally stronger industries. We need stable equipment status and also require stable sealing quality. We need more from this. Save more manpower, material resources, and financial resources. We firmly believe that the future of the company will surely embark on this path, and it will only be in this direction, and our business will be able to go more steadily.
2, but the above equipment maintenance and can not replace the production process and finished product quality testing. This is also a basic principle, because the factors that can affect the quality level we need to ensure include not only the sealing equipment, but also other factors such as can making, lid making and other production processes.
3. Ten years ago, the sealing technology in the can making industry was considered as a high-level technology that was only secretly understood by only a few experts. However, ten years later, the mystery of the sealing technology was uncovered layer by layer, and we are even more Can understand: in the face of new materials, new processes, sealing structure and technology must be developed, in particular, we are now promoting the application of DR materials, thin and hard materials need to change the sealing structure, as to how to adjust the equipment, Not only is the change of our mold, but also the equipment, quality, and production departments.
4. The suitability of rollers and covers has not been given sufficient attention. This is not only a problem of equipment, but also involves production, supply, quality, technology, and market. Another piece of information that can be revealed in this article is: improving the applicability and application of molds and purchased materials is a necessary way to ensure product quality stability.
5. After consultation with Mr. Ofer Laor mentioned in the article, the instruments used to measure the gap between the roller and the indenter are different from the instruments used to measure the surface condition of the indenter and the indenter. In comparison, instruments for measuring sealing dies are more practical. Although there are not many people who know about this imported equipment, from the perspective of long-term development, whether this equipment can be reasonably applied to the actual production is an indispensable and important step for the future development of can-making enterprises. The correct use of this equipment is the yardstick for the perfection of our equipment management system.
6, the existing international high-end three-piece can technology is mostly from two pieces of cans have mature technology. This also proves that our technical staff can only expand their thinking, not only focusing on the domestic three-pile tank industry, but also focusing on the world's advanced three-piece cans and two-piece cans technology. Under certain conditions, we can use technology to drive business development.