Tag: laminate

Laminate Flooring – Step Up to Protect the Surface

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

A manufacturer of laminated floor planks was having issues with defects prior to packaging.  The planks were made from a high-density fiberboard as the core with a top layer of a picturesque image, then sealed together.  They were getting fine material that was stuck on the surface, making them defective.  The issue was caused after the cutting process.  The fine debris remained on the surface and when the image or the sealing material was applied, it could be seen.  They tried wiping, but the solution caused scratches.  They tried blowing the surface to clear the debris, but due to the static, it would not fall off easily.  They required a good solution to improve the cleaning without slowing the process.  EXAIR’s Static Eliminators are a great product for industrial processes like this. 

In looking at the process, I recommended two pieces of a model 112242 42” Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife Kit.  The planks could come out in two spots or four spots.  (Reference photo above) To reduce compressed air usage, they could turn on or off which side is needed.  The customer asked about the mounting and compressed air attachments.  I mentioned the proper setup for the most effective blowing.  As a benefit, I offered a plumbing kit to help with the compressed air connection.  The PKI option, or Plumbing Kit Installed, has the proper amount of connection to the Super Ion Air Knife to allow for an even force across the entire knife.  I upgraded the model number with the PKI option to a model 112242PKI. 

Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife Kit

This kit will include the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knife with a PKI, a power supply, a filter, a regulator and a shim set.  The Gen4 Power Supply creates both positive and negative ions to remove any type of static.  The filter will remove bulk liquids and debris from the compressed air to keep the product clean and to optimize performance.  The Regulator is used to control the force.  This helps to not overuse the amount of compressed air required for the job.  With a regulator, you can make fine adjustments to get the proper amount of air.  For coarse adjustments, you can change shims to increase or decrease the force.  The customer was happy with the properly sized components to operate a non-contact wiping with the Gen4 Super Ion Air Knives. 

Once installed, their defect rate almost dropped to zero.  They were very happy with the cleanliness of the planks; they decided to purchase six more units.  They could place them in different areas of the lamination line to ensure a clean surface.  EXAIR manufactures a variety of Static Eliminator products.  If you feel that static is an issue in your process, you can always contact an Application Engineer to help you.  For the company above, they were “stepping” high.   

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Multiple Products Provide a Solution to Improve a Laminated Sign Making Process

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

A manufacturer that produces laminated signs contacted EXAIR for a blow off application. Being that we are experts in this area, I thought this would be a simple solution. The conversation started out about the signs that they manufacture. They are laminated sheets that have a thin aluminum film with a coating on the front and back sides. Their process was to cut stacks of these signs that he called books to specific dimensions. Here is how the conversation went in a shortened version:

Problem –

  1. I need to blow off chips from the saw process.
  2. It has to be strong enough to remove the chips that are melted into the face of the laminate.
  3. When the blade gets dull, the chips become hotter. The operator has to blow on the blade as it is cutting to reduce the amount of chips that melt into the laminated face.
  4. After the machine finishes and the books are removed, the table lifts up and disposes of the excess chips.

Solution –

  1.  Model 1122 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle to blow a wide area off the top of the signs after sawing.

Model 1122: 2
2″ Flat Super Air Nozzle

2.  Model 5330 High Power Cold Gun with dual point hose to place on the saw blade. This will extend the life of the blade and help keep the chips cool. Eliminating the melting into the face.

5330 High Power Cold Air Gun
High Power Cold Gun System

3.  Model: 110248 Super Air Knife Kit to blow the chips from the table after it is lifted.

Super Air Knife
Super Air Knife

As you can see, with a simple initial question, it became complicated rather quickly. Instead of looking at one area of the application, I was able to improve their entire process. In any manufacturing plant, scrap and downtime are the two biggest culprits in reducing profits. The scrap occurred when the faces were scratched and damaged. The downtime happened during the cleanup between book change-overs and when the saw blades were being replaced. Overall, their process improved in efficiency and speed.

Whenever you need to look at the overall process for improvement, EXAIR may have multiple solutions to offer. You can speak to an Application Engineer to see how EXAIR can increase your efficiency and reduce your scrap. You can either call 800-903-9247 or send an email to techhelp@exair.com.

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: twitter.com/exair_jb

Preventing Quality Defects in Laminated Autoglass

Published on by Dave WoernerLeave a comment

This week I had the opportunity to work with a customer that manufactures automotive glass. Part of the process of manufacturing the glass is to apply a thin plastic film of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) in between glass sheets.

 

This creates the laminated safety glass that protects passengers from flying glass shards in the event of an accident.

glass
The customer was having a quality problem. Glass was being rejected on their low volume compound curved glass production line for debris being trapped between the layers during the laminating process. We worked on identifying how the dust could be introduced into his laminating process. First, each of the glass panels are cleaned by hand with a cleaner and a soft cloth to remove any dirt, grease or oil that can be left behind from production, shipping, or handling. The soft cloth can leave behind some lint.

On the high production line, a cleaning roller would remove any lint left behind on the flat glass. On the curved glass of the low production line, the curvature of the glass prevented the roller from applying even pressure across the glass and was leaving lint of the cleaning cloth is left behind.  This lint will become a defect in the glass after the glass is cured in an oven.

Ion Air Gun

I recommended the customer use an Ion Air Gun immediately after the hand cleaning cloth step since the Ion Air Gun is also a manual, hand held product. The PVB is pulled from a stack of thin film which generates a static charge from dragging one sheet over another and increasing the chance that lint will stick. The Ion Air Gun will remove the static charge and blow off the lint just prior to lamination. If this was a high volume product, I would have recommend one of our long one piece Super Ion Air Knives to cover the whole piece of glass in a single blow off. Because this was already a manual process due to a low volume specialty glass, the Ion Air Gun is the best product for the job.

Dave Woerner
Application Engineer
Davewoerner@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_DW

 

Image from me and the sysop. Creative Commons