Special feature Lifting & conveying factory equipment NOVEMBER2002
Modularity keeps film rolling
A gravure printer of plastic wrapping materials has improved productivity and the efficiency of its slitting hall by using a flexible conveyor system
When Alcan Packaging Lawson Mardon decided to improve the efficiency of their slitting hall they explored the market for a supplier of suitable conveyors, they found an advert of Monk Conveyors in this magazine. So they contacted Monk Conveyors and after a period of site visits and technical discussions the final quotations where accepted and orders placed. "After examining all the likely contenders we decided to place the orders with Monk because we could not match the quality and price of their equipment elsewhere" said Nick James (Engineering Manager)

Large rolls of high quality plastic film packaging up to 800mm diameter and 1200mm long are rewound and slit into smaller individual rolls. The finished rolls are manually placed on the nearby conveyors by the machine operators, they are then automatically transported at a steady speed to the final packing and dispatch section.

Defect detection Any rolls with the slightest defect are placed on the conveyor with their bar code label facing the operator. These are detected by a bar code reader as they travel down the system and automatically transferred to a separate conveyor where they are returned to the start of the line and held in a parking position while awaiting further examination and reworking.

By using short lengths of conveyor and optical sensors the rolls are kept separate as they travel down the conveyors. Individual control boxes situated under the conveyors start and stop the conveyors as required.

The complete system is modular in design, all conveyors are free standing and all electrical connections have plugs and sockets. It will be a simple matter to make changes to the layout in the future as the electrical controls can be unplugged, the conveyors repositioned and the electrical controls plugged back into the control boxed.

Due to the close spacing of the conveyors in the center of the slitting hall, two ninety degree corner modules are used to increase the distance between the conveyors as they enter the packing department.
"It will be a simple matter to make changes to the layout in the future, asthe electrical controls can be unplugged, the conveyors repositioned and the controls plugged back into the control boxes"

Industrial partitioning The different departments are enclosed with MONK industrial partitioning. This uses 40mm square and 40mm x 80mm MONEX40 silver anodised aluminium alloy extrusion, which is manufactured in the UK solely for MONK. The silver extrusion together with blue and grey infill panels makes a very attractive partition. Areas were fenced to separate mechanised sections from the manual packing areas. Typical modular panels are 2.04m and 4.9m high and 1.1m wide. 4.9m high partition walling was used to screen the stores area from view and hide wall mounted essential services. Electrical wiring can be housed within the frames and accessed by removing a 19mm capping strip. Window panels are supplied in clear high impact polyester or polycarbonate. Opaque panels in rigid expanded plastic with a ‘wipe clean’ surface. Colours available are blue, grey, white, green, yellow, red and black. All panels are secured ‘rattle free’ in the extrusion slot by rubber glazing strip. All extrusion slots can be sealed with a clip in extruded filler strip. The MONK system was primarily designed for perimeter fence guarding with key-interlocked access doors.

To date 84m of conveyors, 67m of 2m high partitioning, 35m of 4.9m high screen walling and 20 work benches have been installed.

Monk Conveyors Limited

Woodside House, Woodside Park, Catteshall Lane, Godalming, Surrey, England.

Tel: +44 (0)1483 791700. Fax: +44 (0)1483 791701
E-Mail Monk Conveyors