DOWNSTREAM | MACHINERY
Line management: latest in downstream equipment
From inspection systems that check product features to cutters that ensure fast, accurate performance, downstream equipment is vital to the smooth production of extruded products
Downstream equipment is vital to end product quality – whether it is checking correct dimensions, cutting to length or testing performance. A US-based manufacturer of WPC decking
boards has used Pixargus measuring technology for quality control. The ProfilControl 7 DX WPC system helped to inspect the board profile in a continuous, inline process. It inspects critical features, such as the grooved edges of the boards, with high accuracy and minimum handling effort, says the company. The camera-based digital inline inspection system comes with an OPC-UA interface allowing it to integrate with the manufacturer’s process chain and communicate with the various control units and downstream processes in real time. After boards have been cut to length, the
system’s eight high-resolution cameras capture their contours in an inline process, checking all relevant dimensions – including radii, angles, distances, lengths, heights and widths. In this application, Pixargus positioned the cameras so that the entire grooved edges of the deck boards can be measured. These are later used to accom- modate the fasteners to install the decking. The customer’s previous measuring system could only measure the height or depth of the groove, but ProfilControl 7 DX WPC has a sensor head that measures both parameters simultane- ously, in a single measurement.
Microduct measurement Estonian microduct manufacturer Hoehle has used Sikora X-ray measuring systems for inline quality control. To measure the inner and outer diameter, wall thickness and eccentricity of its microducts, the
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company has installed three X-ray based X-Ray 6000 Pro devices from Sikora in its lines – for microducts in the diameter range of 3-20 mm. “The advantage of the X-Ray systems is that you
are confident about the measured values and you get correct product dimensions immediately with the start-up of the line with one shot,” said Toomas Koobas, CEO at Hoehle. “For microduct produc- tion, continuous inline monitoring is the key factor when talking about quality.” The company uses three separate monitors of the Ecocontrol 6000 processor system connected to each X-ray device. These give operators con- stant access to the current measurement values. Real-time visualisation is the secret of a perfect process control. Compared to alternative technologies, such as
ultrasound, X-ray technology provides consistent measurement without being affected by tempera- tures or material, he says. “With X-ray you get a measurement you trust and a guarantee of compliance with microduct specifications,” he said. The company also uses Sikora lump detectors in
its lines. These detect small non-conformities on the surface of the microducts. The operator
September 2023 | PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION 21
Main image: Gillard’s Servo-Torq Slice-Cut rotary cutter cuts large rigid plastic extrusions more cleanly
IMAGE: GILLARD CUTTING
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