Manufactured in
Nagoya, Japan by |
|
| Frequently Asked Questions |
|
| How does it work? |
|
| There is an upper and lower bed of pins. The machine registers the layout of a sheet from two simple templates and creates a pattern of the required separation. The pressure of the pins (top and bottom) will neatly strip a stack of sheets 80-100mm thick (around 200 sheets of typical cartonboard) in under 30 seconds. |
| How many sheets can it strip in an hour? |
|
| Each machine cycle takes just under 30 seconds notwithstanding how many blanks are on the sheet. Then the operator needs to remove the blanks from the pin-bed which can take another 30-60 seconds. The potential then for, say, 400 micron cartonboard is to process up to 12,000 sheets per hour. |
| Who uses it? |
|
| Originally designed for the carton manufacturing industry, it is now also employed extensively in IML (in-mould labels), plastics (plant labels, point-of-sale packaging), blister packaging, microflutes, luxury packaging and greeting cards. |
| What are the benefits? |
|
It's around six-times quicker generally than stripping by hand or with a gun. Also there is no 'wear and tear' on the operator and the stripping action is very smooth so there is no damage to fragile areas of a product.
Make ready time is quick - 10 minute changeover for the machine to register the new layout.
You can also phase out the knife-cuts to the sheet edges and perforations that assist with hand-stripping as the TXR will not need them. In this way it is possible for die-cutter speeds to be increased up to 20-25%. |
| Why does it have two templates? |
|
| The first template establishes the pattern of the waste element that we want to exert stripping pressure upon. The second template removes from the stripping process altogether the pins at the waste edges that would otherwise come into contact with both the waste element and the product itself. This ensures there is no damage to the product. The unused pins are stored in a reserve bed at the back of the machine. This is all done automatically by the TXR. |
| What advantages does it have over in-line blanking? |
|
The tooling costs are inexpensive - simply the two plastic templates for each design. Therefore the TXR is at its best in lower production runs up to 30-35,000 sheets and where there are multiple changeovers during the shift.
It is also has tremendous advantages in environments where there are often 'composite' sheets that are not repeated in the same design ever again. |
| What are its limitations? |
|
So that the pressure exerted does not damage the product, the stack of sheets able to be processed in one cycle is limited to between 80mm in depth. This means that for typical 400 micron cartonboard, 200 sheets can be processed in one cycle. For IML (in-mould label) 50 micron processing it is possible to strip over 1,000 sheets in one cycle.
You'll still have to use a cassette-punch to knock out the very narrow slots and holes at the die-cutting stage as you would for a hand-stripping operation, although any such part of the design that allows a TXR pin to make clear contact with the waste area can be stripped by the TXR. However, although the diameter of a normal pin is 10mm (there are thinner ones depending on the machine size) it is not necessary for the entire outline of a product to be accessible to the pins - during the machine cycle, the TXR presses twice the distance of the sheet depth. This allows the machine to drag, or pull, gutters of trim away from the blanks where there is no pin coverage. Therefore, only strategic placement of pins is required across the die-cut sheet in order to achieve full sheet blanking.
The product yield from material is clearly imperative to a cost-effective packaging operation and so sheets of product with waste gutters of 4-5mm are commonly seen and processed by the TXR. |
|
|
|
Making a Manual Template
(click to enlarge) |
|
Pin Bed Showing Layout Configuration
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
AN Machinery, Clarkson Avenue, Wisbech PE13 2EQ, UK
