Reifenhäuser lays down a new benchmark for haul-off equipment

EVOLUTION Ultra Flat boasts universal recognition in lamination film manufacture and conversion thanks to outstanding film flatness characteristics

Film producers all over the world are involved in the quest for better performance, where each factor matters. The first factor that shapes the success in film production is process quality. Recently Reifenhäuser Blown Film have unveiled a novel development that reduces wave phenomena and loss of web flatness. These issues affect particularly PP- or HDPE-containing films with increased stiffness, as well as barrier films. This German development, therefore, has been long awaited. With the EVOLUTION (EVO) Ultra Flat haul-off, film flatness increases. Consequently, this leads to advances in lamination, conversion to packaging products and printability.

The second factor that contributes to success is the price of improvements necessary for quality boost. EVO Ultra Flat boasts reasonable investment costs: film producers can attain the required web flatness using only 4 heating/cooling rolls and a pair of nip rolls with separate speed/temperature control. Thus, perfect flattening with low sagging is guaranteed no matter the specific raw material and/or web thickness. Due to this revolutionary solution, film flatness can be increased by 40% increase and sagging can be reduced by up to 90%. Such results have been a record, explaining why no less than 7 out of 10 newly manufactured Reifenhäuser production lines are fitted with EVO Ultra Flat. The remarkable advantages this innovation offers are particularly acknowledged by producers who both process and convert films.

Such a considerable change in parameters is attainted through a comparatively simple modification of the production line. The signature feature of the innovative flattening system is its position. In the haul-offs dominating the market, the web is flattened just before it is taken by the winder. In contrast, EVO Ultra Flat is set in between the nip roll block and turner bars of the blow molding line, where ideal conditions for web flattening exist, and therefore reaches better results compared to its competitors. Since the film is still rather hot (over 50 °C) at this point, and hence not wholly crystallized at the haul-off location, EVO Ultra Flat is able to flatten it better. Naturally, film that is more flexible can be stretched with ease and increased power efficiency.