Dornier at Plastindia : More modern lines make for much better film quality
Lindauer DORNIER will be taking part in the PLASTINDIA plastics trade fair in Gandhinagar, India from 7 - 12 February. The machine builder will present solutions for refurbishing long-serving film stretching lines, anticipating the evidence that demand for modernizing such lines is also to be expected in India.
Natural wear, changing market and manufacturing conditions, technological advances – over the course of the machines' service lives, which often span decades, operators of film stretching lines have to deal with a broad spectrum of volatile requirements. In order to bring these machines up to date – and keep them there –, Lindauer DORNIER GmbH (LiDO) has established a "Service" division. In this division, the company has collected its expertise relating to all aspects of original parts, conversions, technical innovations, and upgrades regardless of type or manufacturer. "Many film stretching systems have been running since the 1980s", says Michael Stötzel, Head of the LiDO Specialty Machines Service division. He adds that it is precisely those systems which might benefit most from modern technology.
Increased sales through improved film quality
 |
| With the patented triple metal separator from DORNIER, throughput remains constant even with heavily contaminated raw materials (Source: LiDO) |
Take longitudinal stretching for example: In earlier times, the inflexible nature of the drive mechanisms meant that longitudinal stretching could not be adapted optimally to the properties of the film. Consequently, scratches often appeared in the film.
With a modern, retrofittable motor control, the stretching rolls can now be adjusted individually. Operating personnel can now synchronize the speed of the rolls with the speed of the film – scratches are all but eliminated; film quality improves dramatically.
Until now, only a small fraction of the LiDO's many regular customers in India have invested in this kind of efficiency improvement. But such investment has been shown to pay for itself: "Our partners are astonished to discover that the quality of the film can be improved by as much as 20 percent with modern electronics", says Stötzel. This means that the manufacturer would be able to produce significantly more scratch-free, high-quality "grade A" film, which would fetch a better price on the market.
Upgrades for 30-year-old lines
A patented triple metal separator for separating metal parts contained in the raw material, will also be on display at PLASTINDIA. Whereas conventional separators use a flap to screen out these impurities, the new device works with three tools of this kind. This helps to prevent disruptions in production; the throughput rate remains constantly high even with large volumes of metal parts to be removed.
 |
| The innovative DORNIER extraction system for transverse stretching filters even the finest oil particles out of the air, thus protecting the operators as well as the film (Source: LiDO) |
Other upgrades scheduled for presentation at the trade fair in the capital of the east Indian state of Gujarat include an improved pinning system for applying the molten material to the casting roll, a new extraction unit for very fine oil mists and a new clip system which helps to raise the film's thermal resistance. "Film stretching systems last a very long time – there is no doubt that it will be worth modernizing a 30-year-old system", says Stötzel.
About Lindauer DORNIER GmbH
With its three corporate divisions Weaving Machines, Specialty Machines and Composite Systems®, Lindauer DORNIER GmbH is among the global technology leaders in these sectors. In 2017, the German family enterprise employing more than 1,000 staff (including 63 trainees) and recorded an order intake of approx. 280 million Euros. Regarding specialty machines, DORNIER is the market leader in engineering and building film stretching lines for producing ultrafine plastic films. Besides the packaging industry, which particularly includes the food and pharmaceuticals sectors, these films are also used in high-tech products such as semiconductors, capacitors for hybrid motor vehicles, and as film displays for smartphones, flat screens and tablets. All machines and systems are manufactured at the German production sites in Lindau and Esseratsweiler. The export quota is 90 percent.
