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Sensors drive paper tissue system

More than 40 sensors tightly integrated with about the same number of servo motors are the keys to this high-speed, modular system for producing and packaging tissue packets.

Flow wrapping. The cutting of the film in the individual flow wrapping unit is triggered by a CS8 color sensor
Flow wrapping. The cutting of the film in the individual flow wrapping unit is triggered by a CS8 color sensor

A tightly integrated array of photoelectric proximity sensors, fiber-optic sensors, inductive proximity sensors, laser sensors, contrast sensors, and safety locking devices plays a crucial role in a remarkable piece of equipment from Germany’s Winkler & Dünnebier. Called the Flowtos, this equipment is described as the fastest two-lane paper handkerchief production and packaging system in the world. It’s capable of producing and flow wrapping up to 4,600 sheets per minute.

All of the sensor devices on the Flowtos are supplied by SICK AG. Product quality stands at the top of the list of reasons for specifying SICK, says W+D. But also important is how easily the sensors can be integrated and SICK’s ability to incorporate custom requirements. Add to these a successful track record of cooperation between W+D and SICK over many years and it becomes pretty clear why a single supplier is behind the many sensors the Flowtos requires.

“The Flowtos tissue machine is four times faster than a machine gun,” says Frank Jungbluth, Electrical Engineering Project Manager for the Flowtos at W+D. “It goes without saying that the sensors used in the machine need to work reliably because every minute of downtime immediately has an impact in terms of performance and money.”

The functional complexity of the Flowtos is what requires such a wide variety of sensors, which differ significantly in their physical operating principles. “It was, therefore, important for us to be able to purchase all the sensors we needed from a single source—a source that could also provide support and advice, as well as offering us the ideal solution for every application,” says Jungbluth. “We also wanted to avoid taking risks where the actual provision of sensor technology and delivery reliability were concerned. Thanks to our long-standing cooperation with SICK, we knew we could rely on them.” A total of more than 40 sensors are integrated in the machine, adds Jungbluth.

A part of the Korber Group, W+D also has a Mail Solutions group, which specializes in system solutons for manufacturing, printing, inserting, and packaging envelope-based products. W+D’s Hygiene Solutions segment, on the other hand, is all about making and packaging tissue-fold and hygiene products. “With the Flowtos, we are not simply offering a complete solution for the production of tissues, we are also implementing an innovative engineering concept,” says Jungbluth. “The machine is fully fitted with servo technology and electronics, making it extremely flexible and allowing our customers to produce a wide range of different sizes and packages.”

Controls platform is a key
The Flowtos represents a complete departure in its category partly because of the way it combines speed, modularity, and change-on-the-fly flexibility—all in a remarkably compact footprint. Decentralized IndraDrive servo drive technology from Bosch Rexroth plays a big role by minimizing cabinet space and cooling for the 45 or so servo drives that are in place. It also make plug-in modules possible by connecting the sensors directly to the drives in the machine with preconfigured cables. Additional I/O are linked with bus couplers via the decoupling option at the drives. This significantly reduces cabling effort while also speeding up commissioning and start-up.

The Flowtos from W+D is a two-lane tissue machine for two-, three-, or four-ply tissue production with an integrated packaging and bundling system. It is possible to electronically preselect stacks of between 5 and 15 tissues as well as the number of individual packages—between 6 and 56. “The machine’s production and packaging technology doesn’t just offer maximum flexibility with respect to size and the number of tissues in each stack, it also minimizes the change-over times when switching between standard and compact folded products in pocket-sized versions,” says Jungbluth. “Thanks to its modular construction and the way the functional units are linked in a u-shape—from the unrolling station to the bundling system—the Flowtos is extremely easy to access for operation, cleaning, and maintenance. And just as efficient in its operation is the integrated sensor technology from SICK. It ensures that the individual process steps run smoothly and with an optimum level of integration.”

The Flowtos is made up of a sequence of modules: an unrolling station, a smoothing and compressing station, a cutting/folding/stacking unit, and an individual packaging system with an integrated turning and bundling station. In the unrolling station, tissue material is unraveled from a roll approximately 2m in diameter. The diameter of the roll as it is being unrolled is continuously monitored by a WT14-2 photoelectric proximity sensor. The sensor is mounted so that it can move to enable the different core diameters of the rolls to be taken into account, thus allowing it to reliably detect when the end of the roll has been reached. The background suppression function of the WT14-2 ensures reliable detection even in critical environmental conditions.

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