Martin Automatic MTB splicing unwind system is customised to fit new coating line
American manufacturer of splicing, rewinding, and tension control systems, Martin Automatic, has designed a custom automatic butt splicing unwind on a new line for coating heavy fabric materials.
The total installation comprises a turret unwind, automatic butt splice unit, and accumulator, but at the request of the customer, which cannot be named, the company developed several different features for the system. In particular, the Martin MTB is designed to unwind and splice a variety of vinyl-backed fabrics up to 1854 mm wide, with a maximum thickness of 2.8mm.
An inspection station following the butt splice unit enables the operator to examine the web for any flaws or imperfections from the previous process, and to accommodate this inspection step, Martin built an additional 30 seconds (approximately 45m or 150ft) of web storage into the accumulator that was specially designed to fit under the drying section of the coater.
To accommodate the required tension range and special web characteristics, the company also designed and fitted a non-stick sleeve for the low-inertia carbon fibre idler rollers built to Martin’s specifications.
With the high cost of fabric materials run on the coater – some webs costing US$10 or more per linear metre-Martin equipped the splicer with its WRS (waste reduction system). The inclusion of WRS technology is significant because it maximises usage of material master rolls, and guarantees no more than 380 mm (15 in) of web waste at the splice.
