Apple Converting Opts for Better Treatment
Company Overview
Narrow web flexographic printing and packaging specialist, Apple Converting, has had an eye on being bigger, better, and more diversified since its inception 21 years ago as Apple Tape and Label. Apple Converting produces packaging for the food and beverage industry, cosmetics, confectionery, consumer products, pharmaceutical, and medical devices industries. Products include shrink sleeves, printed roll stock, wrappers, and laminations, among other packaging constructions.
The Challenge
Vice President Steve Manno explains the impetus for purchasing the new corona treating units originated with the increase in Apple’s film converting work. Shrink sleeve production demanded enhanced treating capacity, and the existing equipment’s width and power output limitations also factored in. With additions to process capabilities, and an expansion of its film business, the Norwich, N.Y.-based converter is looking for improved corona treating capabilities and turned to Pillar Technologies for help.
The Solution & Benefits
Pillar provided Apple Converting with four unitized Narrow Web Surface Treaters, each coupled with a P6000 Power Supply. The design features of Pillar’s corona treating units are what swayed the Apple management team in deciding what investment to make. Manno attests, “we especially liked the ease with which you could clean the electrodes in the units because the works ate in a pull-out drawer.” The P6000 Power Supply units (three 26’’, 3kW models and one 16’’, 2kW treater) also fit into Apple’s’ plans to create mounting frames to render the treaters completely portable. Overall, Manno believes the acquisition of the new Pillar Corona Treaters will lead to an even further expansion of the company’s capabilities.
There are two basic types of corona treater stations. One type of system is designed to treat non-conductive materials. This system uses a metal electrode over a dielectrically covered roll.
The other type of system is designed to treat conductive substrates. Early designs used a series of driven covered rotating electrodes placed over a bare grounded roll, enabling the conductive web to be grounded. The newer design is an open style, called bare roll, which extracts the ozone between two fixed ceramic tubes, cooling the electrodes, as well. The ceramic tubes are placed over a bare grounded roll.
Corona Treater Systems
Narrow Web Treating Systems
Though both types of systems are used on narrow web presses, the bare roll style (conductive design) has been more popular in recent years. This is primarily due to the compact design and because it can treat both conductive and nonconductive materials, although not as efficiently. The harder to treat materials require higher power levels, making treater versatility more important.
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The increase in power has also caused treater stations to become larger. Since space on a narrow web press is very limited the challenge to treater manufacturers recently, has been to develop compact designs which can handle higher power levels and efficiently treat conductive and nonconductive substrates.
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In order to improve treat levels, many newer designs incorporate two electrode assemblies. One with a metal electrode and the other with ceramic electrodes. These assemblies are mounted over a ceramic covered roll. The operator then connects the appropriate assembly for the type of substrate.
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These designs improve the efficiency of treating nonconductive webs (metal electrode over a ceramic roll), however, the dual dielectric combination (ceramic electrodes and ceramic roll) is less efficient for conductive materials. This style treater station is also fairly large due to the need for two electrode assemblies.
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The newer approaches incorporate an open style bare roll design, which employs an electrode magazine and an easy roll change mechanism. The user can quickly change from covered roll to bare roll by changing magazines. This feature also enables the user to treat conductive or nonconductive films efficiently, without having to run with a dual dielectric. In addition, the system is more compact since there is only one electrode assembly.
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Most of the newer treater station designs usually offer several other features intended to simplify operation and maintenance. These features may be such things as external gap adjustment knobs, pneumatic mechanisms for simplifying web thread up, access for easy cleaning, quick electrode and roll replacement, the use of ceramic dielectrics to reduce pinholing and easy to replace ground brushes.
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Solid state power supplies have proven to be reliable for years, however, they have become more compact recently. In addition, they have increased in frequency, in order to help reduce the required electrode area, enabling the non conductive treater stations to become smaller. They have taken advantage of microprocessors, by becoming capable of being controlled by an external (customer supplied) processor, or can be supplied with their own microprocessor controller. These new microprocessors feature memory for storing common job parameters, watt density control, proportional speed controls and various levels of system diagnostics.
Apple Converting Opts for Better Treatment
Company Overview
Narrow web flexographic printing and packaging specialist, Apple Converting, has had an eye on being bigger, better, and more diversified since its inception 21 years ago as Apple Tape and Label. Apple Converting produces packaging for the food and beverage industry, cosmetics, confectionery, consumer products, pharmaceutical, and medical devices industries. Products include shrink sleeves, printed roll stock, wrappers, and laminations, among other packaging constructions.
The Challenge
Vice President Steve Manno explains the impetus for purchasing the new corona treating units originated with the increase in Apple’s film converting work. Shrink sleeve production demanded enhanced treating capacity, and the existing equipment’s width and power output limitations also factored in. With additions to process capabilities, and an expansion of its film business, the Norwich, N.Y.-based converter is looking for improved corona treating capabilities and turned to Pillar Technologies for help.
The Solution & Benefits
Pillar provided Apple Converting with four unitized Narrow Web Surface Treaters, each coupled with a P6000 Power Supply. The design features of Pillar’s corona treating units are what swayed the Apple management team in deciding what investment to make. Manno attests, “we especially liked the ease with which you could clean the electrodes in the units because the works ate in a pull-out drawer.” The P6000 Power Supply units (three 26’’, 3kW models and one 16’’, 2kW treater) also fit into Apple’s’ plans to create mounting frames to render the treaters completely portable. Overall, Manno believes the acquisition of the new Pillar Corona Treaters will lead to an even further expansion of the company’s capabilities.