A filter manufacturing company came to SDC in search of an automated solution for assembling several sizes of compressor filters. Due to the nature of the materials used, investing in an automated machine for this assembly would not only help to improve production but workplace safety as well.
The SDC team completely custom designed and built a media wrapping machine with a unique multi belt assembly process. A rack system in front of the machine holds eight rolls of fiberglass sheets and screen material, making them readily available for the machine to continually assemble the product. The multi-belt nest is mounted into the welded steel machine frame, which has been precision machined to accurately align the belts and the media feed racks. The media is fed to the rolling nest from above. Cores are manually positioned in the nest by an operator. A light curtain safety system temporarily disables the machine to allow for safe placement of the core, activating the machine only after the operator exits the loading area.
There are three circular blade slitters located above the cut-off system to slit the material to the desired width. The slitters are manually adjustable and are equipped with a scrap roll up reel to collect the loose edge strips on each end. A set of eleven grippers pull the sheets of media down to the core interface. Inside the machine base is a heat stake device which stakes the screen between the belts, creating a stitched seam. The machine’s motions are primarily servo-driven, which provides precise digital control of the wrapping process and allows the machine to easily changeover to different sizes.
Machine Rate: 1-2 filters per minute
