Shaftless technology drives paper industry

By replacing conventional gears, shafts and cams with individual servomotors, Rexroth pioneered shaftless technology in the printing and paper converting industry.

By replacing conventional gears, shafts and cams with individual servomotors, Rexroth pioneered shaftless technology in the printing and paper converting industry.

And, with well over a thousand of its SYNAX200 drive and control systems installed in Europe, North America and Asia, it is still the acknowledged global market leader.

Its modular automated system combines high dynamic servomotors, intelligent drive electronics, powerful motion control and PLC hardware, user-friendly operation and visualisation units, high performance software tools and open architecture, under the acclaimed Shaftless Driven trademark.

The very latest SYNAX200 system solution, available through Rexroth's Electric Drives and Controls division in Cirencester, now offers the most advanced control components for motion control and PLC logic.

The new PPC motion controller features an optional integrated soft PLC, conforming to the IEC61131-3 programming standard, which enables all sequence and motion functions to be realised on one module, without additional hardware, programming being performed via the WinPLC software tool.

A new Ethernet interface, which now supports the Ethernet/IP open industrial networking protocol, additionally offers extended diagnostic facilities and straightforward incorporation into printroom automation structures.

There is also a new family of Rexroth IndraView industrial terminals for operator control and monitoring, available with touchscreen or keys.

The latest WinHMI software is used for creating application-specific masks, with alarms, events and diagnostics clearly displayed in fully configurable lists, whilst multilingual support dispenses with the new to design country-specific HMI screens.

Furthermore, the extended motion control functions of SYNAX200 mean that individual modules or even complete machine units can be even more easily integrated into linked and synchronised production processes, either preset or adapted to new formats 'on the fly'.

Rexroth shaftless technology has been a prominent driving force in improving flexibility and quality in newspaper, business form and commercial printing for a number of years and is now increasingly employed in the flexographic industry, paper converting and the post press department.

Typical applications include label printing and die cutting, coating and laminating, napkin and diaper production, corrugated converting, bag making and common-impression flexo presses, as well as inserting lines, high speed stackers, strappers and wrappers.

For these and other printing and converting functions, machine manufacturers and end-users benefit from the decisive competitive advantage of Shaftless Driven technology.

With no mechanical line shaft, torsion elasticity and unit-to-unit gear backlash are eliminated, resulting in tighter web tension control, greater machine stiffness, maximised print quality, reduced make-ready time, less waste paper and materials, higher productivity and lower maintenance.

The elimination of mechanical linkages enables manufacturers to produce modular machine units that are optimised to the process and allow users to add new colours or functions and reconfigure press layouts to suit new production requirements, the motion control card providing automatic electronic synchronisation.

Rexroth's use of open architecture platforms, including the international communication standard SERCOS for transmitting signals between the motion controller and digital drives, additionally ensures owners of shaftless machines are not locked into any particular vendor's proprietary control equipment or product development cycle.

In addition, many SYNAX200 motion control functions have been especially programmed for the printing and converting industry, such as dynamic synchronisation for changing plates while maintaining full production speed, an electronic cam for allowing one cutting cylinder to cut various repeat lengths, and coordinated positioning for automatic plate or blanket changing.

Such customer benefits, coupled with reduced production, installation and commissioning costs, have encouraged many major international manufacturers to incorporate SYNAX shaftless drive technology into their new and innovative machines, such as MAN Roland's 'forget the plates' DICOWeb press, Drent Goebel and its revolutionary Variable Sleeve Offset Printing (VSOP) project and KBA's latest Cortina keyless and waterless offset press.

Even so, Rexroth's UK operation, which is currently engaged in major SYNAX200 contracts as far afield as China, Turkey, the USA and West Midlands, says the market is currently just as strong for shaftless rebuilds, retrofits and addons, where the benefits are equally clear.

Shaftless drive technology can be used to re-power perfectly serviceable used presses, by replacing the mechanical line with individual servomotors on each unit.

Apart from the performance and productivity gains accruing from greater synchronisation, this provides individual control of each module, enabling for instance just one unit to be held down for maintenance, rather than stopping the whole machine.

Shaftless addon units can also be coupled with conventionally driven machines by means of an electronic feedback device, Rexroth's real-time filtering smoothing out any inconsistent signals from the mechanical press.

When stacking or configuring addon units, moreover, there is no mechanical limitation to the web path, meaning users are no longer restricted by the walls of the printroom, with the option of extending vertically or perpendicularly.

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