Paper maker uses servo for accuracy
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Motor Technology product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 6, 2006
Bespoke servomotor provides power, speed and pinpoint accuracy for the manufacture of a high-tech product for the paper making industry.
Motor Technology of Stockport has designed and installed a bespoke servomotor to provide the power, speed and pinpoint accuracy for the manufacture of a high-tech product for the paper making industry.
The application, at Albany International, required an 8kW servomotor operating at up to 7500rev/min powering a precise cutting head some 150mm in diameter.
The cutting head had to cut a profile into material, known as paper machine clothing, which is used to cover the huge rollers of paper making machines.
Paper machine clothing is essentially a high-tech, engineered fabric that is crucial in the forming and drying of paper during its manufacture from pulp.
The cutting head, and the motor that powers it, traverse a 12m wide roller, a bit like the print head on an ink jet printer with the motor and cutting head secured to a traversable carriage.
The motor is 142mm square and 420mm long, and is attached to the cutting head via a coupling.
The exact details of the profiling are secret but it was critical that the speed of the cutter didn't fluctuate by more than 1% during a process that takes between two and three hours.
Any fluctuation in speed would irreparably damage the product, and, at a cost of around £150,000 a time, there was no margin for error.
To control cost, Motor Technology's engineers designed a modified version of a standard servomotor with armature magnets wrapped in carbon fibre and an air purge inlet to allow cold air to be pumped in to the motor for cooling.
On start up, it sounded a bit like a jet engine but performed perfectly with speed fluctuations exceeding no more than 0.7% during testing.
The drive electronics were also supplied by Motor Technology and installed in cabinets about 10m away from the machine and connected via underground cabling.
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