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Safety systems for a cigar called Hamlet

A Schmersal UK product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Nov 24, 2003

Cardiff based JR Freeman operates six high-speed over-roller machines - four producing Hamlet cigars and two producing Hamlet miniatures - and all are fitted with equipment from Schmersal.

Cardiff based JR Freeman is the cigar manufacturing division of Gallaher Tobacco, which produces - among others - the famous Hamlet brand.

The company operates six "high-speed over-roller" (HSO) machines, four producing Hamlet cigars and two producing Hamlet miniatures.

The machines over-roll premade rods with tobacco leaf to produce double-end cigars that are cut in half later in the process.

The Hamlet machines operate on a two-shift system and each is capable of producing 18,500 finished cigars per hour.

All six machines are fitted with equipment from Schmersal, the company's preferred safety supplier and one, the HSO 3, has recently undergone a complete electrical rebuild that included a new safety system consisting of laser scanners and a mechanical guard system with 13 door guard interlocks.

Explains JR Freeman Electrical Engineer Peter Williams: "The machine has an automatic bobbin changeover unit that moves the bobbins out, turns them around and puts them back in again.

Two door guards open and close automatically to restrict access during the changeover operation.

Laser scanners are used to provide pre-recorded spoken warnings when the bobbins are turning, to prevent operators from standing in the way of the doors or walking into the areas".

Seven other guard doors are fitted to areas of the machine where moving parts, some quite large, could present safety risks.

More than 13 Schmersal switches are fitted to restrict access via the doors, including mechanical and timed interlock units.

In addition, a Schmersal standstill monitor fitted to the machine's motor ensures that everything stops before the gate can be released.

Williams reports that the project has been very successful.

"We are pleased with the standard of the machine upgrade and very happy with the performance and reliability of the Schmersal equipment", he says, adding that Schmersal and R and M Electrical, its authorised distributor for Wales, also provide excellent service and support.

This has included Schmersal running a special safety course for JR Freeman electrical technicians which has, says Williams, helped them to better understand the complexities of machine safety specifications.

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