Slitting Machine
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Slitting
Slitting is the process of cutting metal sheets with circular blades (also called knives). This process is done in order to cut the coils of sheet metal to turn them into sheets with a smaller width. Of course, slitting machines are not used only for cutting metal sheets, and other types of these machines are used for cutting non-metallic materials such as paper, paper napkins, etc., which are not considered in this article. We will only explain how metal slitting machines work. In slitting machines, the distances of the knives are adjusted automatically or manually. Obviously, cutting machines with automatic blade adjustment are more expensive.
A slitting machine includes an uncoiler, slitter blades and a recoiler, which each of them is driven by separate motors. Depending on the type of movement of these 3 parts of the machine, how the material moves in the cutting path is determined. The way the sheet moves also depends on factors such as the type of material, the thickness of the sheet and the number of cuts.
- straight mode slitting
- free loop slitting
In this mode, the driven recoiler pulls the material from the uncoiler to the cutting blades. During operation, the cutting blades are constantly moving. The motors must now be synchronised to move the sheet metal at a constant speed along the cutting path. The advantage of this type of cutting is the ability to cut thin sheets and the high quality of cutting at the edges of sheets with different thicknesses.
In this mode, the material move as a free loop between the blades and the recoiler (sheet metal as shown). A tension device in front of the recoiler causes the disassembled sheets to be perfectly arranged and ready to wrap around the coil. Also, if there was warping, twisting or any other defect on the surface of the sheet, a Leveller or Temper mill could be used to smooth and eliminate the defects of the sheets. this could create cutting strips with more quality.
- Material specifications:
- Tool setup:
The hardness, durability and ductility of the sheets are very influential in the cutting process. Also, the physical defects of the sheets and their internal stresses have a great impact on the cutting process.
The machine can be adjusted to achieve a desired and optimal result for the material. The most important effective parameters in slitter machines are the allowed horizontal and vertical space, holding the sheet firmly, cutting angle, cutting blade diameter, cutting speed and blade sharpness. gradually, wear causes the sharp knives to become blunt, which affects the results.
The knowledge of the slitting process is mostly obtained experimentally, so considering all the effective parameters mentioned earlier and achieving a suitable cut in the slitting and guillotine cutting processes will not be an easy task and requires an experienced operator. proper adjustments of the cutting blades are obtained by trial and error with experience. For this reason, many steps may be required to select the appropriate setting for the new material (aluminum or high-strength steels). Therefore, in order to reduce trial and error time, which increases production, an experienced operator or fully automatic slitting machine is needed.