The cross cutting machine (guillotine) cuts the arriving mass ropes crosswise into individual bars. The cross cutter is equipped with an inlet belt and an outlet belt. The inlet belt feeds the mass ropes into the knife. The outlet belt transports the freshly cut bars in the line’s direction of movement. Both belts have their own frequency-controlled drive.
The knives of the cross cutting machine are driven by two servo axis that operate independent of each other. The first servo axis moves the knife up and down – this is the actual cutting movement. The second servo axis moves the knife backwards and forwards – this is the knife following movement.
The knife following movement takes place during cutting, i.e. the knife is located in the product, absolutely synchronous to the rope speed. The product neither bulges at the knife surface, nor is the product pulled across the knife or even torn apart. In this manner, a perfectly rectangular cut is achieved. The following movement is a true linear speed movement and is adapted to the respective rope speed via the servo control. During cutting, the knife blade hits a plastic cutting ledge rail – the product is accurately separated from the rope.
The height of the cross cutting knife may optionally be fine adjusted during production. The cutting result can thereby be optimised at any time without having to stop the machine.
The cross cutter cuts in pulsed working mode with up to 120 cuts/min. For very short cut lengths, up to 180 cuts/min may be run in continuous working mode. The
cutting knife is cleaned via spring strippers during every cut. In addition, it is possible to automatically isolate the knife surface with a suitable liquid (e.g. oil), thus segregating any mass adhesions. This prevents mass from depositing on the circular knives.
During cutting, the bars are fixed in their position by means of a hold-down device. The hold-down devices can be adjusted without any tools and are easy to remove from the machine. The machine is well accessible from all sides and very easy to operate.
HANSELLA offers an ultrasonic version of the WRQ for difficult cutting conditions, e.g. sticky, multilayer, laminated or sensitive products. The cutting by ultrasonic ensures clean, sharp cut edges for almost all applications.
