eMF Prefeeder
Europe / Asia / Africa / Australia Regions
The MINIFEEDER is an automatic prefeeder for small size top printing converting machine like the Martin 616, 618, and 718, Emba 160 and 170, 175 and Langston 26” x 68”. It is capable of feeding large stacks of small board sizes (max 800mm x 1800mm), which can be supplied to the Minifeeder in blocks, the same way they come down from the corrugator. This complete load enters the Minifeeder through a corrugated box manufacturing machines conveyor system.
Once the load has entered the Minifeeder, the second stack is stabilized from the top by the topholder. The first stack is lifted by the Swivel assembly and positioned laterally to create a perfect line up. The load is then tipped over and fed into the prehopper of the extendo where the board is squared, fed through the shingle gate and sent shingled to the converting machine hopper, where the blanks are further squared by side and back tampers.
Contact your regional manager for more information.
Theory of operation
Once the load has entered the Minifeeder, the second stack is stabilized from the top by the topholder. The first stack is lifted by the swivel assembly and positioned in lateral direction to create a perfect line up. The load on the swivel assembly is tipped over and fed into the prehopper of the extendo. In the prehopper the board is squared before it is shingled by the gate. The board than travels shingled to the hopper of the converting machine.The Minifeeder has a fixed floor position.
The infeed section is the part of the machine where the stacks enter, not separate but as a complete load, when necessary tied together through tie sheets. This section can contain 1 complete load of stacks, up to a length of 2 meters. The conveyor in this section is a plastic belt type conveyor, with soft start / stop motion. This allows the stacks to pass through the machine without tipping or falling down. The moment the first stack hits the swivel assembly the conveyor stops and accumulates the rest of the load. When the infeed section is entered a light curtain switches off the infeed section of the machine when its beam is broken. This feature gives the operator the ability to remove tie sheets safely. The light curtain can be reset by pushing a reset button.
The tophold is a device which supports the second stack when the swivel assembly takes the first and swivels it towards the extendo conveyor. The second stack is supported in a way that tipping over is impossible. When the load hits the swivel assembly, the tophold lowers, thus pushing the second stack firmly onto the plastic belt conveyor. This is done in a way that the stack, no matter how unstable, will stay in position, enabling the swivel assembly to pull the bottom blanks of the first stack from underneath the second. Creating a perfect separation. This is an unique feature of the Minifeeder.
The swivel assemby inverts the stack and brings it to the extendo conveyor, by first swiveling to an angle of approx. 30°. This is necessary to separate the stack from the rest of the load. When this is done the assembly starts moving upward, and shifts laterally to line up with the reference line of the machine. When the load is lifted to extendo conveyor level, the blanks enter the extendo conveyor in a pre shingled fashion. Transport towards the extendo is done by belts, with adjustable speed, so the operator can set the degree of shingling in an easy way. Swivel tilting speed can be selected to optimize shingling for each sheet size. The last sheet removal system is a device that holds the bottom sheet of the stack when lifting and tipping it over. The blank is held onto the bottom forks by a vacuum system. The moment the load has been released to the extendo conveyor the swivel assembly travels to top position and the vacuum system releases the blank, which the belt transports into a last sheet cart, which is capable of containing multiple blanks. The operator can take out this cart, which is on wheels, whenever he feels this is necessary.
The extendo conveyor is the part of the machine that conveys the blanks from the swivel section towards the finishing machine. The length of this extendo is adjustable, to meet blank size and to adapt to finishing machines with roll out sections. On this conveyor the blanks travel in a shingled fashion, provided by a combination of an upper deck conveyor and a (lengthwise) moveable shingle gate. The effect is a continuous stream of shingled blanks, only broken when starting a new job. All Minifeeders are equipped with side- and backtampers. This enables an easy set-up and ensures superior sheet alignment in the hopper.
Height of the extendo over the converting machine hopper is very low at the start of a new job to ensure a good initial drop of the first sheets. The height is subsequently increased to assure a constant hopper filling and smooth entrance of the boards
Available sizes:
Min. stack height
Max stack height
Max Stack weignt
Block height
Min. sheet
Max. speed (s/m)
Entry height
Left Alligned option (Emba)
eMF 1800x900
500
2000
750
50-400
175x300
900x1880
300-450
Yes
Technical Data
The following features are standard on this machine
* Two user-friendly control stations for fully automatic operation.
* Manual controls for the following functions:
All lift movements:
(up, down, forward, reverse,
shifting, left, right)
Pusher forward/reverse
Block height selection
Shingle gate height adjust
Sheet ejection
Tamper & block squaring line up
Block squaring yes/no select switch
* An electrical lock-out. 2 mechanical lock-pins make sure it is perfectly safe to work under the lift assembly if required.
* The 2 mechanical lock-pins are connected to the main frame safety zone.
* Plastic belting on the lift provide positive, stable infeed and lifting of stacks in the lift assembly.
* Powered adjustment of extendo length to accommodate different sheet lengths.
* A unique pusher construction which provides a perfect and smooth separation of block from the stack.
* In angle adjustable Backtampers on end of extendo.
* A shingling gate (adjustable in height), which transports the separated blocks in a shingled stream of board. This shingle gate is also moveable to set it to the correct board depth.
* The entry of the feeder is equipped with a walk through safety. This walk through safety is controlled by safety PLC from Pilz. At the entry 2 photocells are mounted with 4 photocells for the muting function.
* One powered adjustable squaring device just before the shingle gate. This squaring device will square the board to provide a perfect centering.
* Automatic last sheet removal. The last sheet(s) will be ejected out of the machine.
* One (1) pressure regulator / filter / lubricator block for all the air supply of the machine.
* One (1) optical sensor to detect the board in the hopper.
* Extendo conveyor is able to follow the converting machine backstop height when needed.
Other Standard Features:
·CE approved
·Stack heights from 300 to 2400 mm (incl. pallet).
·Maximum stack weight 2750 Kg.
·Fully automatic operation
·Easy to learn and operate
·Installation within 2 days
·Sick optical sensors
·Siemens S7 PLC
·Siemens TP177B touch screen
·Setup in less than 2 minutes
·Emergency stop contacts to and from all additional equipment such as converting machine and infeed conveyor
·Potential free contact to call a new stack into the feeder
·Low maintenance
·Frequency controlled extendo conveyor
·Requires little floor space
·Lifting units to lift the extendo conveyor for opening the converting machine
·Floor conveyor height from 300 to 400 mm
·Fixed floor position