Press belt manufacturer IPCO has announced the development of its new Shotpeener Pro tool, a portable unit that can restore deformed steel belt to a totally flat condition, without interrupting production.
The tool is the latest addition to the company’s QuickTool family, a range of purpose-designed installation, maintenance and repair tools available to IPCO’s beltservice teamin Pune, in the western state of Maharashtra. Others include the QuickDisc family of repairs tools, used to replace damaged sections of belt; the QuickBench, for training manufacturers’ own in-house teams; and others including the QuickAnnealer and Peak Leveller
IPCO shot peening technology has been used to flatten deformed steel press belts for many years. Steel balls are blasted at high pressure across the width of a belt as it turns around the terminal drum. This equalises stresses on both sides of the belt to remove deformations and eliminate associated issues such as tracking problems, high stresses and risk of accidental damage among others.
The next generation Shotpeener Pro incorporates a number of technical advances, resulting in increased blasting effect for faster results. Flattening capacity has been increased by 30%, enabling the restoration of belts that might previously have been beyond repair. And the entire process has been reconfigured to reduce cleaning requirements and enable safer, easier operation.
Enhancements include increased fluid velocity and vacuum effect, and a redesigned internal manifold allowing the use of larger shot while reducing sensitivity to dirt. Internal welds in the head have been eliminated to Increased blasting effect delivers up to 30% greater flattening capacity improve reliability, and other innovations have reduced cleaning requirements and made replacement of consumables easier.
Use of the unit has been improved too, with simplified electronic controls and easier adjustment. And structural improvements have improved stability and allow the base and rail on which the unit sits to be locked, eliminating any risk of movement caused by vibration.
This offers major advantages over the traditional repair technique of ‘belt turning’, which requires the belt to be cut, removed, turned, remounted and rejoined, a process that could take many days.
Once mounted in place, the tool canrepair a deformed belt in between 3-18 effectivehours, depending on belt dimensions, thicknessand degree of deformation.
GLOBAL SERVICE, LOCAL EXPERTIS
The company has invested heavily in its service capability to build a network of more than 30 national/regional sales and service offices. This focus on on-the-ground support provides customers with the reassurance and stability of dealing with a global organization, and the responsiveness and market understanding provided by local service teams.
IPCO is best known for its steel press belts, used in the production of particle board, MDF, OSB and coated boards. The company has been supplying steel belts to the wood industry for 120 years and is a trusted supplier to all major press manufacturers and to every leading panel board manufacturer in India.