Dynamic 'nip' profiling in real time
The US-based company, Sensor Products claims to have produced the world's
first dynamic, electronic, real time nip profiling system for web-based
production processes. Nip profiling can reveal roll alignment
inaccuracies, roll skewing and crown deficiencies, any of which can
result in uneven processing, wrinkled or mottled products, compacted
sheets, excessive sheet breaks and blackening during calendering.
The 'D-Nip' system measures the contact width between rolls (the nip
width) across the length of the press as the rolls are rotating. It
enables the user to make adjustments and observe results in real time,
accelerating the diagnostic speed of a given section of the web machine.
D-Nip is simply fixed to one of the roll surfaces and each roll
revolution produces the nip reading, which is transmitted via an RF
signal to a laptop computer displaying the result in a graphical format.
The system actually calculates the time that the sensor is compressed at
the nip point, allowing very accurate and repeatable nip width
determinations. Data integrity is further ensured, thanks to built-in
redundancy within the sensor element actuators, and the use of validation
algorithms within the analysis software.
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