 Roll Alignment
Roll alignment (or let the good production times roll)
Rool Alignment in Industry
Such industries as paper, printing, textiles, rolled steel, foil extrusion and converting all depend on correctly aligned rollers to run at today's higher manufacturing speeds - speeds that tend to make conventional alignment tools outdated. Whatever sheet materials are being fed, roll alignment generally involves the measurement of roll parallelism in the production line, with horizontal parallelism being of greater importance than vertical.
Poor roll alignment causes all-too-obvious problems
- Drift and tracking of sheet materials during feed
- Wrinkling and breaks in paper or other materials
- Uneven gloss rate in paper manufacture
- High scrap rates for materials
In the paper industry, rotating equipment alignment needs are everywhere
Both vertical and horizontal parallelism of rolls can affect paper transport, drift and felt wear, the paper's drying capacity, and cause breaks in the paper. Lack of parallelism in the press nip causes uneven pressure in the de-watering process.
Benefits of correct alignment
- Uniform fiber structure results in less scrap
- Possible increase in production speed and thus output
- More time between wire replacement, thereby less downtime
- More efficient de-watering for less energy consumption
Roll alignment of dryer section
In this section, rolls need to be parallel horizontally and vertically and doctor blades must be straight. The large number dryer-rolls in the web path make roll-parallelism critical.
Benefits to an aligned dryer section
- Increase in uptime
- More time between felt changes
- Reduced scrap production
- Improved product quality
- Possible increase in production speed
Forming table roll alignment
Without parallelism between breast roll and drive rolls, the wire will drift and wear. The dandy roll must be parallel to the forming table to create the right sheet surface. The pick-up roll and the couch roll have to be parallel to avoid breaks and wrinkles and maintain an even suction process. And the forming table has to be level for the dewatering process and foils.
Benefits of accurate forming-table alignment
- Efficient dewatering process and uniform fiber structure improve paper quality
- Increased de-watering capability
- Possible increase in production speed
- Increased lifetime of the wire
- Reduced energy consumption for the vacuum pumps
Roll alignment of the head box
Here the breast roll and apron board need to be in parallel. If the air gap differs, paper consistency will suffer. The apron board has to be straight and the slice gap correct for uniform pulp output to the forming table.
Benefits of head-box alignment
- Uniform paper structure and thickness
- Reduced rate of scrap paper
- Increased efficiency in the dewatering process
- Possible increase in production speed
- Reduced risk of breaking the slice tip
Roll alignment of finishing calendars
Parallelism is important in the calendar, both vertically and horizontally, or the roll nip will differ over the roll length. In some calendars, nip offset must be considered.
Benefits of finishing-calendar alignment
- Uniform gloss
- Reduced scrap production
- Increased time between roll replacements
- Possibility to increase production speed
Roll alignment of winders
Poor parallelism between the calendar rolls, reel drum and spool may create high rates of scrap paper. Also, the paper may drift sideways during reeling, causing wrinkles and cutting difficulties.
Benefits of accurate winder alignment
- Less scrap paper
- Increased production capacity
- Measurements
- Horizontal and vertical roll parallelism
A leading roll alignment system from Fixturlaser
Roll alignment is best conducted with sophisticated laser alignment systems. One is Fixturlaser's Roll200 laser alignment system, part of a family of Fixturlaser products regarded by industries worldwide as among the most user-friendly for high-precision alignment.
The Fixturlaser Roll200 advanced measurement capabilities precisely aligns paper machines as well as other roller applications, and includes full documentation downloadable for all results. And, as with most Fixturlaser systems, it's upgradeable to handle vertical, horizontal and cardan-shaft alignments as well as softfoot, straightness, leveling and flatness
Fixturlaser roll alignment system features
- Easy to learn and use thanks to an intuitive user-interface
- Accurate to one-micron resolution (1/1000mm)
- Quick, flexible setup for any alignment application
- Live, on-screen values on roll position as adjustments are made
- Allows use of floor datum or selected roll as reference point
- Memory capacity and USB ports to download all measurements
For more on roll alignment, rotor aliognment or rotating equipment alignment
VibrAlign engineers and technicians are thoroughly experienced in roll alignment application of all kinds, as well as rotor alignment and other rotating equipment alignment, and can assist a company with a full range of alignment services, including training. VibrAlign is the North American distributor for the USA for the entire line of Fixturlaser laser alignment systems and products. For further information on roll alignment or any other alignment topic, please ››contact VibrAlign at 800-394-3279 or info@vibralign.com.
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