Extrusion cutter offers high quality assurance

Premiering at this year's Interplas plastics show in Birmingham, England was an extrusion cutter that aims to improve end product quality and increase speed of production. The Servo-Torq Ultra features an AC brushless servo motor and can handle cutting of extruded pipe, tubing, or profile by holding length accuracies to within ±0.06 mm at a CpK >1.67, even at high line speeds. A key feature is that both caterpillar infeeder belts have their own AC servo drive. These are synchronized to within one encoder pulse per motor revolution. That represents a speed holding accuracy of better than 0.0005%. Managing director Chris Gillard says mechanically the unit is the same as previous Servo-Torq models,but the electronics are new to help maintain accuracy during cutting of hard-to-cut multi-layer pipes as well as medical tubing and automotive profiles. Another feature Gillard says helps maintain accuracy is that the caterpillar has been moved closer to the knife blade, which is important for handling small diameter tubing down to 0.3 mm OD. Peter Gillard & Co. Ltd., Tewkesbury, England; +44 1684 851982; www.gillard.co.uk