Loading reels
Taking paper, film and label reels off the pallet and threading them into the unwinder – coaxially, without damaging the web edge.
Industry
Handling technology for paper converting and printing
In paper converting, handling is almost always changeover time. Every reel, every roll, every stack means downtime on a machine that runs metres per second – and that downtime is the figure against which every solution has to be measured.
- Capacity for reel handling
- 500 kg
- Usual reel width
- 1600 mm
- Reel change instead of a crane trip
- 3 min
01 — Applications
The machine stands until the reel is hanging.
Typical handling tasks in Paper and print — and what they demand technically.
Changing rolls
Pulling printing, press and guide rolls out of the frame and entering the new ones level into the bearing seats.
Moving stacks
Moving sheet stacks between feeder, delivery and pallet without shifting the stack edge.
Handling plates and forms
Bringing printing forms and cylinders from store to machine and handing them over in the right position.
Removing part reels
Taking part-used reels and cores out of the machine and returning them to the cycle – the movement most often underestimated in the sequence.
02 — What matters
What Paper and print demands of handling technology
The calculation is in downtime minutes
A reel change on the overhead crane easily takes ten minutes with slinging, travelling, aligning and releasing, eight of them for aligning onto the shaft. With a mandrel gripper on a guided device it takes three. At six changes a shift that is over half an hour of machine running time daily – and that calculation, not ergonomics, is usually the decisive argument in paper converting.
The web must not be touched
A paper or film reel is carried at the core, never on the barrel. A mandrel gripper entering the core and expanding there holds positively and leaves the web untouched. What matters is the permissible pressure in the core: cardboard cores take far less than plastic or steel ones, and for long reels a support at the free end is added so the mandrel does not deflect.
Roll changing is positioning work
A roll has to stay level throughout the movement, or the journal jams in the bearing seat – and a jammed journal costs more than the whole change. So it is carried in two prism cradles and guided by a rigid arm holding the set angle. The overhead crane can take the weight, but on a rope the roll swings exactly when accuracy is needed.
03 — Device catalogue
Start the device finder
Equipment for Paper and print
Design, payload and reach — the shortlist for this industry.
Lifting equipment · Manipulators
01
Articulated Arm Hoist
The jointed arm for millimetre-precise handling.
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Lifting equipment · Conveyor systems
02
Rail System
The whole area covered – in X and Y.
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Lifting equipment · Lifting axes
03
I-GO Lifting Axis
Compact power for vertical lifting.
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Lifting equipment · Balancers
04
Skyline Rope Balancer
Weightless handling – floating instead of lifting.
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04 — Services
From analysis to inspection
01
Sizing & Custom Solutions
Load, reach, cycle time – plus grippers for anything without a catalogue entry.
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02
Plant Construction
Process plants – planned, built, documented and commissioned.
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03
Lifting Technology
Lifting equipment, manipulators and balancers for industry, medical technology and logistics.
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04
Statutory Inspections
Recurring inspection of your equipment to German accident prevention regulations.
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05 — Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions from Paper and print
What reel weights are usual?
In converting mostly 80 to 500 kg, in production considerably more. Besides weight, reel width counts for sizing: a narrow heavy reel is easier to handle than a wide light one, because on a mandrel gripper the bending in the mandrel becomes the limit.
Does it work with changing core diameters?
Yes. Expanding mandrels cover a diameter range; beyond that we use exchangeable expanding segments that swap in seconds. Tell us which cores occur and we set the range so no change is needed.
What about stack handling?
Sheet stacks are clamped or picked up from below, depending on format and binding. Critical is shifting of the upper layers; a mount with a counter-hold and low acceleration solves that. With frequent format changes an adjustable gripper makes more sense than several fixed ones.
Is it worth it at two reel changes a shift?
Usually yes, as soon as the change ties up the crane today or takes two people. We calculate with the figures from your plant: changes per shift times minutes saved times machine hourly rate. Where the calculation does not work out, we say so.
07 — Guides
Read more
9 min
01
Sizing a manipulator
It is not the payload that decides, it is the moment.
Read the article
9 min
02
Grippers & lifting devices
The unit lifts. The gripper decides whether it works.
Read the article
7 min
03
Economics
The second person is the most expensive line in the calculation.
Read the article
Contact
We do not know your shop floor yet — but we know the task.
One short conversation usually settles more than three quotations. Call or write — you will reach an engineer directly.