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March 03, 2006
Rollers: sometime deceptively complex devices
A roller = cylindrical shell + shaft + bearing + mount to equipment.
End of story.....................it would seem.
What a simple device? If you buy an idler roller for $300 you may wonder why this sophisticated rolling pin cost the same as an iPod. Many new-to-converting design and build shops think the same thing and say 'Why don't we just build our own roller?' If your new equipment supplier tells you they plan to do this, what to do? Very quickly, write a roller specification (or talk them out of it).
Webs, especially high modulus, thin materials are sensitive animals. When your product only stretches 0.1 percent, it's is sensitive to errors in your rollers (or relative alignment of rollers) in this same order of magnitude.
If I wrote a list of 'rollers gone bad', it would go one for some time. Maybe today I'll start that list. Want to help?
Posted by Tim Walker at March 3, 2006 06:49 AM
