Tips

Dual station unwind and/or rewind stands are an excellent option to reduce machine stops and time required for splices and cut-overs. Dual station unwind stands include fixed positions to accommodate a "running roll" of web into your process and a roll ready to be spliced when the running roll has completely emptied. Depending on the web, the machine operator and the design of the unwind equipment, this splice may be made on the fly or it may be made after a machine stop. Even if the machine must stop for the splice, time for the splice is greatly reduced when compared to the same stoppage for a splice with a single station unwind stand because the new roll is in place and ready to be unwound.

Dual station rewind stands operate in a similar fashion to their unwind counterparts, except instead of a splice, a cut-over is made to an in-place and readied empty core.

These dual station unwinds and rewinds utilize fixed position unwind and rewind positions. They are very simply designed and generally far less expensive than a turret indexing unwind or rewind. This fixed position design may not be well suited for every application. However, if you are considering increasing machine production by decreasing downtime due to roll change-overs, fixed position multi-station may be the answer for your application. Talk to a vendor of this type of equipment to further explore your options.

Written By: Jeffrey Damour, Sales Manager, Converter Accessory Corporation, Wind Gap, PA, Phone - 800-433-2413