Roller cleaner uses elastomer to remove contamination

27th November 2014

Teknek

Siobhan O'Gorman

0 0

A method of removing contamination from process rollers, which has been developed though research work into the upscaling of plastic electronics production, has been introduced by Teknek. The research found that the process rollers used in a production line can be a major source of particulate contamination which can lead to defects such as scratches and dents on the film.

Traditionally, the rollers are wiped down manually using wet chemicals. In environments such as ovens, however, the rollers are in hard to access, and therefore do not get cleaned.

To overcome this challenge, the company has introduced the Line Cleaner, which uses splicing tape to attach a 1mm thick sheet of elastomer material to the top and bottom of the web at the unwind stage. The chemical composition of this elastomer material attracts particles down to 1µm in size. As the sheet moves through the process line it makes contact with each roller surface removing any dry unattached particles present. The Line Cleaner is removed and disposed of at the rewind stage, taking with it the contamination it has collected.

Sheila Hamilton, Technical Director, Teknek, commented: “Considerable attention has been given to protecting coating lines from environmental contamination and cleaning the substrate. However, little research has been done on the contribution which individual components within the coating line make to defect levels.”

Hamilton added: “Our research demonstrated that rollers are a significant source of contamination leading to defects. Our novel solution provides an easy and quick way for manufacturers to ensure that particles are effectively removed from all the rollers in the production line. This will help significantly towards the goal of achieving no defects and maximum yields.”