Safer, easier felt changeovers
No matter how smoothly your paper or board machine runs, and how thoroughly you take care of your press felts, you will still need to replace them on a regular basis. And that is usually an awkward job, requiring a number of trained personnel. But it doesn’t have to be that way – not any more. When ANDRITZ introduced the Felt Master, the changeover process got a whole lot simpler, safer and more reliable.
Pulling in endless felts
Traditionally, changing a press felt requires a specially-trained team, to pull and manhandle the new felt into place, using knowhow, physical strength and skill. It can be a slippery, unpredictable and tricky job, with potential risk of injury.
The ANDRITZ Felt Master has changed all of that.
This unique, new fabric installation system means you now only need one trained person to direct the team members, who attach up to six installation winches to the felt. The ANDRITZ Felt Master then safely does all the lifting and pulling for you, and it works every time. The operator manages the installation with a remote control unit, which means the whole process is effectively semi-automatic.
ANDRITZ Felt Master
ALL FELT WELCOME
The ANDRITZ Felt Master system can be used to exchange both seamed and endless press felts. (It can also be used in other areas of the paper/board machine too, including the forming section, but we will focus on that in a separate exposé.)
With seamed felts, once the installation “kite” is attached to the unwinding belt, the Felt Master pulls the full width of the felt from the packaging tube, through the press rolls, into position for seaming. The packaging tube is supported on two consoles, where a mechanical brake further controls the unwinding process.
With endless felts, the new clothing is firstly laid out alongside the paper/board machine. It then has installation belt fasteners attached at predefined points, and these are attached to corresponding winches on the drive side of the paper/board machine. The operator then uses the remote control unit to tension the installation belts at whatever speed they choose. To help with this, the remote-control unit displays real-time torque and speed data, as the winches evenly pull the felt sideways into place on the machine.
Felt change
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
What all of this adds up to is a simpler, more reliable and repeatable felt-replacement process, that significantly increases worker safety, while also requiring fewer specially-trained personnel.
