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OPTIMISED SHAPING PROCESSThe most recent example of Klinghammer’s strong sense of innovation is the SFM 1/300 stretch forming machine, made by daughter company Bertil Ohlsson for Pirlo. The can manufacturer chose the machine from its long-standing suppli-er to demonstrate its efficiency during this year’s Interpack exhibition in Düsseldorf. The new stretch forming machine is designed for a line to manufac-ture attractive shaped cans. The sample can shown during the exhibition was, for example, ideal for storing half a kilo of coffee. The SFM 1/300 can complete the entire shaping process in two stages. An expanding tooling pre-expands the body and shapes the thread notches for the screw-lid at the same time. A tooling covered with rubber is then used to compensate the expanding shadows and to give the body its final shape. Both operate alter-nately and shape up to 150 can bodies per minute.

Pirlo, based in Kufstein, has been manufac-turing tinplate cans, mainly three-piece, for over 100 years. Renowned companies from the chemical industry and manufacturers

of high-quality food and cosmetics place their products on the market in containers from Kufstein.

The manufacture of cans comprises several pro-cesses. It begins with printing and cutting the tinplate. The tinplate is then bent, the seam welded. The final shape results from expanding, and if appropriate, by beading. After flanging, a bottom or lid is seamed onto the body. Large cans are provided with bails for easier handling. Klinghammer in Braunschweig possesses the know-how and technology to do this.

The company, which is rich in tradition, has been in the family for 120 years and has enlarged the company’s product range continually by buying companies to add to its group.

Annette Horneber, of Siemens AG, reports on automation technology

The highest possible productivity incan making

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CLOSE COOPERATIONPirlo had two demands time wise. First of all, the new machine should be developed and put into operation in less than half a year. Secondly, Pirlo required a spare parts guarantee for at least 15 years.

On the grounds of these requirements, Christof Bürig, managing director of Klinghammer, turned to Siemens. “To achieve the greatest possible future viability we chose the most mod-ern technology by the market leader, with which we had had very little experience up to that point. Because of this, we had to draw on the

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manufacturer’s support not only for selecting the product, but also in part for training and famil-iarisation. Our cooperation with Siemens clearly exceeded our expectations. The tight delivery date did not turn out to be a problem.”

What was the special demand all about? Packaging must be easily adaptable to the customer’s demands. In addition to speed and precision, flexibility is therefore also required. The machinery has to be able to shape cans of varying sizes and prints. At the same time, the welded seam must be free of thread notches. This is the weakest spot, since it can tear, meaning that the vacuum, vital for keeping the coffee fresh, cannot be maintained. This is the crux of the matter, because the bodies are fed without side seam orientation.

An orientation station is therefore placed in front of the body conveyor star, which serves both

AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGY

We achieve changeover times of 20 minutes and consequently extremely high availability. This is an important competitive factor as far as the manufacture of mass products is concerned

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toolings, for positioning each body quickly and in an identical manner. It comprises an optical sensor, which recognises the welded seam through colour contrast, and a magnet system, which puts the body into the required position by turning. This orienta-tion is the most demanding technical aspect. “It begins with the fact that it is often quite difficult to position the sensor on a specific point of printed cans. We use the Siemens Multiturn absolute encoder for this, which enables an extremely precise adjustment within the 720 degrees which are possible in total,” Christof Bürig explains.

The angle of rotation for exact orientation is measured by a Simatic Controller. The control accuracy of the Simatic S7-1500 is able to achieve the exact position of the welded side seam at maximum speeds.

The highly dynamic availability of the forces for shaping the bodies is achieved by the hydraulic system. To this end, servo regulators are integrated into the Sinamics S120. The Profinet Isochronous-Real-Time (IRT) protocol ensures synchronous com-munication. In addition, the hydraulic fluid is monitored by the S7-1500 for pressure and temperature and is cooled if necessary.

EASE OF USEOlaf Wojahn, project leader at Klinghammer, had little experience with Simatic; planning with the TIA portal was new to him. After completing a begin-ner’s course and with the help of Siemens’ technical support, he now feels able to master the new tasks with the system. “Compared to other systems, it really is an enormous advantage that the TIA portal enables the entire project to be processed using one interface,” he said. “The portal view of the engineering framework offers assistance to beginners. Via the project view, a significantly higher engineering efficiency can be achieved after only a short while.”

Thomas Fankhauser, who operates the machine at Pirlo, appreciates the cen-tral Simatic Basic Panel. “The clear user interface offers us optimum support when adjusting the machine; the automatic sys-tem diagnostics help to find faults more quickly and to clear them.” Julius Lüthi, Pirlo’s manager, emphasises the importance of high automation transparency. “We achieve changeover times of 20 minutes and consequently extremely high availability. This is an important competitive factor as far as the manufacture of mass products is concerned.” CT