Mineral Wool Web Splitting for Low-Dust Horizontal Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-capacity production lines face challenges in minimizing dust residue on dividing surfaces during horizontal cutting of large-width cured mineral wool webs, as band saws struggle to remove all dust produced during the cutting process, leading to time-consuming and costly cleaning operations.
Innovation Solution
The method involves longitudinally dividing the cured mineral wool web into sub-webs and lifting sections of the conveyor to allow each sub-web to be horizontally cut by a band saw, ensuring the saw can effectively remove dust without depositing it on adjacent surfaces, with the band saws running in opposite directions to manage dust removal efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a band saw is used to horizontally cut a large-width cured mineral wool web, then the cutting action produces dust that cannot be fully removed, but using a smaller width would reduce dust production
Solution Approach 1:
The cured mineral wool web is divided into multiple sub-webs along its width before horizontal cutting. Each sub-web is then cut separately by individual band saws, reducing the cutting width and dust production for each saw while maintaining the ability to process large-width webs overall
Solution Approach 2:
A lifting mechanism is introduced as an intermediary device between the conveyor and the band saws. This mechanism lifts each sub-web to the cutting position of the band saw, enabling separate cutting of multiple sub-webs while keeping the band saws in fixed positions
2Productivity
If the band saw cuts through the full width of the web, then the cutting action is completed in one pass, but the saw cannot remove all dust produced during the cut
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting process is segmented into multiple separate cutting operations, one for each sub-web. Each band saw cuts only its assigned sub-web rather than the full web width, reducing dust production per cut while maintaining overall productivity through parallel processing of multiple sub-webs
3Device complexity
If the web is not divided into sub-webs, then the processing is simpler, but extensive cleaning operations are required after cutting
Solution Approach 1:
The web is segmented into sub-webs that are processed separately, which eliminates the need for extensive cleaning operations after cutting. The additional step of dividing the web into sub-webs is offset by the elimination of time-consuming cleaning procedures
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an apparatus for horizontally splitting a mineral wool web includes a conveyor having a first direction of travel adapted for receiving and advancing a cured mineral wool web in said first direction. At least one dividing device is provided for longitudinally dividing the cured mineral wool web into at least two sub-webs as said cured mineral wool web is advanced passed said at least one dividing device. At least one lifting mechanism is provided downstream of the dividing device so that a section of the conveyor is adapted for lifting a sub-web. At least one horizontal cutting device is provided for horizontally cutting the sub-web whilst lifted in said conveyor section.