BCH upgrades extrusion systems with Apex Dynamics support

Process systems business BCH has reported a successful upgrade of its high speed guillotine machine for its extrusion machinery through assistance from specialist firm Apex Dynamics installing new equipment elements, reports Neill Barston.

The Whitworth-based company has built and designed turnkey equipment lines for the confectionery sector around the world, including devising its starch-based liquorice, 100% fruit products, as well as syrups and jams.

As the business explained, it recently encountered a design challenge with the impending obsolescence of a key control component on its High Speed Guillotine Machine which features as part of their extrusion systems. The critical control component becoming obsolete was the servo gearbox on the guillotine control system which has a profound impact on the overall performance of the guillotine in terms of speed and cutting accuracy.

Faced with the need to find a new solution, BCH took the opportunity to undertake a fundamental design review and target a solution which would result in a guillotine with an upgraded performance and giving more versatility for smaller cutting at high line speed rates.

BCH Project Manager Marc Oddy (below) explains: “The need to change this gearbox and servo unit was due to the existing option we used becoming obsolete. Therefore, it pushed us into finding alternative options. This opened the opportunity to have more control over our cutting capability. We knew that loss of torque under intensive working conditions would be a major challenge for the chosen solution and could have stopped us achieving our targets for speed and cut length accuracy. When we looked at the torque and accuracy elements required for a servo gearbox, we noticed that most gearbox manufacturer’s products lost a lot of torque when you reduce the ratio.

“This pointed us towards the Apex Dynamics range and in particular their KF180 High Precision Planetary Gearbox series and in upgrading the machine design the changes have now been made to integrate the Apex KF180 Gearbox. The only roadblock we ran into in implementing the new design was finalising the ratio selection we required on the gearbox, and Apex assisted us with the flexibility for us to test the different ratios.

“However, with Apex’s help we modified the previous design, implemented the unit, and tested the new capability, which then allowed us to choose the correct ratio to meet our requirements,” added the project manager, who said that the new KF180 Gearbox is of a robust design, capable of dealing with the high speed long running service required. Consequently, the company has improved overall performance terms, increasing guillotine cutting speed to 600rpm, and also achieve better cutting accuracy on the length of 2mm, compared to 5mm previously.

He added on a technical note, that the KF180 was selected due to the two critical elements of good torque retention and continuous running capability. BCH also added that there had been strong support in logistics and technical backing from Apex and its local manager  Throughout this project we have had excellent technical and logistical support from Apex Dynamics and their local manager Malcolm Hillary and its wider team.