An Introduction to Precision Slitting Line

Posted on Jan 1, 2021

Precision Slitting Line

A precision slitting line is an automated coil cutting machine that is designed for precisely unrolling and cutting wide strips to the required width with the uncoiling systems, slitting systems, recoiling systems, automated tool changeover systems, feeding and stacking systems to optimize high precision and efficient slit-to-width production.

What Is the Precision Slitting Line?

A precision slitting line is an automated coil cutting machine that is designed for precisely unrolling and cutting wide strips to the required width or length at a high speed. Many precision slitting lines employ uncoiling systems, slitting systems, recoiling systems, automated tool changeover systems, feeding and stacking systems to optimize high precision and efficient slit-to-width production. With the circular slitters, which are critically machined and have simple setups, the precision slitting lines are reliable and popular in the metalworking industries requiring material handling applications.

As mentioned, the precision slitting line today generally consists of three main coil handling systems, which include the uncoiler system, the slitting system, and the recoiler system. This makes the highly automated slitting line machine advantageous to rapidly-produce a high volume of slit-to-width coil products without secondary operations or finishing tasks which need to be completed on other devices. The slit-to-width metal coils, mostly made from stainless steel, aluminum, or some other heavy gauge materials, are also called the “slit mults”, which refers to the rolls of metal coils that have already been accurately slit to a predetermined specification. 

During the production of the slit mults, the coiled material is first automatically loaded and straightened by the uncoiler system to improve the surface qualities, subsequently, the metal coils will be moved through the nip between the slitting wheels to be cut to precise lengths. Last but not least, these slit-to-width coils are re-wounded through the recoiling unit and collected by the stacking tools.

:: Read more: Slitting Machines Cut in Precision


Uncoiling Process

Through a coil loading car or automated robotic feeder for metal coils, the raw material is fed to the uncoiling system to begin the metal coil handling cycle. The uncoiler systems in a precision slitting line are typically an expanding mandrel single end form, some others use a dual cone form of unrolling tools. The expanding mandrel uncoiling system is suitable for light to heavy-duty loadings, making it an ideal and important solutions for handling the coil surfaces in precision slitting lines today. 

During the unrolling process, the coil car will, under the control, thread the single end mandrel with the ID (inner diameter) of the master coils. Next, the raw material will be rotated off the mandrel, or the cone in another type of uncoiling system, the strips will be peeled to ensure smoothness and perfect surface quality. 

The expanding mandrel uncoiling system in the precision slitting line is typically suitable for handling wide metal coils from 40 to 60 cm without filler plates. In the applications that the user needs to process materials have much larger inside diameter, different designs of filler plate will be helpful. However, the loading and removing process of the filler plates may take quite a bit of downtime, decreasing the overall efficiency. The filler rings, which are also widely called the doughnuts, are an economical solution to work on larger inside diameter coils.


Metal Strips Cut-to-length Process

At the cut-to-length stage, the metal strips are ready for precisely cut to desired dimensions. The uncoiled coils will be loaded onto the cutting area, which consists of 2 parallel arbors with rotary knives that are critically machined. The circular slitters will cause the crack and fractures when partially entering the metal coils. Then, the mults will be slit to precision length and also be separated from one to another, waiting for downstream operations like tensioning, recoiling, and stacking process. 

Once the metal coils are precisely cut in the precision slitting line machine, the outside edges of the strips will typically have edge trims or other defects that require additional treatment. To handle the edge trim scraps, there are different types of accessories used in precision slitting lines today, including rubber stripper rings and scrap winders.

The scrap winders are designed to pull the created scraps under tension from the cutter head when the precision slitting line is running. The scrap winder is significantly helpful when installing in pairs to keep the uniform tension on each scrap strand. The scrap winders are generally best suited for medium applications up to 0.25 inches of thickness. 

The tension device is also widely employed in precision slitting lines to handle the varying thickness of the coils, typically when the master coils have a larger inside diameter in the center parts and edge sides that are significantly thinner. The condition will cause the center parts of the material to be taken up much faster as the edges are hanging loosely. Different types of tensioning stands will be helpful to efficiently handle the problem to ensure product quality.


Recoiling Process

Prior to the stacking devices, some precision slitting line machines employ a recoiling system for applications that require bending or deformation of the cut-to-width coils to create customized profiles. The expanding mandrel style of recoiling systems is suitable to expand ranging from a diameter of 20 to 24 inches or more with the expansion pads or leaves. After the banding operations of the outside diameter of the cut-to-length coils on the recoiler drum, which is typically time-consuming, the coils will be pushed off from the precision slitting line.


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