Highly efficient welding, straightening and cutting machines installed at Holterman Wapeningsstaal BV
Eurobend GmbH offers solutions for every precast company, regardless of size and application, with innovative and well-established machines for the production of standard and customized precast elements and wall panel reinforcements.
Eurobend machines are easy to operate and easy to maintain due to their thoughtful modular design. They are equipped with high-technology features, sophisticated electronics, computer software and hardware with a unique redundant memory system for eliminating the possibility of production downtimes due to hard disk defects or data loss as well as an interface for exchanging production data using various industrial formats (such as BVBS and Unitechnik).
The recent installation completed at Holterman Wapeningsstaal BV in Markelo near Amsterdam, The Netherlands, includes a flexible mesh welding line (PL XY series) together with a rotor straightening and cutting machine (MELC Flexiline series) and a lattice girder machine (PL TRIS series).
Mesh production – the PL XY series
The newly installed unique, high-end, CNC-programmable PL XY Twin mesh welding line working from precut bars (patented method) enables Holterman Wapeningsstaal BV to produce standard mesh, customized mesh and special mesh with openings.
It produces mesh in diameters of up to 16 mm for both line and cross wires. The PL XY Twin is equipped with two multi-point moving welding blocks, achieving up to 400 welding points per minute. Any mesh can be produced instantly, one type after another, without any adjustments since each work step is controlled by the machine’s computer program.
The line wires are fed manually into pre-selected grippers that are mounted on a carrier. The carrier automatically inserts the line wires into the welding machine and returns to the start-up position for reloading while the machine is welding the mesh. Each gripper is equipped with a LED light indicator that facilitates line wire feed. This system virtually eliminates idle time between the production of two consecutive meshes.
A secondary feed system on the line wire carrier enables the production of mesh with variable line wire lengths within the same (material saving) mesh or of mesh with openings.
Cross wires are fed into the welding line automatically from a cross wire feeder. A secondary cross wire feeding and positioning system enables the production of mesh with variable cross wire lengths and mesh with openings. In this case, a second auxiliary display facilitates the feed of cross wire in custom lengths.
The produced mesh is removed automatically through a mesh stacking and roller conveyor system.
Mesh preparation –
production of precut bars
In addition to the existing large number of single and multi-line rotor straightening and cutting machines (MELC Monoline and MELC Polyline), Holterman Wapeningsstaal BV again chose another MELC rotor straightening and cutting machine to accompany the new PL XY mesh welding line and produce all bars required by the welder. Placed next to the new PL XY mesh welding line, an independently operated multi-rotor straightening and cutting machine of the MELC Flexiline series using Eurobend’s 4G rotor with hyperbolically profiled rollers and our patented convergence guiding system ensure perfect straightening and length accuracies. All diameter changes are achieved within two or three seconds without any moving mechanical parts, producing the required precut bars in specified diameters ‘just-in-time’ or according to the day’s production schedule.
The extremely fast diameter changing system offers the unique possibility to produce precut bars one after another for each mesh in a batch.
Material handling, storage and logistics issues are thus simplified to achieve savings of both labor and investment costs.
Combining the unmatched flexibility offered by the PL XY Twin welding machine with the straightening superiority and the diameter changes within seconds of the MELC Flexiline rotor straightening and cutting machine is the most efficient and flexible solution for Holterman Wapeningsstaal BV for their production of standard and customized mesh and mesh with openings for all their precast customers.
Mesh preparation – production of lattice girders
The PL TRIS series of lattice girder welding lines installed at Holterman Wapeningsstaal BV can produce most types and sizes of lattice girders and ensures reliable and cost-effective production. This is a high-output machine version since it features a “double welding step” and is equipped with powered de-coiling stations for line and diagonal wires complete with tension detectors and wire loop accumulators, which always ensure smooth and accurate wire feed.
Each straightening section for both line and cross wires employs advanced, easily adjustable roller straightening devices with patented product self-leveling anti-twist rollers.
The unique double-step continuous bending system, with retractable bending pins for the two diagonal wires, ensures accurate and consistent operation.
The flexible welding head design and electrically driven height adjustment mechanism ensure accurate production of various lattice girder sizes. A set of hydraulic clamping units, mounted on a servomotor-driven carrier, also ensures accurate wire feed during the production process. The high-speed cutting operation and the synchronized and fully automatic stacking and batch removal ensure continuous production of high-quality lattice girders.
