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One of the things about testing equipment for THE PRESS Reports is the luxury of having a state-of-the-art production facility, Denver-based Graphic Elements, in which to do much of our testing. With the latest in equipment and technology we are able to put the products through their paces in a real-time setting. This helps us evaluate the goods as they were intended to be used -- in production.
This brings us to this month's report on the Tekmar Autotack automatic adhesive application system. Autotack was designed to eliminate the use of handheld spray adhesive cans and replace them with a mechanical system that applies a uniform coating of adhesive to pallets during production, reducing the amount of overspray and potential VOCs associated with spray cans. The operation of the system is fairly simple. The unit we tested was mounted onto a rolling stand that wheeled between the load/unload stations on our automatic press. The Autotack can be programmed to spray a coating of adhesive onto the pallets as they pass under the spray heads during the indexing cycle. Autotack comes with two spray heads (a total of three are available) that will cover a pallet up to 30" long. The two spray heads mount onto a bar that is placed over the pallet on the press. The heads slide lengthwise on the bar so you can place them in any position over the pallet for maximum coverage. The heads also can be raised and lowered to help maximize coverage.
The spray heads can be turned on and off, allowing you to use each head separately or together depending on the area you want to apply adhesive to. Once the machine is in place, program the microprocessor to apply the adhesive as desired. It can be set to apply adhesive with each cycle or at any interval you desire. For example, with heavy fleece you may want to apply adhesive to the pallets on each cycle. With T-shirts you may only want to apply adhesive every fifth cycle. The microprocessor can be programmed to start, stop and skip a pallet. The unit also is equipped with a foot pedal for manual operation that allows you to apply adhesive when you feel the need. On the bottom of the system is a vacuum that catches and filters away the overspray from the pallet above. The overspray is captured in a disposable furnace filter that is easily replaced when full. We used the adhesive supplied by Tekmar (other adhesives are available from a variety of manufacturers), which came in 5-gallon buckets. The adhesive is pumped to the heads by the Autotack system via its integrated pneumatic pump. But how well did the unit work? The system was very easy for us to set up and program. The Autotack is equipped with a proximity sensor that reads when the pallet indexes under the spray heads so that it knows when to spray the pallet. We ran our press at a maximum rate of 90 dozen shirts per hour. That was below the maximum speed of the press, but still a good production rate. The system never missed a pallet and the overspray was surprisingly minimal. Another thing that really impressed us was that after we ran a job and let the Autotack sit overnight, we only had to pull the dried chunks of adhesive from the spray heads and we were ready to start operation. We did not have to soak the spray heads in any solvent to clean them before we started production again. Very impressive. The Autotack comes on a rolling stand that will fit on most presses, or it can be customized to mount to the press. On some presses, the Autotack also can be integrated into the microprocessor for complete integration into the press. The price of the unit tested was $5,530. © 2000 THE PRESS
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