Ashe at Drupa 2024

2024 sees the return of the international print exhibition, Drupa, the worlds leading trade fair for printing technologies.

The exhibition is being held from May 28^th through the June 7^th at the Messe, Dusseldorf, Germany.

As the exhibition has not been held since 2016 due to COVID, ASHE Converting Equipment will display many machines from their machinery range to give visitors to their booth an experience of live machine running.

A new machine will also be launched at the fair as the company expand their product portfolio to give their customers the highest levels of technology and automation available.

The slitting and rewinding machinery on show will be:

SAPPHIRE S3 DUPLEX  SLITTER REWINDER – NEW LAUNCH!

The intelligent slitting machine is launched. The s3 has been developed by ASHE to be a fully automated duplex or duplex turret with minimal operator involvement.

The machine will have a new unwind loading system for the master rolls which will automatically position the unwind into the correct position when at the correct height. This can be configured with our auto knife positioning and auto rewind core positioning which means minimal operator input as the machine virtually sets itself.

Another feature of the new s3 is a linear layon concept. The Sapphire DB was a machine launched by ASHE in 2003 that was a slitter rewinder, with a driven linear layon system which was mounted on a single carriage. The Sapphire s3 is developed from our knowledge of the DB series and S2 to give a true duplex centre winder with linear layon.

The benefits of a linear layon are automation. Each layon roller is on it’s own independent carriage which move linearly away from the rewind shaft. With this technology we are able to easily integrate an automatic cross cutting mechanism and add a tape applicators which will automatically close the finished rolls and tape the incoming web onto the new cores.

All types of unloading can be configured on the s3, with a new faster automatic roll push off system. A new scissor lift roll pusher system has also been integrated into the machine to allow easy removal of finished rolls, for those converters who are looking for full width rewinding facilities on a slitter rewinder.

A new control cubicle has also been engineering onto the S3 which is more ergonomically designed for the operator, along with heightened safety features to easily highlight the necessary safety modes the machine is in.

All other features from ASHE are standard on the machine, such as an all electric unwind system which has been a feature of ASHE machines for many years, our vacuum roller for tension isolation and ASHE’s new differential rewind shafts which do not require any form of lubrication which significantly reduces machine downtime on slitting machines.

The machine on display will be 1650mm wide (65”) and will incorporate the systems above with razor and shear slitting. ~The maximum rewinding diameter of the machine is 800mm (32”) and the machine has a maximum speed of 800m/min (2625ft/min). All flexible substrates can be wound on this machine.

DIAMOND DUPLEX TURRET SLITTER REWINDER

A 1650mm wide (65”) duplex turret slitter rewinder from our Diamond series will be on display. The Diamond machine has been designed to have a small footprint for space requirements and for ease of installation. The machine features a duplex turret rewind to 600mm (24”) diameter where the rewinding shafts remain fully supported through the turret cycle. The machine features a integrated shaftless unwind stand with electric roll lift, edge guider, razor and shear slitting systems and has a maximum speed of 500m/min.

An automatic finished roll push off system is integrated onto the machine which can push the finished rolls off onto a variety of unloading stands.

SOLITAIRE MID WEB SLITTER REWINDER

The Solitaire series of slitter rewinder is produced for mid web applications and is available in widths between 400mm to 1000mm. The Solitaire series has been developed by ASHE over a number of years for UV flexo printers who wish to print flexible packaging applications, and also those who print flexible packaging on digital format presses.

On display will be a 800mm wide machine which is suitable for all filmic and pressure sensitive applications. The machine will feature an automatic laser indicators for ease of knife setting and rewind core positioning. Our new differential rewind shaft is on the machine along with razor and shear slitting stations.

OPAL OLT OFFLINE TURRET REWINDER FOR SELF ADHESIVE LABELS

For the printers of self adhesive labels, maximum finishing efficiency can be achieved with our Opal glueless turret rewinders. The machine features a patented cut and transfer system which can apply material onto new cores at speed without the need for glue or tape and full servo control.

ASHE are able to offer inline and offline systems across a range of widths to suit printing widths along with features such as auto knife positioning, automatic tail closure by a printed label, range of core sizes down to 19mm, and short cycle times.

On display will be a 540mm wide offline machine which will feature automatic knife positioning. This is able to position 10 rotary cutters (top and bottom) in under 2 minutes. An automatic tail closure system will also be on the machine.

Another key feature of the Opal OLT is that there is no mechanical tooling changes required when changing core sizes. This is a feature which drastically reduces machine downtime.

OPAL ISR 100% INPSECTION SLITTER REWINDER

The modular design of the Opal ISR allows us to offer the machine in a number of configurations and allows our users to inspect 100% of the print through a camera based inspection system. The machine can be configured with different web path patterns to ensure that any fault detected by the camera system.

On display will be a 430mm wide machine which features automatic knife positioning and duplex (two shafts) rewinding system. The camera is ergonomically mounted on the machine and the webpath configuration will ensure that any faults detected will stop prior to be slit and rewound.

The machine is suited for all pressure sensitive substrates along with filmic labels and flexible packaging.

MOONSTONE

The need for data is becoming more important and ASHE have developed software for their machines which will allow their users to log requested data such as slit widths, roll tensions, speeds, pressures and faults. This can be generated for roll mapping and can be logged for a period of time so the user can identify any issue which may arise.