Cantec Retrofits

Regardless of the criteria, retrofits make your production processes leaner and more profitable. They reduce maintenance time and cost, cut changeovers times and effect a general improvement in machine performance.

CUT-O-MAT

Electronic measuring system EMS

A digital setting and measuring device on a beam-mounted slide for precision cutter alignment which drastically reduces them setting time of hydraulically or mechanically clamped cutters.
This unit is available for all CUT-O-MATs.

Lacquer margin detector LAK

Integrated unit for in-line quality control: Sensors scan the upper and, as an option in an additional package, the lower sheet sides for lacquer/paint splashes.
The LAK ensures consistent product quality and reduces spoilage rates and malfunctions during welding.
This unit is available for all CUT-O-MATs with Siemens or Allan Bradley PLC.

Mechanical cutter hubs

The segmented ring-shaped hubs have a moving seat on the shaft and are fixed in place by means of clamping elements.
The advantages:

• Speedy retooling
• 3-point clamping avoids any impairment of performance due to dirt particles on the cutter shaft
• High-precision production to extremely close tolerances.

These newly designed high-precision mechanical cutter hubs require a cutter shaft of adequate precision. The conversion package includes new cutter shafts for this reason. The new mechanical cutter hubs are available:

• in standard design: for a minimal blank width of 72 mm
• in special design:for a minimal blank width of 52 mm

Trim strip cutter

The scrap cutting unit cuts the long, unwieldy scrap strips into 30 – 100 mm short pieces, without any influence on cutting accuracy.
The short pieces can thus be evacuated by an automatic magnetic conveyor system.
This unit is available for all CUT-O-MATs built not earlier than 1993.

Magnetic scrap evacuation

Magnetic conveyor system for the automatic evacuation of straight or cut edge trim from the CUT-O-MAT zone.
This unit is available for all CUT-O-MATs built not earlier than 1993.

CAN-O-MAT

Permanent lube oil filtering

In order to reduce maintenance and downtimes, consumable costs and machine wear, a permanent filtering system for the gear oil can be installed. Filter contamination levels are monitored electronically and an appropriate message is displayed on the operator terminal whenever a filter change is needed. Filters can be changed without any mess in a matter of minutes.
This unit is available for all CAN-O-MATs with Siemens or Allan Bradley PLC.
Some remachining work on the machine frame is necessary for the mounting of the console, for the oil pipes and for the electrical connections.

Top side adjustment of seaming chucks (for rail seaming)

With rail seaming, the chucks can be moved radially towards the rail lip in order to adjust the seam thickness. To make this adjustment easier and faster, the seaming spindles are replaced by newly designed spindles which allow the chuck position to be adjusted from the top of the machine.
This retrofit is available for all machines built after 1988.
Re-machining of the gear ring for the chuck drive (tool part) is necessary.

Quality control belt behind the CAN-O-MAT

The test can ejector makes it possible to select individual cans or an entire production sequence and eject them at the CAN-O-MAT outfeed for quality control purposes without any drop in production speed. With a push on a button at the panel the system is activated, and 8 cans, for example, are ejected. The first can is always formed in tool no.1, so there is a direct relation between can and tool. The ejected cans can be evaluated manually or transferred to an automatic testing or inspection machine. This unit is available for all CAN-O-MATs with Siemens or Allan Bradley PLC and with an integrated display panel, which was introduced in 1994.
The discharge belt behind the CAN-O-MAT will be replaced by a new belt, 2 m long, with the quality ejection belt branching off at a specific angle, and the additional equipment for the can ejection. If necessary the existing discharge belt must be shortened.
One sensor must be installed in the CAN-O-MAT and some other electrical wiring to the electrical cabinet must be done.
The PLC program must be updated.
Compressed air is necessary for the can ejector.

Motorised height adjustment

Most CAN-O-MAT stations are equipped with the tried-and- tested height adjustment system operated by hand-wheel. To reduce resetting times even further, the hand-wheel is replaced by a gear motor with measuring device. By entering a preset height, settings are made automatically. In addition, a quick-lift function has been integrated as well, which is helpful when taking out damaged cans after a jam and during maintenance or changeover.
This retrofit unit is available for all CAN-O-MAT I with Siemens PLC type S7, with integrated display panel OP 17 and for all forming units with the cross roller bearing XU 120 179 at the top position.

New upper spindle drive

The new design of the upper spindle drive for necking, spin flanging and swing flanging stations features spindles with double guiding. The cam follower with cam follower holder of each spindle is arranged between the two points of guiding.
This design offers the following advantages:

• The spindle is guided with more stability and reaches its end position more accurately.
• Wear of the spindle guides is minimal: Even at high speeds and long periods of operation the cam follower accurately follows the cam. This prevents peak accelerations and fracture of cam follower holders.
• The new spindle drive has a longer service life, is more accurate and runs more smoothly, even at high CAN-O-MAT speeds.

Spindle sleeve pressure tester (for rail- and roll- seaming)

To ensure high seam quality, it is important that the spindle sleeve pressure is set correctly and uniformly for all tools. To allow simple monitoring and setting, a special spindle sleeve pressure tester can be used. This tester is specially designed for use with the CAN-O-MAT with rail seaming as well as with roll seaming.
Using this tester, the time required to make pressure settings can be significantly reduced.

TEST-O-MAT

New electronic measuring unit

Many of our TEST-O-MAT air pressure testers have been in operation for a number of years. During this time there have been significant changes in the field of electronic controllers. For this reason, there will increasingly be problems when needing to procure replacements for defective controller components. The same applies to other electronic components, for example special pressure sensors.
The upgrade kit not only comprises the controller itself, but also all sensors and can filling valves, the rotary transmission between rotary and stationary controller and the complete electronic measuring system. Only part of the cabling, the drive motor and the basic machine control (initiators, etc.) will remain of the old electrical equipment. After this conversion, the complex electronic measuring system, the sensors, etc. will again be state-of-the-art so that procurement of spares is safeguarded for many years.
Another essential advantage would be the design of the new controller. As new standard PLCs, for example Siemens S7 controller, have much higher capacities today than at the time when the earlier TEST-O-MATs were built, the complete measurement data processing system can be integrated into a standard PLC. Additional computers are no longer necessary. This means that the electricians will be able to service this new controller without any problems.
Since the Siemens S7 is a standard industrial controller, you can rely on its resistance against normal electrical interference.
All TEST-O-MATs supplied so far can be converted by simple replacement of components, without mechanical reworking of the existing machine.
Advantages of the new electronic measuring unit for the TEST-O-MAT:

• Industry-standard, robust pressure sensors, available world-wide and compatible with components of other suppliers
• Data transmission from rotating measuring rotor to stationary machine components via PROFI-BUS and standard collector rings with low susceptibility to faults
• Siemens S7 PLC as electronic measuring unit with world-wide spare parts service
• Industry-standard rotary transmission of compressed air with world-wide availability
• Touch-type operating panel with multi-language operator interface. - Program updates possible via modem
• For machines with old PLCs: Possibility to integrate the machine control program into the new S7 PLC
• Thanks to the industry-standard S7 PLC, the customer's technicians will be able to modify the program themselves or following Cantec's instructions.

PA400

Pneumatic brake for strip feeder

To reduce costs, can ends of increasingly thin sheet metal have been and are still being used for packaging. At the same time, attempts are being made to utilise the maximum capacity of the production machinery.
The factor limiting the capacity of strip presses is often the cyclic strip feed into the tool. The strip must not only be accelerated and advanced for every stroke, but also decelerated in the same manner so that it does not come away from the pusher dog and precisely reaches its final position. Especially for thin sheets this requires brake segments which are uniformly set and which operate sensitively.
To achieve this, new presses are fitted with pneumatically controlled brakes. This control can also be retrofitted in machines with mechanical spring-loaded brakes.
Instead of mechanical springs for the brake segments, small pneumatic cylinders are installed which are powered by compressed air and connected to one another by the compressed air line.
Advantages:

• All brake segments are subjected to the same force
• The braking force can be adjusted easily, quickly and sensitively at the pressure control valve
• The brake segments are subdivided into two areas that can be adjusted separately

New strip feeder pusher dogs

To reduce costs, can ends of increasingly thin sheet metal have been and are still being used for packaging. At the same time, attempts are being made to utilise the maximum capacity of the production machinery.
The factor limiting the capacity of strip presses is often the cyclic strip feed into the tool.The strip must be accelerated and advanced for every stroke and then precisely reach its final position. This is only possible when the pusher dogs do not cause any noteworthy deformation in the rear edge of the strip. To achieve this, it is essential – especially for high capacities and for sensitive sheets – that the speed with which the pusher dogs impact the still stationary strips is as low as possible. To minimise the over-stroke of the pusher dogs during their rearward movement and hence minimise the impact speed during the forward stroke, improved pusher dogs with optimised link point have been developed and can be retrofitted in existing PA strip presses.
For conversion, both the pusher dogs of the auxiliary finger bar and those of the main finger bar are replaced.
Advantages:

• Minimisation of over-stroke during rearward movement
• Reduction of impact speed during forward stroke
• Possible increase in strip feeder capacity