TPT November 2014

Article

THE Machines Yvonand SA

Quality assurance and traceability in drip irrigation pipe extrusion technologies and production By Eberhard Kertscher, director of board, THE Machines Yvonand SA, Switzerland

for the accurate water outlet. Latest technology platforms have been adopted quite unexpectedly and hitherto would have been deemed unthinkable for such ‘simple products’. A significant challenge was the adherence to quality systems resolved with the use of the most modern, high frequency, speed, precision and high resolution visual camera detection systems along with the data processing capabilities necessitated for these demanding applications. New laser marking equipment was developed and implemented that enables the assured and ‘permanent’ printing or marking of products. All of this allows for a very high rate of productivity and at the same time assures the highest levels of quality standards. Laser marking To date, printing onto the pipes was achieved primarily by means of inkjet printing to a very limited degree. The problems and challenges with such solutions and equipment are well known. One of the main challenges is centred on the actual adhesion of the print to the tube surface. To obtain any reasonable adhesion the surface of the substrate must be subjected to a mechanical, chemical or other pre-treatment, typically a flame or corona pre-treatment. This, however, throws up additional technical challenges, not least the additional investment and utilities infra-structure necessary for the corona treatment equipment itself. turret winding of the finished product onto cardboard spools or in the form of coils.

Line configurations For simplicity reasons a full description is not given for a typical production line for the extrusion and manufacture of drip irrigation tubes. This can best be reviewed in the TEC COM 87/13 (*1) and TEC COM 89/13 for Laser Marking on the Fly. The line layout (Figure 1) production and manufacturing steps for drip irrigation tubes describes in general how the individual quality assurance functions are interlinked between each of the main components in the line. All main process steps (from left to right) are key components for full quality assurance, starting with labyrinth tape or dripper sorting and insertion to tube or pipe extrusion and subsequent emitter adhesion to the tube through to tape or tube vacuum cooling, cooling and drying with subsequent high speed punching, drilling or slitting and finally high speed automated Industrial production lines for the manufacture of pipes, tapes and tubes for drip irrigation application have undergone extensive development over the past three years. New technologies were presented and implemented in the market place, both in the nature of the tubes, tapes and pipes as well as in the actual processes and manufacturing techniques. Typical production speeds of 60m/min for round and flat drippers were increased to some 300m/min along with insertion rates of the drippers from 200 to 300/min to some 2,000/min. The results were that new ways had to be adopted, for example in sorting methods for this vast increase in dripper quantity and the respective down-stream drilling or punching

Figure 1: Production of drip irrigation tubes

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N ovember 2014