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June 13, 2016

Chugoku Lumber Co. invests in a high-speed System TM moulder line


Thanks to excellent cooperation with its Japanese dealer, Oki Kikai Co. Ltd., System TM successfully completed the project of a high-speed moulder line for Chugoku Lumber Co. in Japan – a line that also features remarkable MiCROTEC scanning equipment.

 

A high-speed moulder line
The System TM solution is a high-speed moulder line for the processing of finger joint and glued laminated boards. The line consists of an automatic Opti-Feed 6000 infeed system that feeds workpieces at a constant rate of flow. As a result, packs are always present on the roller conveyor and ready to be fed into the line. Workpieces are fed at a high rate and one by one to a stud carrier. Next, workpieces are measured by a moisture meter and scanned by a MiCROTEC Curvescan. After scanning, there is an option to automatically out-sort unwanted workpieces. Otherwise, workpieces can be turned using a high-speed board turner before being cut into exact lengths using a multi head MK2 cross-cut saw. These exact lengths are then scanned by a MiCROTEC Viscan and processed by two moulders. The residue wood generated from cutting workpieces into exact lengths is ultimately sorted and used for finger-jointing. The sorted workpieces for finger jointing are stacked into packs at a constant rate of flow. Then, they are either carried further onto storage or de-stacked and fed into a finger jointing line.

As mentioned earlier, the exact-length workpieces are scanned by a MiCROTEC Viscan before being moulded. Then, workpieces are distributed among two moulders that handle different dimensions. Once moulding is complete, an operator standing at each moulding station sorts moulded workpieces according to their quality. Workpieces are then sorted among each of the moulders’ two automated Opti-Stack 3000 stacking machines where they are stacked into packs. Once the packs are full, they are automatically transported by a roller conveyor to a gluing press line. The packs can also be carried further onto storage at this stage.

 

Superior MiCROTEC Solutions
The prime focus of our team at System TM and our wood-scanning partner, MiCROTEC, is to optimize and utilize raw wood to the fullest. This is achieved by combining System TM’s solutions with MiCROTEC’s superior scanning technology.
Chugoku Lumber Co.’s investment in a high-speed moulder line is no exception. Here’s a quick overview of the MiCROTEC equipment included in this solution:

  • A MiCROTEC Viscan strength-grading solution which is the very first of its kind to be installed in Japan. Viscan is a measuring unit for determining resonant frequency using a high-performance laser vibrometer. As a result, MiCROTEC provides output control of grading classes and helps the customer find threshold values.
  • The second MiCROTEC solution includes a Curvescan C shape scanner that provides transversal feeding and measures the geometry of workpieces thanks to a sophisticated laser triangulation process. The Curvescan generates constant and very reliable results at high speeds, and identifies twists, bows and spring on workpieces according to customer threshold values.