IMA Schelling – Precision
Application example: Coops

Accurate cutting of plastic sheet

Coops Kunststoffen B.V.

Effective machining solution for plastic sheet cutting


The Dutch company Coops Kunststoffen B.V. has specialized in plastic sheet cutting for a wide variety of different materials such as polycarbonate, polystyrene and acrylic sheets, etc. Coops is internationally oriented and has established a partnership with IMA Schelling over many years. In order to increase the effectiveness of production, the owner of the company, Theo Coops, decided in 2018 to expand its facilities by adding another plastic saw to its machine park.

A decision has been made to purchase an fk 6 panel saw with an automatic vacuum feeder which was delivered and installed in 2019. The saw can cut plastic sheets & panels coming in standard sizes up to 4200 mm x 2200 mm as well as oversized sheets with lengths up to 5600 mm. In this process, the standard sheets are fed to the saw by the vacuum system whereas the oversized sheets are manually handled via the rotary table of the saw.

Flexible vacuum feeder


In the preparation zone of the vacuum system, there are four positions for feeding sheets in standard sizes. Since the suction cup groups of the vacuum system can be adjusted as needed, also small sheets can be fed from these positions. The 90° rotatable head of the vacuum system allows sheets to be fed in longitudinal orientation and transverse orientation. The system will make that decision automatically depending on whether the orientation parameter in the cutting plan is set to 'longitudinal' or 'transverse'. The cutting plan also sets the type of cut to use at the beginning of the machining, i.e. longitudinal cut or end cut.

Many intelligent features


The Schelling fk6 has a cutting length of 5800mm and is equipped with many features enabling it to cope with plastic materials. For example, antistatic brushes prevent the build-up of static electricity on the plastic sheets and hence the attraction of dust and chips to the sheets. A cutting gap closing device bridges the gap between the workpiece and the offcut to ensure process security when critical, narrow offcuts are produced. Moreover the fk 6 is equipped with a CLEAN-UP system that removes the dust and dirt from the sheets.  

After the longitudinal cuts, the complete sheet plastic panel packages can be rotated through 90° by the rotary table of the saw to allow the strips to be further processed. This system reduces handling times of parts and hence processing times.

Conclusion

Coops has chosen to purchase the fk 6 with vacuum feeder because of the positive experiences he has had with IMA Schelling over many years – regarding both the machines and the service. And Theo Coops has never regretted his decision.

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