Tap passes the acid test
Whether it's with beer or wine, soft drinks or cough syrup or anything from jam to washing lotion to engine oil, if a container is filled or packed, equipment from Krones AG may be involved. In Germany, where the company is headquartered at Neutraubling, half the bottles fall into this category. Worldwide, it's a quarter of the bottles.
Whether it’s with beer or wine, soft drinks or cough syrup or anything from jam to washing lotion to engine oil, if a container is filled or packed, equipment from Krones AG may be involved. In Germany, where the company is headquartered at Neutraubling, half the bottles fall into this category. Worldwide, it’s a quarter of the bottles.
In Nittenau, Germany, the company’s center for production and assembly of filling, labeling, plastic and process technology runs a classic customized machine building operation. To remain competitive, Krones invests in R&D and regularly tries new production processes and cutting tools.
“The introduction of new tools is a costly business because it means we have to change the data in all our IT systems,” said Stefan Wagner, who handles tool management for Krones in Nittenau. “Therefore, before we commit to such a change, we perform intensive tests on each cutting tool.”
Krones’ Nittenau facility machines stainless steel rings up to 7m in diameter. Each ring requires hundreds of tapped holes for attaching valves, and the Garant MasterTap significantly increased process reliability when tapping. Images courtesy of Hoffman Group USA
Because the machines are for the foodstuffs industry, most of the machined parts are made of stainless steel. Wagner said requirements for surface finish are high—for example, when machining stainless steel filler rings for carousel systems, which are up to 7m in diameter. Each ring requires hundreds of tapped holes for attaching valves. The tapping can consume several hours. As a result, process reliability is particularly important for this operation.
“Because there will always be vibration when machining these large rings, the only thread generation process we can accept is thread tapping,” Wagner explained. However, he added, the company continually encountered problems with twisted swarf when tapping the large stainless steel rings.
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