TPi January 2018

products & developments

Fratco launches new drainage range Fratco has released its newest line of drainage products. FlexCorr is a solution to one of the biggest problems in the drainage industry.

agriculture alone, FlexCorr should make a major impact on crop loss due to water management and flooding problems. With better water management, crop yields can increase, making a significant impact on global food supply. The pipes are manufactured using 100 per cent virgin high-quality polyethylene plastics, and the lower-density, flexible inner-liner is said to perform better in long-term stress crack resistance and cold temperature brittleness tests required by ASTM. Fratco is initially offering the pipe in a variety of sizes (8" to 15" in diameter) and styles (plain, perforated and narrow slot), which are compatible with current fittings. Fratco – USA office@fratco.com www.fratco.com

Many drainage installers are booked over-capacity and the supply of professional installation cannot keep up with demand. Drainage installations, when done properly, are long and tedious processes. The installation of ‘mains’, using rigid sticks, is the most labour-intensive part of the process. Fratco’s new FlexCorr product functions as a ‘main’ and is supplied spooled and ready for modern automated installation. While no ASTM standards have yet been established for the product, FlexCorr’s specifications exceed ASTM standards. The manufacturer claims the new range promises to shave days off installation, decreasing costs and allowing installers to keep up with demand.

“FlexCorr will revolutionise the drainage industry and we’re confident it will be the go-to dual-wall pipe within a few years,” said Fratco CEO Chris Overmyer. “Fratco was among the first to move from the old clay tile to plastics, the first to try recycled materials, and we’ve been defining the cutting edge in this industry for a century.” Saving time will help installers to serve more customers at a lower cost. In

Responsiveness builds design ingenuity With its primary manufacturing location in north metro-Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Winton Machine Company produces tube fabrication equipment and other engineered solutions for over 500 customers in the USA and in countries across Europe, South America and Asia. Winton’s machines have been used by companies primarily in industries such as HVAC/refrigeration, electronics, aerospace and military. machine design altogether. We are agile and flexible in our engineering design work which has allowed us to produce over 100 different tube fabricating machines.” for the CTL-23PA that would sense defects marked on tubing and then remove only that section of the tube before being used in the next step of production. The Winton engineering team determined that an additional option needed to be designed and built to discard the defective section after it was cut. An off-load table with a diverter was the solution to allow the ‘good’ tube material to continue into the production, while the ‘defective’ section is sent in a different direction.

As an example of a request from an existing customer: “Our tubing supplier identifies defects in the spool by painting that section of tubing. Do you have a way to cut this section out and discard automatically?” This customer uses one of Winton’s free-standing, all-electrical tube cut-off machines that automatically feeds and cuts from a bulk spool of tubing (level wound spool) or straight lengths. The CTL-23PA automatic tube cutter makes use of two backup rolls and one chip-less type cutter to cut through small diameter tubing. With the tubing clamped, the backup rolls and cutter both come in to make the cut. As the cutter continues to come in, the backup rolls plateau on the tube’s outside diameter, providing support during the chip-less cutting process. Dubbed the ‘black mark detection’ option, the engineering team worked to design and build an automated solution

Winton Machine, which is celebrating its 20 th anniversary in 2018, credits its success partially to its responsiveness to customer requests. “Our customers know they can share their production improvement needs with us and receive custom-engineered options to existing Winton-produced machines,” said George Winton, PE, president. “When we get emails and calls asking for design help or improved efficiencies from customers or prospective ones, we are very responsive. Once the discovery process is complete, our team works to find the best upgrade or option. We’ve even created an innovative new

The CTL-23PA automatic tube cut- off machine comes standard with programmable part quantity and programmable cut length. 80 psi shop air ensures the tube is clamped during the cutting process. A ‘material low’ indicator is used to sense the end of a straight length, alerting the user to load the next straight length for processing. As new straight lengths are loaded into the machine, software keeps track of the number of parts cut. Winton Machine Company – USA

sales@wintonmachine.com www.wintonmachine.com

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TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL January 2018

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