WCA March 2025

Technology News

Sorting solution for XLPE pellets Plastics are diverse owing to their properties and applications, and each market has its own requirements. The sorting requirements are also very individual, differing significantly between the XLPE market and standard plastics, for example.

The Purity Scanner Advanced inspection and sorting system from Sikora is designed to meet sorting requirements beyond the identifying of different materials, cross-contamination or coarse impurities. In addition to the targeted detection and sorting out of the smallest black specks and yellowing, the seamless detection and sorting out of the smallest metal particles is indispensable. It is also essential that the material transport and the type of sorting itself do not introduce any additional external contamination into the material flow. Another criterion is the space in the production environment. The material flow of XLPE runs by gravity, directly from the dust removal on one floor to the sorting on the next floor. Space is limited and a cost factor. Accordingly, the sorting of optical and metallic impurities should be carried out directly on one floor. The sorting should also be carried out in such a way that as little as possible of the good, ie clean, material is sorted out. These requirements were brought to the Sikora development team by XLPE experts from the industry more than ten

The Purity Scanner Advanced detects and sorts the smallest impurities in the raw material

years ago. The fourth generation of the Purity Scanner Advanced is now used by numerous customers worldwide. The system can precisely sort the smallest impurities in the range of 25 µm, as well as metal particles of 50 µm in size, in a single material pass. The material transport system with a stainless steel channel introduces no impurities, and targeted blowing out with cleaned compressed air causes the least possible ejection of clean material. Sikora AG www.sikora.net

Spooling and packaging of automotive wires The Niehoff Packaging System NPS has been in use by cable and wire harness manufacturers for around 30 years.

When empty, the spools can be fully dismantled and nested into each other, to take up only a third of the space of comparable conventional spools and requiring less return shipping space. Upon return to the cable manufacturer, the spools can be easily reloaded and re used for dozens of cycles. With more than 70 years of experience in the wire and cable industry, Maschinenfabrik Niehoff builds machinery for the production of non ferrous wires and their processing into automotive, power, data and special cables. The company pays attention to the longevity of its products and states that it is committed to manufacturing machinery that is characterised by reliability, process stability, high productivity, energy and materials efficiency, and reduced CO 2 emissions. Niehoff is certified by the German Environmental Auditors Board EMAS. It belongs to the Blue Competence sustainability initiative of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and cooperates with the EcoVadis international platform for sustainability ratings. Maschinenfabrik Niehoff

The SV 403 D double spooler, the latest model of the SV series, can work at a maximum production speed of 2,400m/ min in the product range 0.13 to 0.5mm 2 (cable diameter 1.25mm), achieving a 30 per cent higher production output compared to the SV 402 D predecessor model. The laying pattern ensures a secure, stable and tangle-free package on the spools, both when full or partially empty, enabling high cable payoff speeds into downstream processes. Changeover from full to empty spools is carried out automatically at full production speed, allowing non-stop operation.

It has been in continuous development since its launch, and provides an efficient and safe packaging system for automotive cables, bunched wires, strands, conductors and cables, as well as signal cables made of copper alloys with a cross-section of 0.13mm 2 . The system consists of SV type spoolers and collapsible multi-way spools made of ABS or PP plastic. The spoolers are designed to operate in line with extrusion lines, to spool the insulated wire with a particular conical wire laying technology onto the NPS spools.

GmbH & Co KG www.niehoff.de

Niehoff’s SV 403 D double spooler

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March 2025