Simplify Tension Control with this Tension-Sensing Roll
Can we reliably control a process variable like web tension without measuring it? Even with a forgiving web converting process, it’s not likely we could consistently maintain accuracy and repeatability without knowing the tension at which we are running. With a tension reading our control system—whether human or electronic—can make machine adjustments to get us to the tension at which the process runs optimally.
The easiest way to determine the process web tension in a zone of your running machine is to install an idler roll that measures tension. The most reliable dead-shaft idler roll with accurate tension-sensing capability is the original: the TR Tension Roll transducer.
The TR transducer is a unique sensing device for accurately measuring process web tension in any substrate. A dead-shaft idler roller with tension sensors built into each roll end, the Tension Rollâ transducer is ideal for installation on original equipment or for retrofits since it arrives pre-assembled and ready-to-install. It can be inserted into an appropriate web path location, and an accurate web tension value can be displayed on a connected indicator or controller.
With the Tension Roll® transducer the engineering time required to size the unit to the machine frame prior to installation is significantly lower than when installing standard shaft-end load cells or tension transducers onto an idler roll.
Another advantage of the Tension Rollâ transducer over a conventional idler roll with transducers is that it requires only a single transducer cable to connect at one end of the roll. The transducer’s connector cable never has to cross the machine.
For web presses and machines that run an extreme range of materials and tensions, the Tension Rollâ transducer can be mounted in a pair of DFE’s model C shaft-end tension transducers. This allows one range of tensions to be measured by the Tension Roll’s sensors, while a higher load range can be measured using the externally-mounted tension transducers. This feature is convenient in the rare cases that a machine’s tension range exceeds the 100:1 maximum-to-minimum tension ratio of DFE’s extended range option.
The Tension Rollâ transducer is now available in three (3) standard roll diameters and a choice of aluminum, steel or stainless steel roll. Special roll surface materials are available. The standard overload capacity on the largest unit is 3,000 lbs (13,300 N). Each roll width is sized individually (from 150 mm up to 3 meters ) to fit the broadest range of application requirements.
Tension Roll® Transducer advantages
- Transducers and idler roll in one, easy-to-install unit
- Fast, hassle-free installation–like any dead-shaft idler roll
- Aluminum, steel or stainless steel rolls in many surface finishes
- Now in Three frame sizes plus many custom variations
- One electrical cable
- Highest overload capacity — with patented through-shaft design