In the autumn of 2023, Rita, a filter production enterprise in Southeast Asia, called and reported that for the Full-Auto Rotary Filter Paper Pleating Machine they were using, after running for three months, the crease offset exceeded 0.5mm, and the paper jamming rate soared to 8%. In the video, the skewed filter paper folds made Engineer Chen realize that the problem lay in the transmission system.
In the traditional transmission mode of “motor + gearbox + lead screw”, in the high-humidity tropical environment, the problem of gear meshing clearance was magnified. Take these Full-Auto Rotary Filter Paper Pleating Machines and Filter folding machines as examples. When they operate at a high speed of 180 reciprocations per minute, the gear clearance, like a row of dominoes, causes errors to accumulate layer by layer, ultimately leading to the crease offset far exceeding the standard. Engineer Chen was well aware that as the “heart” of the Filter folding machine, any slight error in the transmission system might affect the quality of the filter element.
To solve this problem, the team decided to upgrade the transmission systems of equipment such as the Fully automatic reciprocating origami machine. They abandoned the traditional gearbox and adopted the solution of directly connecting a high-torque servo motor to the lead screw to create a “zero-clearance” link. A customized C3-class precision ball screw was used, and through the double-nut pre-tightening technology, the axial clearance was compressed to 1μm. At the same time, a carbon fiber elastic coupling was developed to install a “shock absorber” for the transmission system to ensure stable operation.
The new transmission system has undergone rigorous tests in the laboratory. For equipment such as the Filter paper pleating machine and Automatic knife pleating machine, a 72-hour continuous start-stop test was carried out. The temperature rise of the motor was stably maintained at 65℃, which was 10℃ lower than that of the original solution. A 100,000-time folding test was conducted, and the crease offset was always controlled within ±0.08mm, and the paper jamming rate dropped sharply from 8% to 0.6%.
After the improvement, the Full-Auto Rotary Filter Paper Pleating Machine in Rita’s factory operated continuously for 8 hours without any paper jamming phenomenon.
This innovation has given birth to the “Chinese standard” for the Fully automatic reciprocating origami machine:
Digital twin preview: In the design stage, the motion trajectory is preview 100,000 times through the simulation system, and abnormalities at the 0.001mm level are captured in advance;
Fault self-healing algorithm: The encoder monitors the rotation speed of the lead screw in real time. When the fluctuation exceeds 0.5%, the pre-tightening force of the coupling is automatically compensated to achieve “zero downtime” maintenance;
Modular quick change: The magnetic suction type transmission box interface reduces the replacement time from 4 hours to 20 minutes, greatly reducing the customer’s operation and maintenance costs.
Today, the worn gearbox part is still placed on Engineer Chen’s desk, constantly reminding the team that in the world of Filter paper pleating machines, the precision of 0.01mm is not just a number, but the lifeline of the filter’s filtration efficiency. When the transmission system of the Chinese-made Automatic knife pleating machine runs stably in workshops around the world, every uniform fold tells a story: The breakthrough of Chinese equipment starts from the meticulousness of every single part and is achieved through the ultimate pursuit of “the precision of Made in China”.
Chinese Filter folding machines and Automatic knife pleating machines are now entering filter production workshops around the world with higher precision and stability.
Keywords：
Automatic servo folding machine
Automatic knife pleating machine
