Slitting, also known as the "slitting process," involves unwinding, slitting, leveling, and recoiling metal coils into desired strip widths. The primary equipment includes an uncoiler, slitting machine, leveling machine, and recoiler.
An automatic steel sheet slitting line is a combination of machines designed for processing metal materials. Its workflow is relatively complex. First, during the uncoiling stage, the metal coil is positioned for subsequent processing.
Next, the slitting machine plays a crucial role in cutting the coil into strips of various widths. During this process, the knife shaft spacing is adjusted using a dual eccentric adjustment mechanism. The upper and lower knife shafts are supported on a movable support and a fixed support with eccentric gear sleeves. The gear sleeves' eccentric position is adjusted using a worm gear and worm mechanism, changing the knife shaft spacing and adjusting the blade overlap. Multiple cutters and spacers of different thicknesses are installed on the knife shaft, secured with a nut. During a blade change, the movable support is separated using a motor and lead screw. After slitting, the strips are leveled using a leveling machine to ensure flatness for easier recoiling. Finally, the recoiler rewinds the strips into coils. The recoiler drum typically has a four-segment design, with two segments forming a clamp. A hydraulic cylinder drives a wedge to expand or contract the drum. The standard inner diameter for recoiled strips is 508mm. A DC motor, connected to the drum through a closed gearbox, adjusts the recoiling speed to match the slitting machine's operating speed.
The automatic steel sheet slitting line, also referred to as a slitting line, is mainly used for processing materials such as tinplate, galvanized steel, silicon steel, cold-rolled strip steel, stainless steel, aluminum strips, and thin steel strips. It is essential for cutting metal coils into strips of the required width and recoiling them for subsequent processing. This equipment is indispensable in the transformer, motor, and other precision metal strip industries.
An automatic steel sheet slitting line generally consists of multiple key components, with the rotary cutter wheel being the most critical. These cutter wheels are arranged in a specific design and layout, rotating at high speeds along the length of the sheet to perform precise cutting. With accurate control and adjustments, the machine can slit the metal sheet into strips of uniform width, meeting different production requirements.
The first step is the uncoiling process, where the metal sheet coil is placed on the uncoiler. Using specialized equipment, the sheet is unwound and prepared for further processing. Next, the material undergoes alignment and positioning to ensure accurate entry into the slitting stage. Different types of automatic steel sheet slitting lines may adopt various blade configurations and cutting methods. For instance, some slitting machines use active shearing, where the unwinder has motor-driven pinch rolls to ensure copper strips remain centered and enter the shear guide without edge curling or wrinkling. Others use passive shearing, where the recoiler actively pulls both the uncoiler and rotary shear blades.
After slitting, the strips proceed to the recoiling stage. The recoiler, equipped with an expandable drum, rewinds the strips. Above the recoiler, a pressure arm fitted with a guiding plate slightly wider than the copper strip applies light pressure to ensure proper alignment and separation of the strips. This guarantees that the strips are evenly wound. Additionally, to maintain proper tension during recoiling, a pneumatic tensioner may be used. The strips pass through the tensioner's pressurized upper and lower plates, ensuring consistent recoiling tension. Different types of automatic steel sheet slitting lines may vary in their working principles depending on the material and thickness of the sheets being processed. For example, when handling soft, thin copper strips, additional measures are necessary to ensure flatness, prevent edge curling, and achieve uniform recoiling. In contrast, when processing hard copper strips, passive rotary shear slitting may be more suitable.
In summary, while there may be slight differences in the working principles of various automatic steel sheet slitting lines, they all revolve around the core steps of uncoiling, material alignment, slitting, and recoiling to achieve efficient metal sheet processing.
