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Pictured here: Yellow Jacket Bantam Blown Film Takeoff and 1/2 inch spiral blown film die
Wayne Yellow Jacket Bantam Blown Film Equipment is ideal for:
The Yellow Jacket Bantam line includes everything needed to make blown film samples. Complete blown film systems from extruder to winder are available or individual components can be supplied if you already own some equipment you wish to utilize.
Wayne take-off systems are suitable for all types of flexible thermoplastics and some other types of materials. Since they are robust units, they are suited for emulation and testing for scale up on larger blown film lines. They easily accommodate up to three or more extruders for co-extrusion situations. Wayne Yellow Jacket® Bantam Blown Film units have some unique features that make them easy to work with:
High quality spiral design dies from 1/4" up to 1" are used in accordance with the industry standard in larger sized production blown film systems. Wayne blown film dies are actually scaled down from production sized blown film dies. These are NOT crosshead dies, the usual type found in laboratory systems. Crosshead dies are not suitable for blown film because they are prone to cause weld lines in the film where the two plastic flows come together in the die. Wayne dies are multiple spiral dies. These dies are the latest technology to reduce imperfections in the film and promote even flow around the die. Wayne Yellow Jacket Bantam Dies yield much more even film than crosshead dies. Since these dies are scaled down from production, it is easy to scale up the results from experiments to the production sized machines. Conversely, the conditions in production can more easily be reproduced in the lab.
Coextrusion multi-layer dies can be supplied to produce coextruded blown films. These dies are common in two, three and five layers. We can also supply dies for more layers. Many structures can be accommodated like A-B, A-B-C, A-B-A, A-B-C-B-A, and others. Our co-extrusion manifold systems allow you to split layers from one extruder. For example, enabling two extruders to make a three layer film with A-B-A structure.
Air rings are supplied with adjustable chimney which can be adjusted during operation to optimize the air flow. The internal air manifold evenly distributes air flow inside the air ring. The complete air ring package comes with a remote blower and air hoses. An optional adjustable speed drive with digital readout and setpoint is available for the blower so that the volume of air introduced to the air ring can be optimized. When blowing fragile films, the air volume can be reduced, while when blowing more robust films, ample air volume can be provided for the increased cooling requirements.
Bubble guides are provided with the tower. These promote bubble stability after the plastic has solidified. Any instability in the bubble can lead to film defects or variation, so these bubble guides play an important role in bubble stabilization and quality film production.
An Adjustable collapsing frame with wood slats is incorporated to gently collapse the bubble in preparation for entering the top nip. The collapsing frame width is easily adjusted with a hand wheel and can be changed during operation. Rollers can also be provided instead of wood slats, if desired.
The top nip is 4.5" wide and is made from one chrome roller and one rubber roller. Special materials can also be used. The top nip features a variable speed DC drive which is adjustable with a pot. Rolls open for easy set up, thread through and quick release in an emergency. With one press of the mushroom head emergency stop, the nip rolls open and the drive stops for operator safety.
Rollers are included in the tower to aid in guiding the finished film away from the top nip.
Leveling pads with adjustable height are standard with the tower.
An optional adjustable torque winder is available. For details see the "Yellow Jacket Bantam Torque Winder" literature.
OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT