With over 25 years of experience in monoaxial stretching, Hosokawa Alpine is the pioneer in MDO technology and has been regularly improving its process ever since.

The company offers the unique TRIO technology (Trim Reduction for Inline Orientation) with vacuum technology, quick-change system for stretching rollers, as well as new cleaning solutions, to boost he flexibility of MDO film production and further boosts productivity.

Hosokawa Alpine’s cleaning solution includes the ultrasonic bath.

Unique quick change of stretching roller

Hosokawa Alpine has developed a unique process for changing the stretching roller that takes just 15 minutes.

To replace the rollers, the protective grille of the MDO is opened and a rail is folded out of the machine compartment. The media feed-through and drive are disconnected at the touch of a button. The water is then drained automatically. As soon as the roller is released, it can be rolled down by an operator and the built-in crane can lift it out.

If a second roller is available, quick-change system ensure permanent availability of the system, resulting maximum flexibility and productivity in film production.

At the same time, Hosokawa Alpine has also optimized the surface of its vacuum rollers. By rounding off the vacuum pores, the new vacuum roller can significantly improve the surface quality of HDPE films in particular.

Cleaning solutions for MDO rollers

Hosokawa Alpine will also offer an integrated web cleaning system to remove deposited particles from the surface. The film tube is cleaned using an extraction system with vacuum nozzles, significantly reducing contamination of the roller surfaces and extends the cleaning intervals considerably.

Additionally, an ultrasonic bath will be available for the deep cleaning of vacuum rollers. With ultrasonic cleaning at a temperature of 60°C, even heavily soiled vacuum rollers are deep-cleaned and, depending on the degree of contamination, are as clean as new after approx. two to four hours.

In future, Hosokawa Alpine will also use a doctor blade to scrape off initial impurities. The new doctor blade scrapes off dirt on the roller surface and removes excess particles. An internal study has shown that this significantly optimizes the cleaning process, which in turn leads to an increase in service life.