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Vishay Systems Web Tension Control Technology to Be Used in Coating Pilot Plant

20th October 2009

Vishay

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Vishay Intertechnology has announced that it has provided a web tension measurement system to Western Michigan University (WMU) for use in its Coating Pilot Plant. WMU’s Coating Pilot Plant, located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a leading research center for papermaking, coating, printing, and recycling. Vishay is the major producer of strain gages and strain gage-based load cells, as well as systems based on strain gage technology. Vishay Systems Web Tension measurement system was upgraded in the spring of 2009, and performance trials have showed dramatic improvement in tension measurement stability with varying temperatures. The upgraded system precisely measures the sheet web tension between the coater backing rolls and the chill-roll S-wrap.

WMU approached Vishay because its existing web tension measurement system suffered from temperature induced drift, which resulted in complete loss of web tension control. The loss of control resulted in web breaks, which resulted in costly down-time. Vishay Model HTK web tension transducers were chosen because of their excellent temperature performance and stainless steel construction, which are ideally suited for use in harsh environments. Vishay Systems also supplied the signal conditioning electronics that interface the transducers to the machine PLC controller for automatic feedback control of web tension. The Vishay Systems technology also will enable the pilot plant to process extremely light weight substrates, which was not possible with the previous web tension system.