Keep on turning!
The vacuum lifting devices from euroTECH cover a wide range of handling solutions, from compact series equipment to custom-developed special lifting devices. The new eT-Hover-loops on show in Hannover use a linear actuator to turn heavy loads weighing up to 450 kilograms through 180 degrees.

Vacuum specialist euroTECH is at LIGNA 2017 to showcase its new eT-Hover-loop lifting devices and is giving visitors the opportunity to test out its 180-degree turners. While the eT-Hover-loop-250 is suitable for flat loads up to 250 kilograms that measure up to 3,000 x 2,000 millimeters, the eT-Hover-loop-450 can support and turn trapezoidal profiles weighing up to 450 kilograms with a maximum length of 14 meters and maximum width of 1.60 meters.

These two new eT-Hover-loops are particularly suitable for handling loads supplied in a variety of orientations. Indeed, one of the main purposes of the eT-Hover-loops is to take the effort out of turning these items, which would otherwise strain workers’ backs. Thanks to a linear actuator, they can handle level, vacuum-tight panels of wood, sheet metal, glass and plastic. The horizontal crossbeams on the eT-Hover-loop-250 can be adjusted to meet custom requirements. The basic device of the eT-Hover-loop-450 consists of several different-length parts. Its modular design means the device can be extended from a minimum two-meter overall length up to a maximum of eight meters. As a result, it too can be adapted to the customer’s specific working conditions. What’s more, the ergonomic grips on both devices are extremely user friendly.

euroTECH Vertriebs GmbH (72351 Geislingen, Germany), Hall 16, Stand E14
Contact: Mariana Baur
Tel.: +49 7433 90468 201
Fax: +49 7433 90468 13
E-Mail: info@euro-tech-vacuum.de

Make the cut - with the new Performance.CUT
Performance.CUT from IMA Klessmann GmbH is a special compact machine that combines the advantages of nesting with the speed of sawing technology.

Nested-based manufacturing (NBM) – better known in the industry as nesting - is an efficient way of arranging workpieces to optimize cutting operations and thus improve material yield, particularly where the pieces involved are a wide variety of shapes. On show at LIGNA 2017, IMA's new, exceptionally compact Performance.CUT aims to combine the advantages of nesting with the speed of sawing technology so even the smallest volumes can be cut cost-effectively and flexibly in the tightest of spaces.

To achieve this, IMA has reinterpreted the tried-and-tested, high-performance technology from the BIMA Cutting Center to produce the streamlined Performance.CUT. The resulting machine should bring a smile to the faces of cost-conscious manufacturers not only by optimizing the cutting of small batches, but also by keeping acquisition costs low. Since no sacrificial boards are required, the potential savings are enormous. Moreover, because workpieces are permanently held in place until completely separated, users can expect excellent quality standards. Performance.CUT also supports automatic tool changes during operation in minimal times.

IMA Klessmann GmbH Holzbearbeitungssysteme (32312 Lübbecke, Germany), Hall 12, Stand B50
Contact: Bernhard Berger
Tel.: +49 5741 331 180
E-mail: marketing@ima.de

They don't come any smaller - the new imaging laser scanner from Leica
If you have an iPad, all you need is the new Leica BLK360 and your compact dream team can capture the world around you in high-resolution 3D panoramic images. According to Leica, the BLK360 defines a whole new category - the imaging laser scanner.

The Leica BLK360 is not just the smallest and lightest imaging laser scanner around today, it is also extremely easy to use. Steve Jobs probably would have had a lot of fun with this neat gadget that is hardly any bigger than a 0.5 liter beverage can. In fact, anyone who can operate an iPad can now capture the world around them with high-resolution 3D panoramic images. The ReCap 360 Pro mobile app for iOS controls the new imaging laser scanner.

The Leica BLK360 uses the ReCap 360 Pro mobile app to stream images and point cloud data to the iPad so the scan data can be filtered and registered in real time. Once prepared in this way, the data is then available for further processing in a wide range of CAD, BIM, VR and AR applications, with the ReCap 360 Pro mobile app once again ensuring seamless transfer. The measurement range of the Leica BLK360 for full dome scans is up to 60 meters and it shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes in total to complete a full-dome laser scan, capture a 3D panoramic image and transfer it to an iPad. Thanks to these properties, the Leica BLK360 - when combined with the widely used iPad - can dramatically simplify the use of imaging laser scanners for stocktaking purposes and thus open up this technology to all sectors - not least the wood processing industry.

Leica Geosystems GmbH (80993 Munich, Germany), Hall 13, Stand G17
Contact: Lisa Attenberger
Tel.: +49 89 14 98 10 46
Fax: +49 89 14 98 10 40
E-Mail: lisa.attenberger@leica-geosystems.com

An app a day keeps the doctor away
Although there isn't quite an app for everything yet, there is now even one for the harmful vibrations generated when working with random orbital sanders. Mirka Oy from Finland is at LIGNA 2017 to show how Bluetooth technology and smartphones can be put to good use in this sector.

A few years ago, the Mirka DEROS electric random orbital sander was the first such device to feature a brushless electric motor without an external power pack. To this day, it is still one of the lightest electric sanders on the market and extremely popular. To ensure it stays this way, the tried-and-tested sander is now being launched into the digital age. At LIGNA 2017, the company is exhibiting the latest version of the Mirka DEROS, which can be connected with the newly developed myMirka app via Bluetooth.

The ingenious myMirka app runs on smartphones and tablets with Android and iOS operating systems. Mirka Oy has developed the app to respond to the growing importance of health and safety in the workplace, and specifically to help workers avoid harmful vibrations when working with random orbital sanders. To stop sanding vibrations causing the dreaded hand-arm vibration syndrome, the app constantly measures vibration levels to the ISO 5349-1:2001(E) standard and depicts them using a colored scale. If the vibration level exceeds the normal value, the app recommends how it could be reduced to protect the user’s health. An in-app purchase enables users to access an additional feature of the vibration meter - daily vibration exposure. The tool records daily vibration load in line with EU Directive 2002/44/EC Article 5 and issues a warning signal when the user reaches a level of 2.5m/s2 of the maximum daily vibration exposure. Users can also track the exposure values measured over the previous five minutes of working and even those recorded over the past 30 days.

Mirka Oy (66850 Jeppo, Finland), Hall 17, Stand D65
Contact: Annika Peltola
Cellphone: +358 40 5852656
Tel.: +358 207602111
Fax: +358 20 762290
E-Mail: annika.peltola@mirka.com

Konstantin - the sharpest knife in the drawer!
Aigner-Werkzeuge GmbH from Taufkirchen in Austria is celebrating its debut presentation at LIGNA with a range of new products. Among them is Konstantin, the first diamond jointing cutterhead with replaceable diamond knives that have a constant diameter.

The Konstantin cutterhead is used to joint the narrow edges of panel materials as quietly as possible. It consists of a basic body made of lightweight metal and can be supplied for all popular edgebanding machines. However, what makes Konstantin really stand out is that the tool's diameter does not change when knives are replaced, which means users no longer have to waste time adjusting their jointing machines. Visitors to LIGNA 2017 can discover how Konstantin’s optimum cutter fit ensures the diamond knives can be replaced on site and even interchanged.

The diamond knives feature an impressively long service life and can also be resharpened several times over. All this makes Konstantin the perfect fit for the do-it-yourself trend, particularly since users can replace knives themselves without the need for an assembly jig. Furthermore, the high repeat accuracy during knife replacement means the diamond tool never needs sending away. Other key advantages are that the knives can be interchanged between co-rotating and counter-rotating jointing cutters as required and that cutterheads with a large cutting width can be used so that more heavily used knives from a higher position can be swapped with those in a lower position.

Aigner-Werkzeuge GmbH (4715 Taufkirchen an der Trattnach, Austria), Hall 12, Stand B78
Contact: Josef Hochholzer
Tel.: +43 7733 7583
Fax: +43 7733 7583 4
E-Mail: office@aigner-werkzeuge.at

Master your material flow
According to the experts at Systraplan, rising variant diversity combined with order-related batch size-1-production require one thing above all else - a compact sorter that will keep material flows on track so that processing machines and materials can be used more efficiently.

Systraplan GmbH & Co. KG is unveiling its new concept for a compact sorting warehouse at LIGNA 2017 in Hannover. Carefully targeted, simple and manageable investment helps companies to significantly boost the efficiency of their entire production system. In view of the drive to establish batch-size-1 production, systems such as the compact sorter from Systraplan are becoming increasingly important for production efficiency.

The principle is easily explained: A compact sorter is used to buffer workpieces between individual processing steps and then make them available "just-in-time" in a new, optimized sequence for the subsequent processing step. This not only optimizes the manufacturing process for furniture components, but also opens up completely new possibilities for rationalizing production. As Systraplan says, the benefits are obvious - workpieces pass smoothly through production systems from beginning to end, the capacity of processing machinery is better utilized, a whole range of production parameters are factored in and sorting criteria can be custom-specified.

SYSTRAPLAN GmbH & Co. KG (32052 Herford, Germany), Hall 12, Stand D84
Contact: Hartmut Brünger
Cellphone: +49 1723 195243
Tel.: +49 5221 767722
Fax: +49 5221 767777
E-Mail: h.bruenger@systraplan.de

Full control in batch-size-1 manufacturing
The new Duplex-Inline-Scanner that Hecht Electronic AG is exhibiting at LIGNA 2017 is ideal for process control in the production line, inspecting incoming goods and checking orders for completeness.

Over the past four decades, Hecht Electronic AG, based in Besigheim in Baden-Württemberg, has earned a reputation as a one-stop-shop for pioneering measurement and positioning technology, thanks to its wide-ranging expertise. By launching the Duplex-Inline-Scanner, Hecht Electronic AG wants to give its customers 100 percent control over batch-size-1 manufacturing operations. To achieve precise and rapid dimension control on the fly, the Duplex-Inline-Scanner takes measurements at high speed, directly in the drilling line. It makes no difference whether the measuring station is integrated into an existing production line or operated as an independent unit with a motor, feed device and optional component cleaning device upstream of a high-bay racking system or picking location.

The Duplex-Inline-Scanner is equipped with two cameras so that drill holes can be checked on both sides. To ensure it is ideally placed to monitor production line processes, inspect incoming goods and check the completeness of orders, the Duplex-Inline-Scanner can measure length, breadth and angles during production runs, gauge drill hole positions and their diameters on the top and bottom and perform a variance analysis. The 3-in-1 Duplex-Inline-Scanner on show at LIGNA 2017 boasts two more functions in addition to measuring drilling patterns and dimensions. In fact, Hecht Electronic AG promises no less than a world-first and says it has a big surprise in store for visitors to its stand.

Hecht Electronic AG (74354 Besigheim, Germany), Hall 15, Stand F28
Contact: Carina Hettich
Tel.: +49 7143 81590
Fax: +49 7143 815925
E-Mail: c.hettich@hecht-electronic.de

Refined sanding process
LIGNA 2017 visitors on the look-out for the ideal machine for white wood sanding, MDF sanding and, most importantly, intermediate lacquer sanding should drop by MB Maschinenbau GmbH and check out the new ROBA Split Belt.

The Roba Split Belt has been specially designed for sanding flat and profiled surfaces. This innovative machine from MB Maschinenbau GmbH has been optimized for lacquer sanding, which is a particularly difficult task in the field of furniture production. The process includes a whole range of factors that influence the end result, so the developers working on the Roba Split Belt set out to find an ideal solution that combines the right configuration of aggregates and abrasives with a versatile range of settings for the sanding parameters.

To achieve this ambitious goal when designing the Roba Split Belt, MB Maschinenbau made full use of all the extensive expertise and experience it has built up in lacquer sanding. It was based on the Roba Tech philosophy that only a large sanding area provides enough performance for an outstanding result that the engineers developed the “split belt” sanding unit. The machine combines the advantages of ensuring a large contact area with the workpiece, while working with and against the workpiece’s direction of travel. What's more, users also have the option to oscillate the split belt unit at up to 30°, which helps deliver an even better result.

MB Maschinenbau GmbH (32051 Herford, Germany), Hall 17, Stand A46
Contact: Ronald Busch
Cellphone: +49 171 143 69 50
Tel. +49 5221 994130
Fax: +49 5221 9941320
E-Mail: info@mb-maschinenbau.de