Cannon ‘talking head’ for polyurethane processors

Caronno Pertusella, Italy – Cannon Group has recently introduced the ‘talking head’ high-pressure mixing head, equipped with more than 30 sensors to monitor processing performance. 

The patented ‘free pouring laminar (FPL) SR’ L-shaped head leverages Internet of Things (IoT) technology to allow self-reporting in real-time, said a statement by the Italian machinery maker. 

The set-up can, therefore, flag up anomalies or critical issues to operators to perform predictive analysis, corrective adjustments and preventive maintenance. 

“The fitting of sensors is modular and reflects the complexity of our customers’ manufacturing plant, processes and systems,” said Maurizio Corti, corporate technical director, Cannon Group.

Cannon said its ‘talking head’ can be equipped with sensors to monitor specific customer requirements, such as performance, process repeatability and consistency and life cycle. 

Sensors, it said, can “analyse fluidic parameters of the metering and recirculation of the chemical components, opening/closing of the mixing chamber and discharge duct, the mixing phase and the high- and low-pressure recirculation steps. 

Of particular importance is the capability to precisely measure the opening and closing stress of the self-cleaning rod, the Italian equipment maker pointed out.

Asked about the value of the technology for elastomeric polyurethane parts manufacturers, a Cannon spokesman said that when processing elastomers in high pressure it is crucial to control parameters such as temperature and pressure of the components in the head.

“The mistake that is often made is to monitor them ‘on the machine’ which is too limiting and suffers from the boundary conditions that affect these parameters (length of pipes, external temperature, cycle times, recycling in HP before casting, etc. ...)"

The ‘talking head’, he added, “allows you to have this information available and to generate alarms or warnings when you go outside the pre-determined boundaries.

“This is in addition to the usual stuff about predictive maintenance which, however, on elastomers is less important because they don't stick like rigid PU.”