LA JOLLA, CA -- The Association of Industrial Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (AIMCAL) presented its 2009 Technology of the Year Award to Tidland Corp., Camas, Washington, a subsidiary of Maxcess Intl., Oklahoma City, last night at a banquet during its annual Management Meeting in La Jolla, CA.

Tidland Corp. eKnifeholder electronic slitting knifeholder Tidland/Maxcess receives the recognition for its patent-pending e-Knifeholder (left), the world’s first electronic knifeholder for shear slitting. The e-Knifeholder is powered by electricity instead of traditional mechanical or pneumatic actuation, enabling the operator to electronically set side force and overlap. Once set, the unit automatically calibrates itself and positions the blade. The auto-calibrate feature not only reduces set-up time, but also improves safety because operators do not need to put their fingers near the blade to physically measure blade diameter or make manual adjustments.

The e-Knifeholder also enhances product quality because it ensures greater predictability of slit quality across the entire web and because settings can be replicated day-to-day, operator-to-operator. Since the unit also controls cant angle, geometry, and overspeed, the only variable remaining to repeatable slitting performance is blade sharpness. As a result, troubleshooting slitting problems is greatly simplified. Introduced in May 2007, many units are already installed in the field.

The judges really liked the productivity and safety benefits achieved by reducing operator intervention. “Standardizing settings eliminate a lot of waste and downtime,” observed one judge. “Now the operator only has to worry about blade sharpness,” noted another. “It’s a nice upgrade to an old piece of equipment,” he concluded.

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