Tension Measurement, Display and Control for Newspaper Presses

Production Managers, Mechanical Engineers and Pressroom Supervisors who understand the mechanical limitations of their high-speed presses are impressed by the benefits of monitoring running web tension at various locations of their presses.

"When we're running thin paper from a wide reel at speeds over two thousand feet per minute it's critical for us to be keeping the web tension and other variables stable at key points in the press," observed one production manager at a large daily publisher.

While there may be mechanisms in place to adjust and manage the running paper tension subjectively during the printing process, even when the press operators don't know what the tension is exactly, it is more comforting to be able to quantify tension and understand how, in specific zones, it reacts to adjustments made by the press operators.

The most obvious benefit to monitoring web tension during a print run is the ability to correct for observed tension spikes before a potential web break occurs. A significant reduction in material waste is the bottom-line benefit that newspaper operations are achieving with tension measurement, display and control equipment.

From one of our customers:

"The load cells were absolutely essential to the process because they made changes quantifiable.

We often made minor changes in areas where we expected no effect - and saw big changes in tension. It has changed the way we view press tension. Where previously we believed in "tighten here and loosen there", we now try for an even balance, with similar tension in each web. We have been able to reduce tension overall and have found that paying attention to web tension and tension balance reduces unexplained running breaks.

Our pressmen had a strong belief in their ability to measure web tension by "feel". They can't. Our people were pleased and impressed (and these guys don't impress easily) when we provided an easy and accurate way to measure tension. In the end we easily adapted your TI-17s to our press controls and put web tension on control desks so our people can make a change and see its immediate impact without leaving the room."

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