Portable Coating Line Provides Flexible, Affordable Option for Testing Coating & Laminating Methods

Published: October 16, 2023

What are the main uses for the Portable Coater Line?

The Portable Coating Line (PCL) is designed to be a proof of concept machine to determine the best coating method(s) for a given coating and substrate. It has the ability to demonstrate 11 different coating methods within its modular frame, making it extremely versatile for evaluating how a coating will work with a given coating method.

Is the PCL available for use by customers for material trials at New Era?

We are currently in the process of fabricating a new PCL, and when it is complete, it will be available for demonstration at New Era. Our hope moving forward is to always have one in stock and available to our customers for purchase or demonstration.

Is the PCL primarily meant for use in lab environments or can it be used as a production machine as well?

The PCL is truly a lab coater, both in size and functionality. The machine is designed to have “table top” type portability, such that it can be operated in an office environment. The machine footprint allows it to fit through a 30” wide doorway and it can be run off a standard wall outlet. As mentioned above, it is designed as a proof of concept machine for coating methods, and as such, it has a dryer which has the sole purpose of getting the material to a point where it can be rewound. In most cases this would prevent an end user from using the PCL as a production machine.

We understand that New Era has introduced some new features to its standard PCL, can you tell us some more about that?

After the prototype unit, we decided to upgrade the PLC and touch screen to an Allen-Bradley CompactLogix 5370 L1 Controller with a PanelView Plus 7 Standard Terminal Touch Screen. Additionally, the drives and motors are now SureServo (servo drives and motors with Ethernet communication). These changes contain more commonly used PLC and HMI hardware, programming architecture and increased drive performance.

Do you plan on exhibiting the updated PCL at any upcoming industry events?

We are constantly evaluating the benefits of bringing equipment to the various trade shows that we attend throughout the year. In the case of the PCL, we think that it is most attractive to converters that work with a wide range of coatings and substrates, likely across a number of industries. Given this, we think it makes sense to bring the PCL to a show such as ICEC USA this January in Orlando, FL. We brought the very first PCL to this show a few years ago and it sold on the show floor.