LIGNA 2011: Homag City

Homag City is once again very well assembled displaying all of the Group’s newest technologies. This year Homag City has a large number of Homag Group products shown together to demonstrate the total solution of the products and how they interact. The Group is showing total processing solutions: everything from Holzma panel saws feeding a Bargstedt sorting system to a Homag edgebander with high speed Ligmatech return conveyors.

Another theme at the show is an accelerated interest in energy savings. The recent increases in energy costs validates the investment in research and development in this arena. Within Homag City their emphasis on conservation of energy resources is obvious, from the ecoPlus buttons on the individual machines to ecoPlus calculator stations to help customers determine actual energy savings. In its simplest form, Homag’s ecoPlus is driven by onboard computer technology which senses lulls in production and turns down motors to their most economical setting, turns off dust collection and stops conveyor belts. The system automatically returns to production status when the computer senses the resumption of work piece flow. Homag reports that given the right circumstances energy savings can be up to 20%. It is by no means just Homag who is offering this type of device.

Homag unveiled an exciting new diode laser system for Homag’s BAZ contour edgebanding machines amid much fanfare. This development allows non-rectilinear components to match quality levels previously achievable only with throughfeed technology. New markets will certainly open and a surge of customer interest is anticipated in light of this edge processing advancement. Now Homag is displaying laserTec for various applications, in both straight and contour shapes.

The Homag Group CNC technology continues to make advances in processing with its ability to do everything from simple panel processing parts to large housing projects. CNC routers from Homag, Weeke and Weinmann highlight the various degrees of technology that is available from the Homag Group and really emphasizes how the Homag Group has a solution for every industry.

Homag Innovation Center
Always a highlight of Homag City is the Homag Innovation Center. The Innovation Center is where Homag introduces many of their new products. Some of which are on the show floor and others that may still be in the developmental stages. Among the innovations shown were numerous new aggregates for CNC technology including the Drive 5 Plus. Other items shown were:

• Synchronous feed drives for the double end technology which eliminates the need for the mechanical drive shaft between the two sides. This allows for more precise feed speeds as well as a floor space savings.
• An high speed corner rounding unit capable of 30 cycles per minute for the high speed batch size machine. This unit has the ability to change to multiple radius all from the control with very small panels gaps.
• BAZ laserTEC banding, which, just like the straight line, uses laser energy to generate a zero joint edge on contoured components. As well as the superior aethestic this process generates it also improves many performance criteria as well such heat resistance, moisture resistance and pull strength. The BAZ laser banding head completes the laser range of products providing customers the ability to do both straight and contour panels.
• Reactec which is a process to apply a surface material to a panel using heat and pressure. As part of this process the edges are machined, filled, cured and re-machined for a suitable substrate to wrap the surface material down the edge. Thus giving a very durable surface with no urea emission and for a lower cost than EVA.
• A fully customizable drill block which allows easy additional drill with the modular system.
• An edge compensation feature on a Homag bander which automatically measures the band thickness compared to the target value and adjust the trimming units appropriately thus give the precisely finished part.
• BAZ banding head capable of putting edges on both a 45° angle as well as various rebates.

These innovations will continue to give Homag the technological advantage required to compete in the future. Continue to look for more edge processing details and innovations in the coming days.