NipProfiler
Non-uniform loading profiles cause non-uniform sheet dewatering, premature wear of roll covers and press felts, higher drying costs, and sometimes failures and premature machine shutdowns. Before the NipProfiler, papermakers used carbon paper to take nip impressions. The technique was slow, inaccurate, and labor-intensive. The interpretation was provided so late that corrective actions usually needed to wait until the next scheduled shut down.
I invented, patented, and brought to the field an electronic system for instant measurements of the nip profiles. “Paper-thin” electronic sensors provide immediate readouts of the contact uniformity from end to end of the rollers. Within 15 minutes, one could take several measurements at a set of loading conditions to find the optimum load setting. One could also show the effect of the settings on the loading profiles and determine safe operating limits. This NipProfiler system won an international award in 1999 and has been used in most paper mills in the world. More details may be found in the following two papers and seven patents.
“Electronic Nip Impressions – A New Diagnostics Tool,” TAPPI Journal, Vol. 83, No. 5 p.81. Also presented at the 1998 TAPPI Engineering Conference, Miami FL, 1998. “Press Nip Maintenance Using Electronic Nip Impressions,” PaperAge, Vol. 114, No. 3, March 1998, p. 22, with W.B. Kennedy. 5,953,230; Nip width sensing systemread more
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