Wafers for the world

Simple, sturdy and efficient: These are the characteristics of this lubricant-free linear system, which is used in an industrial wafer baking system. It demonstrates its effectiveness in the confectionery field when separating and feeding paper ice-cream cones. Thereby on the one hand very high cycle numbers are run, and on the other, adverse environmental conditions affect all components. Tribo-optimised high-performance polymers of igus® GmbH provide stable conditions on the long-term, so that the operating performance of the plant constantly increases.

"Our wafer baking machines are characterised by very high capacity and flexibility after the retrofit," says Dipl.-Ing. Dieter Kempaß, General Manager and Chief Technical Officer of the company Walterwerk Kiel GmbH & Co. KG. "They are used worldwide. " Heat, fumes, wafer dust and moisture pose extreme demands on the machine elements that must still function properly in the long run. Only thus can smooth service life and minimum maintenance intervals be guaranteed.

Intensive polymer research

For many years the special machine manufacturer has been using lubricant-free plain bearing systems of the igus® GmbH in its modular baking systems. It is maintenance free, cost effective and has versatile use. The challenges of the customer have always continued to rise over time. In their facilities for the fully automatic production of wafers, solutions are scarcely installed off the shelf, but are specially customised ones that have been found to some extent even in the standard product range of the tribo-polymer specialists.

Christian Wille, technical sales consultant of igus® adds: "The technical properties of the polymer materials have improved significantly since their inception around 30 years ago. We have carried out extensive material research in our own test laboratory in recent decades, developing more and more applications, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. “

Plain bearings made of high-performance plastics for the food and packaging environment are FDA-compliant, depending on the choice of material. Product contamination by an additional regular lubrication is thereby excluded. Friction and wear have been optimised due to their tribological properties, which has a positive effect on the operating times of the machines. Even the regular cleaning with aggressive media presents no problems.

Endless wafer variety

"The world needs more and more ice cream cones," says Anika Weiß from the marketing department of the specialist machine manufacturer. "We serve a niche market and distinguish ourselves by long-term customer relationships. " The capacity of baking systems is constantly increasing. Depending on the machine size, from 3,000 to 19,000 standard wafers are made per hour. "That is, more than five wafers per second", clarifies the marketing specialist.

Rolled, wrapped, deep drawn, stamped, smoothed, cross cut, folded, savoury or sweet wafers, snack wafers, rolls, ice cream cones, wafer cups, mini wafers: The process and production capabilities of the baking equipment from northern Germany are manifold. The baking process of a standard wafer for the industrial ice cream production is always the same. It is baked in the flat state in the oven, then supplied to a wrapping station and rolled up while warm. Then the further transport to the cooling tower takes place via a link chain conveyor belt before the wafer is provided with a paper bag in the processing area. Only then does the filling with ice cream takes place in a subsequent process. In order to meet the high performance requirements, the process takes place in several paths. It must be guaranteed that only one bag is fed, or else this would cause problems when filling. If a customer has different paper bag sizes, the system must be readjusted again and again to the conditions on the site.

Reproducible processes

A requirement criterion for the linear unit is the reproducibility of the stripping process. The system usually operates seven days a week in three shifts. It stops only for a few hours for the cleaning. The outer local conditions are demanding. Ambient temperatures of around 50°C prevail at times. In addition there is the pervasive wafer dust. It is tacky due to the sugar content and the residual moisture. There are also customers who add salt to the product to enhance flavour. Both salt and sugar are extremely abrasive.