ANCORA GROUP, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION FOR LARGE-FORMAT SHEETS

Graniti Fiandre has chosen Ancora Group’s waterjet cutting solutions and technology for cutting large ceramic sheets
Sassuolo, June 2013 – The technological innovations introduced by Ancora Group reflect the latest trend in the ceramic industry towards flexible lines that are ideal for producing large sheets but are also able to change size rapidly to adapt to production requirements.
Graniti Fiandre has chosen Ancora Group for its large-format production plants, purchasing two 14-head waterjet cutting lines for sizes ranging from 200×500 mm to 1500×3000 mm. The first line started up production last year and the second in April this year. To complete all its processing phases, Graniti Fiandre has also purchased from Ancora a 20-head oscillating lapping machine for sizes up to 1600 mm and a squaring machine for sizes up to 3000 mm and higher, the latter delivered in January 2013. These major investments testify to the company’s complete trust in technology from Ancora.
The latest techniques offer producers enormous freedom in creating large-format sheets and strips of almost any size and dimensions. However, these innovations have created new problems as conventional cutting solutions can no longer be used on sheets with large dimensions and small thicknesses. A cutting line today requires greater configuration flexibility than in the past. It must be possible to set it up rapidly to produce sheets and strips in the widest range of sizes, even in very small batches.
The patented new multicut waterjet machine from Ancora Group uses waterjet technology to perform up to 7 longitudinal and 7 transversal cuts continuously on large-format sheets with initial dimensions of up to 1600×3600 mm, producing strips as small as 200×500 mm. Water at a working pressure of more than 4000 bar is ejected at high speed together with abrasive powder to achieve a high degree of precision and uniformity in a transversal direction relative to the direction of movement of the sheet, which is cut into strips of various sizes as it moves. With sheets of thickness 6 mm a cutting speed of around 3 metres/min. can be achieved, corresponding to a productivity of 4.5 square metres/min. with continuous operation. With thicknesses of 3 mm, even higher speeds are possible.
The system can be configured to produce large-format sheets, strips or tiles simply by setting the dimensions of the finished product on the touch-screen controls.
Ancora Group also offers a wide range of unique, high-quality solutions for lapping large-format sheets with dimensions of up to 1600×4000 mm and thicknesses as low as 3 mm.
Faithful to the company tradition of ruggedness and reliability, the entire range of Ancora squaring machines incorporates specific solutions developed for processing elongated strips and large sheets with widths up to 4 metres.
Ancora Group is an international leader in the field of plant and machinery for the end-of-line stage of ceramic production, offering a complete range of solutions for polishing, lapping, cutting and rectifying ceramic tiles of all sizes. These solutions have made the finishing division the largest third party production centre in the world. The group’s mechanical division is the industry leader, both in Italy and internationally.