What is Contact Cleaning?
Contact Cleaning, popularly known as "tacky roll cleaning" originated in the 1980s with the introduction to the market of the tacky roller and pad (see left).
The hand roller is gently passed over the flat surface to be cleaned. Any loose, dry particles (such as dust, hair, lint, clothing fibres etc) down to one micron in size are immediately collected by the roller leaving the surface completely clean.
The hand roller is then passed over a special adhesive pad which in turn collects the contaminants, leaving the roller clean for its next job. The adhesive is specially formulated so that it does not transfer to the roller, and so there is no danger of the removed contaminants migrating back to the roller and subsequently to be in contact with a subsequent workpiece.
Why is SDI technology better than that of their competitors?
SDI has the widest range of polymer formulations (including Silicone-Free) to suit every application perfectly. Different substrates need different formulations, hardness and surface characteristics. Only SDI has the in-house capability to produce such a wide range of polymer recipes.
Can the system be automated or incorporated into a production line?
When the hand roller and pad had become accepted technology, naturally there were many larger users of the system for whom the cleaning was essential, but the volume of product made the job of cleaning very labour intensive.
SDI have numerous automated solutions based around the same technology, tailor-made for PCB, screenprint, label printing, glass manufacture, wood/furniture production, food and medical packaging and converting. The double-sided cleaner to the right shows the main components in their separate pull-out slides.
The centre slide contains a system of two or four polymer rollers (similar in concept to the hand roller above). When the substrate passes between the polymer rollers it is automatically cleaned on both sides. When the slides are in place and the machine is operational, special adhesive rolls are in constant contact with the polymer rollers, allowing the continuous transfer of the removed particulate.
Periodically (typically once per shift), the operator pulls out the adhesive roll slides and removes a single layer of the reverse-wound adhesive. The cleaner is then ready for action once more.
