Seaming Chucks and Rolls

Depending on whether the production is for a canmaker or for a cannery, Imeta uses different base materials that optimize performance. Typical materials include: standard steels (AISI D2, AISI 440, US2000 MC), sintered steel (K390, M390, Vanadis), special steels for specific applications (K360, Cromax, Calmax, Aisi 630, 15.5PH, Nicro 100) and Stoody Metal for increased resistance to deterioration and corrosion in conditions of maximum productivity.

Imeta also uses innovative surface coatings to both improve seam quality and increase the lifetime of our product itself. Imeta can offer CVD, PVD, wear-resistant chromium plating, Diamond 98 HRC, UCAR coatings.

Some popular seaming chucks and seaming rolls: seaming chucks and rolls in tool steel, titanium seaming roll with cvd coating, titanium coating with pvd technology.

FOR THE CAN MAKERS

• AISI D2 standard steel, used in the majority of can-making applications;
• K360 (Or equivalent) – A Highly resistant tool steel resistant to brittle fracture, commonly used in weak chuck lip situations or for Easy Open ends;
• K390 (Or equivalent)– A sinterised stainless steel whose molecular structure offers extreme hardness, resistance against corrosion and wear compared to standard AISI D2;
• Stoody Metal®, a chrome and cobalt alloy obtained by a centrifuged casting offering the greatest strength against corrosion and wear. Designed for extreme working conditions.

FOR THE CANNERIES

• AISI 440 standard stainless steel, used in the majority of applications;
• Cromax Stainless steel – Highly resistant against corrosion, frequently used for seaming chucks when working with foods of a high acidity level (mushrooms, brine, etc…);
• M390 (Or equivalent) Sinterised Stainless steel whose molecular structure offers extreme hardness and resistance against corrosion and wear compared to standard AISI 440;
• Stoody Metal®, a chrome and cobalt alloy obtained by a centrifuged casting offering the greatest strength against corrosion and wear. Designed for extreme working conditions.

SUPERFICIAL COATINGS

CVD Technology Coating

• CVD coating process (Chemical Vapour Deposition) produces the steam phase of those compounds to be deposited through chemical reactions occurring under temperature range of 800 ÷ 1000 ºC.
• The main features of this type of coating is the superior adhesion to the base steel which provides a high resistance against wear and corrosion. This can extend the life of seaming rolls up to 5 times compared to a standard process. Moreover, its high anti-pickup features make it possible to radically shorten the maintenance operations of the rolls themselves. Through the CVD process it is possible to deposit various types of coating, such as titanium carbide “TiC”, titanium nitride “TiN” and aluminium oxide “Al2O3″

PVD Technology Coating

• PVD process (Physical Vapour Deposition) acts under temperature conditions between 250 ÷ 480 °C through an ionic bombardment of the compounds followed by a deposition phase. The deposit, being golden yellow in colour, is composed by a TiN layer with a typical thickness of 5 ÷ 6 μm and has a variable hardness of 2700 ÷ 3000 HV.
• Compared to the CVD, the PVD coating is more suitable to coat the finished item as its deposition conditions occur at such temperatures that any dimensional variation is reduced to the minimum.
  This is the reason why it is commonly used on seaming chucks made of steel that cannot tolerate any dimensional variations.

98HRC Diamond Coating

• This type of coating consists of a thin but dense chromate impregnated with diamonds having a final hardness reaching 98 HRC.Applied on seaming rolls and chucks, it can extend their life up to three times.The surface of the DIAMOND 98 HRC coating has a very low friction coefficient.
• As a consequence it has very high anti pick-up features, rubbing is lower and seams can avoid peeling.
• Tests have demonstrated that DIAMOND 98 HRC coating gives an higher resistance to corrosion comparing to stainless steel AISI 440C.
• Coating is applied at a temperature of 100ºC, so no risk of deformation, permitting it to be used on seaming chuck

Anti-Wearing Chromium Plating

The chromium plating applies a chrome layer through the electrolytic process on finished items. The applied layer has a thickness that may vary from 6 to 8 μm, while superficial hardness reaches approximately 65 ÷ 68 HRC. This plating is characterised by a good wear resistance and a low friction coefficient. It is used in some very specific applications, such as seaming rolls for filters and deep-drawn aluminium cans.

UCAR® Coating

• UCAR® plating is obtained by depositing a superficial layer of tungsten carbide of 25 μm thickness (hardness of 70 HRC) through the special D-Gun™ system.
• It is applied on the lips of the seaming chucks in order to offer high wear esistance features. Chucks having a UCAR® coating are normally used on spinning free lower chuck seamers or in particular conditions (oil presence for instance) when it is necessary to increase the traction of the seaming chuck on the lid

Seaming Chuck Lip Finishing

Depending on the client’s needs, seaming chuck lips can be provided having the following superficial finishing features:

• SMOOTH: as standards usually in use.
• SANDBLASTED (on demand): innovative superficial treatment made by a high pressure jet of corundum dust of various granulometries according to the client’s requests. It is useful to increase the lid’s dragging without damaging the varnish.
• KNURLED (on demand): making of some vertical notches through mechanical removal by grinder. Though allowing maximum dragging of the lids, this finishing is slowly disappearing as in some cases it could damage the varnish.