Rodolfo Comerio is the largest company in Italy in terms of construction of calendering lines and plants for laminating and embossing thermoplastic foils and rubber.
Founded in 1878, today Rodolfo Comerio is a world-class company aware of evolving contemporary technological requirements, which in recent years has focused on achieving original process innovations aimed at conferring special characteristics to its products, covered by international patents; it is proud to emphasise that 100% of its products are exclusively Made in Italy.
An established partnership
Being known and appreciated all over the world means having achieved and having to maintain high standards of brand awareness and brand reputation; it is therefore logical for the company to exercise close control over the quality of the components inserted in its machinery. This is why, when choosing rotary joints, the company turned to the offer of Johnson-Fluiten, which has always manufactured rotary joints for all segments of the mechanical engineering industry.
As Nicola Fedele, Sales and Marketing Manager at Rodolfo Comerio, explained; «Johnson-Fluiten is a well-known name in our industry, which we also increasingly find in the end customer’s request specifications. Johnson-Fluiten rotary joints have now been adopted as standard in all our solutions because they are a name which stands for guarantee and reliability».
A versatile offering
The company’s installations range from the processing of plastics such as PVC, PP, PE, TPO and TPU for the production of plasticised film, multilayer film and reinforced multilayer film for flooring, to the production of rubber fabric for tyres, conveyor belts and various rubber components.
The wide range of solutions offered by Rodolfo Comerio is reflected in the need for components with diversified performance; handling multiple types of fluid such as diathermic oil (used for heating applications) and water (used for heating as well as cooling) can require rotary joints to perform very differently in terms of speed, pressure and temperature.
In this respect, Johnson-Fluiten has proved to be an ideal partner: not only does the range of rotary joints in the catalogue include solutions for every need, but being part of the Kadant group, the versatility of the fluid handling solutions is such that the right product can always be found for every specific need. Rodolfo Comerio can therefore use a relatively small number of references and find the ideal component for each plant, simplifying stock management.
For each application, a solution: diathermic oil
Achieving maximum efficiency in fluid handling in plastics and rubber processing plants is only possible by using the right rotary joints; in this particular case, the products used for heating applications using diathermic oil are Kadant’s SX-series rotary joints and ELS-series rotary joints.
The SX rotary joint is equipped with two carbon-graphite guides allowing easy alignment and ensuring a long service life of the joint even when installed on non-concentric cylinders. Thanks to its simple design, the SX rotary joint guarantees outstanding reliability as well as being perfectly adaptable to different types of oil and steam applications.
The ELS (Extended Life Series) rotary joint is an internally supported joint specially designed to solve the many wear problems encountered with conventional rotary joints in applications with high vibration. The joint is made with a double guide design; these two guides provide better internal support and allow the rotary joint to maintain proper alignment even when the roller or cylinder is not perfectly concentric. Thanks to its technology and design, this component guarantees longer service life and reliability when compared to standard products.
For each application, a solution: water
In some applications, the handling of water at different temperatures (both hot and cold) is required, and it is in these cases that the R-series joints manufactured by Johnson-Fluiten are the best solution.
The type R rotary joint is used to connect a stationary pipe to a rotating device. The fluid inside it is sealed by a micro-lapped mechanical seal that guarantees total absence of leakage. The joint is supported by two widely spaced ball bearings, but its distinguishing feature is its unique quick-release design (QRD).
This component is designed to allow the joint to be serviced while still installed on the machine, but this innovative technical solution also allows the rotary joint to be quickly adapted to fluids requiring different sealing materials should there be a different production need.
And for those machines with highly innovative features, for which it is not always possible to have the joint with the required qualities, «Johnson-Fluiten is nevertheless able to provide prompt assistance and to find new solutions suitable for our needs,» as Fedele pointed out, continuing: «We have been working with Johnson-Fluiten for many years now and they have always proven to be a reliable partner. We use a variety of solutions, especially depending on the scope of the project».
All-round support
In addition to the reliability of the products, other features of Johnson-Fluiten’s offerings have contributed to the strengthening of the constructive professional relationship with Rodolfo Comerio: from the complete willingness to provide no-obligation pre-sales and after-sales advice, to the speed of delivery, everything contributes to making Johnson-Fluiten a highly valued partner. «We are extremely satisfied with our collaboration with Johnson-Fluiten because of their reliability, the variety of products offered and the constant support», Fedele concluded.
