Veneer Patching

Tireless patching capacity

The main idea in veneer patching is to upgrade the quality of a veneer by removing certain defects, even quite large ones, from the veneer sheet and replacing it with a good quality veneer patch. When this is done by machine, the result is faultless, consistent, and neither hard wood species nor thick veneers generate any problems. One very important end-user group for veneer patching are the plywood mills that produce panels for overlaying with a phenol film. These mills must pay a lot of attention to the quality of their core veneers, too. Core veneers are very prone to open defects in the overlay-pressing process, even 10-20 mm holes in core veneers will appear as a grey spot on the overlay. This is because the overlay has become delaminated due to the open defect in the core of the basic plywood panel.

The Patchmaster PM50 and PM100 were designed with a demanding production environment in mind, where reliability is the top priority. The use of select components and a robust servo drive ensure practically maintenance-free operation. They can be rapidly installed as no machine foundation is needed, and their sturdy construction guarantees that they can be used accurately. The RoboPatching System cleverly combines three technologies, all of which have a proven track record for working well in difficult production environments. It uses a machine-vision unit to first detect any defects in the veneer and these exact coordinates are then fed into an industrial robot, which then positions the veneer with great precision under the machine’s patching head. In short, when your primary requirement is the capacity for accurate and tireless patching, there is no better solution than Plytec’s RoboPatching system.

Larger patches for bigger defects

All patching machines have an advanced servo drive which minimizes maintenance needs. An extremely strong and rigid cast-iron construction and newly designed dies make it possible to patch large size defects in veneer also. Patches in the shape of butterflies can be considerably larger than conventional oval-shaped patches. This is due to them having a 25% larger contact area, which allows for stronger adhesion to the surrounding veneer. Open defects can also be patched, and an automatic strip-feeding device allows the patch veneer strips to be continuously fed in from a built-in strip magazine.

A steady stream of air removes any debris from the machine. There is also a clearly marked control panel with a patch, shift, and counter that indicates how long the machine has been in operation. There is also a foot pedal control and a spot light to illuminate the surface of the veneer.

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