As wall panel production techniques evolve, Spida is at the forefront of the industry in offering a range of machines to provide efficiently and accurately built walls. About 3 years ago, we introduced the first of the new generation of Spida wall panel extruders. This new generation is designed with a combination of knowledge and experience from the merging of some three technology savvy companies—Multinail, Spida, and Mango Tech—bringing the best of each of these companies’ machines together to create the centerpiece of a Spida wall panel line. The Spida extruder is just one part of the process and I would like to explain to you each stage of building the wall using this system.
The Operator: The wall extruder has one operator who first places the top and bottom plates in front of the dual pushers on either side of the machine. After using the hand controls to clamp the plates in place, a set of locator pins automatically pops up and then the operator takes the first component of the wall, be it a stud or window/door opening, and places it up against the locator pins. Next, the operator holds the fire buttons so that the nails are fired automatically through the plates into the component, which uses one or two nail tools on either side of the nailing bridge. Then, the wall advances to the next location, the plates are clamped, and the process repeats until the wall has been completed. At this point, the pushers automatically drop back and the next set of plates is loaded by the operator. The use of a computer file and the accuracy of the extruder negates the need for the plates to be marked with anything but a simple ID.
Material Handling: The extruder can produce a constantly moving line of walls, but to do this material handling is key and feeding the beast, as it is with many automated machines, is crucial to consistent high production numbers. For this, we look to bring the studs and stud combinations to the operator at around shoulder level directly in front of them, so they can be placed into the wall with the minimum of movement. We have two options for this: our curved conveyor which turns 90 degrees allowing components to be staged and moved parallel to the line saving space -OR- our over-framer which is a small conveyor belt that elevates the studs that then are pushed onto a sloped skate conveyor and fed down to the operator.
Studs: Nailing C corners and L studs can be time consuming and cumbersome for operators, so the stud extruder is placed at the foot of either the curved conveyor or over-framer. This machine nails together a variety of combinations including C and L studs, double studs, and triple studs, and it can also be used to attach fire and cabinet blocking. The large throat allows a complete 16” on-center ladder to be built if required. This is also computer controlled and driven by the same file on the extruder, ensuring accuracy of the components in both construction and staging order.
Openings: The last pieces of the wall to bring in are the door and window openings. In an ideal system, these are prebuilt on a table and fed directly onto a chain conveyor. Pop-up pins on the chain conveyors keep these in individual bays and they are progressed forward to the loading bay as required. Components are brought in over the side of the extruder via a driven and pneumatically lifted roller bench, and then the operator pushes them into the wall to be nailed. This complete system is controlled by the extruder computer software. The standard system allows up to 4 subcomponents to be staged at any time, but that too can be extended.
Looking at the system as a whole and depending on the complexity of the walls being built, we are seeing 3 operators building 100–170 l/f of walls per hour. In this scenario, the operator feeding the stud conveyor often will be ahead of the extruder and therefore will be able to help at other stations until the conveyor requires more material.
What about sheathing? I hear you ask. Well, there’s a question we also had to ask ourselves. The Spida extruder was born and raised in Australia and New Zealand where sheathing is not required on walls and lateral strength is obtained through blocking and bracing. After seeing the way traditional sheathing bridges worked, we were able to take a fresh approach, think outside of the box and move inside the extruder! To keep with the production line mentality, the best idea is to keep the bridge fixed and move the wall under it. This concept gave us several advantages over our competitors, being able to put the nail tools on either side of the bridge at 16” on-center means, where available, we can nail along 2 studs at a time. Having the bridge fixed gives us the ability to clamp and straighten studs, and grabbing them underneath in the middle of the wall drastically reducers shiners. An additional fixed gun on each side of the machines nails the top and bottom plates as the wall processes through. The Spida sheathing bridge also functions off the same output file as the extruder, so after the sheathing is tacked in place it is “set and forget” until the wall is complete, meaning your labor costs are zero to get the nails. In summary: fast, accurate nail patterns, no shiners, and zero labor charges—what more could you ask for?
The Spida wall panel line comes in many shapes and forms. Although there is a generic way to have all of the pieces fit together, we also realize this is not always achievable. In fact, it is very rare for us to put identical systems in place in any plants. Fortunately, we enjoy working closely with our customers to tailor a solution that fits their available space, production goals, and budget. Give us a call (+ 1-866-647-7771) to discuss how the extruder can be put to work for you!