When a single plastic panel can weigh as much as a small car, moving it safely and accurately through production presents a challenge that extends well beyond cutting performance.
IMA Schelling Precision has addressed this with a specially configured fk 6 beam saw and a newly developed XXL turn-table, designed to handle plastic sheets weighing up to 1,500kg while reducing the physical demands placed on operators.
Measuring 5,800 x 2,200mm, the laterally movable turn-table combines a newly developed support system with a dual-blower air cushion, allowing large-format sheets to be rotated and positioned with minimal effort.
The project originated from a customer requirement to process increasingly large plastic sheets without compromising safety or ergonomics.
“The materials themselves are relatively easy to machine, but their weight creates an entirely different challenge,” explains Dieter Zucalli, Product Manager Precision at IMA Schelling. “The requirement was to handle large, heavy plastic sheets safely and ergonomically. Conventional air-cushion systems can reach their limits with loads of this size, so that became the focus of the development.”
The turn-table is integrated with IMA Schelling’s fk 6 precision or beam saw, developed specifically for processing plastics and composite materials up to 120mm thick. For this application, the machine has been configured with an extended cutting length of 6,300mm.
One of the biggest engineering challenges was maintaining the table’s dimensional stability under a 1.5-tonne load.
Air-cushion handling depends on an exceptionally flat surface to generate an even cushion of airvolume beneath the workpiece. Under extreme loads, however, conventional table structures can deflect enough to reduce the effectiveness of the air cushion.
Rather than simply designing a heavier table, IMA Schelling’s engineers examined exactly where and when deformation occurred. “We deliberately provoked the situation during testing,” says Dieter. “Under load, we could clearly identify the point at which the flatness began to measurably change. That gave us the basis for developing a completely new support concept.”
The resulting solution uses laterally integrated supports operated by a rocker-lever mechanism. During movement, the supports remain retracted, allowing the turn-table to travel freely. Once the table reaches its operating position, they engage beneath the frame to restore and maintain the required height and flatness.
“The supports only engage once the table has reached its position,” Dieter explains. “This means movement remains smooth and unrestricted, while the correct height and flatness are maintained where they are needed.”
The table features a Bakelite surface with an integrated air-cushion system. Instead of dragging a 1,500kg panel across the table, the air cushion allows the material to float, dramatically reducing friction during handling.
For the XXL system, IMA Schelling introduced a second blower to increase the available air volume. This helps maintain a stable air cushion beneath the workpiece, even where large plastic panels are not perfectly flat, reducing the force needed to rotate and position the material while improving operator control.
Despite the size of the workpieces involved, operation has been kept deliberately simple. Just two control commands are required to position the panels.
This becomes particularly important at the transfer point between the turn-table and the saw. The combination of the Bakelite surface, dual-blower air cushion and stabilising support system provides a consistent transition, allowing heavy sheets to be positioned accurately without extensive manual intervention.
Reducing friction also helps protect sensitive sheets surfaces from scratches, while the controlled handling of large workpieces reduces the risk of unexpected movement during positioning.
“We wanted a solution that runs as smoothly under full load as it does without weight,” says Dieter. “With the support system and the second blower, we achieve exactly that.
“In continuous operation under full load, that is where the benefit really becomes apparent. Despite the high workpiece weights, movement remains smooth and precisely controllable. The physical effort required from the operator is significantly reduced, while the process remains stable and safe.”
The project highlights how material handling is becoming an increasingly important part of sheets processing as manufacturers work with larger plastic sheets and heavier composite materials. Rather than relying solely on larger mechanical components, the development focuses on controlling how the load is supported throughout the handling process.
As Dieter concludes: “The key outcome is that even very large and heavy workpieces can be handled safely and ergonomically without unnecessarily over-dimensioning the entire system.
“It demonstrates that high loads and precise handling can be efficiently combined when the complete system is considered as a whole.”
For manufacturers processing large-format plastics, the result is a cutting solution capable of handling sheets weighing up to 1,500kg while maintaining the precision, control and operator safety demanded in modern production environments.
