The RBI is a high speed Cylindrical Dripper Inserting Device for round drippers; it inserts drippers at a rate of up to 400 drippers per minute. The device is digitally controlled via a 10” color Touch Screen. System setup and coil parameters such as head, tail spacing between drippers and spacing between groups are controlled via the user interface.

The drippers are fed by a centrifugal feeder onto a conveyor belt and are advanced via two Inserting Belts. The insertion mechanism is driven by a digital servo motor. The drippers are pushed through a cooled “stinger” that is placed inside the cross-head.

The device has two insertion modes, Continuous Inserting and Intermittent Inserting. In Continuous Inserting, the drippers are continuously moving; the Inserting Wheels rotational speed is dependent on the speed of the pipe and the desired spacing. In Intermittent Inserting, the drippers are inserted one at a time. The Inserting Belts insert one dripper and stop. The Intermittent Inserting can be used to produce coils with grouped drippers where the spacing dimension is changing.

Due to the device’s insertion method the inserted drippers have a relatively low velocity, which results in a very accurate dripper spacing. In contrast, a traditional system where drippers are pushed with a rod mechanism at a very high speed, the drippers will be placed inconsistently inside the extruded pipe, resulting in inaccurate spacing.

The device is energy efficient. There are no air jets in the feeder bowl, tracks, or in any other place on the machine.

The drippers are loaded to the centrifugal feeder via a pre-feeder. This pre-feeder is on ground level with an inclined conveyor. Filling the pre-feeder is easy and quick.

Converting between dripper sizes requires minimal adjustments.

The device is easily integrated to any existing production line.