New fully automatic filling machine for wood surfaces at the IWF

WINTERSTEIGER will be presenting its new fully automatic filling machine, the TRC Easy Plus, at the IWF trade show in Atlanta from August 20th to 23rd. The TRC Easy Plus combines all the benefits of TRC technology.

Automatic scanning is followed by automatic injection of the special filling material. There are several variations of the TRC Easy Plus available, which enables it to cover all medium capacity requirements from simple charging to the fully automated production cell. The larger work area also allows extra processes to be carried out on unusually wide workpieces of up to 650 mm in width.

WINTERSTEIGER, a special-purpose machine builder known for quality thin cutting of wood, brought VAP Gruber Automations GmbH on board in 2012. Since then, the TRC wood surface repair machines have been a successful addition to WINTERSTEIGER's product range. Josef Gruber, VAP's managing director and the creator of TRC ("Timber Repair & Cosmetics") technology, said of his product: "The first fully automatic machine was delivered at the end of 2009. Since then, we have continued to develop the technology further, which means no one is able to copy it very easily." There are those trying to imitate the invention, and Mr. Gruber said: "On one hand, that confirms that what we have is a great product, but on the other hand, it is a problem because substandard imitations that may not do what they are supposed to do properly in the long term come on to the market!"

 

The benefits of TRC at a glance:

• Lower labor costs
• Craft skills are no longer necessary
• Significantly fewer rejects thanks to perfect filling
• Repairs involving more than one color possible on one component
• Damaged spots around the edges of the component can be repaired completely

  automatically
• The special filling material is harmless to both humans and the environment
• The material holds well because it is injected using a special process
• One filling process is sufficient even for large damaged spots
• Repaired parts can be stacked straight after the filling process

 

Lead extended.

The original TRC machines have proven to be extremely reliable, and satisfied customers include reputable companies such as STIA Holzindustrie, Tilo and MeisterWerke to name but a few. Since 2009, 20 fully automatic machines have been sold and installed, and they repair approximately 15 million square meters of wood surface every year. Dozens of semi-automatic machines complete the success. VAP is the market leader in the field of semi-automatic and fully automatic machines, and even has the technical expertise required to realize individual solutions tailored specifically to the customer.

 

High-tech: fully automatic 3D scanner.
Another excellent aspect of the TRC filling machines is the specially developed 3D scanner. It automatically detects and measures damaged spots on the wood, and then calculates how much filling material is needed. This means exactly the right amount of filling material is used in the injection process and that about 30% less material is used compared to manual repair processes.

 

Satisfied TRC customers.

Ter Hürne, which is located in the Münsterland in Germany, has had a fully automatic filling machine since 2010. Ludwig Grütering, a member of ter Hürne's management board, praised the qualities of the specially developed filling material, saying: "The filling material allows subsequent mechanical processes to be carried out on floorboards straight away. The result is increased production efficiency. We have also seen a rise in product quality, which is noticeable to end consumers because our products retain their value very well." (Ludwig Grütering, a managing director at ter Hürne)

 

The first fully automatic TRC machine to be sold in Austria went to Styrian company Scheucher Holzindustrie GmbH. Managing Director Karl Scheucher said: "The TRC 3000+ is a well-engineered model. The machine has enabled us to streamline our processes significantly and guarantees high-quality filling repairs at the same time."

 

To MeisterWerke Schulte GmbH in Rüthen, Germany, the most important factors besides the machine's performance are the quality of its filling and its ability to measure the amount of required filling material exactly. Managing Director Johannes Schulte said, "To us as a sustainability-oriented company, having a machine that would use a completely harmless filling material was also an absolute must."

Tilo in Lohnsburg, Austria, invested in a fully automatic filling machine to further increase productivity in the manufacture of high-quality parquet floorboards. Gerald Pröll, the managing director at tilo GmbH, said, "As the filling material is calculated exactly, we're able to score in the areas of ecology and sustainability as well."

 

Ewald Fuchs, the managing director at STIA Holzindustrie in Admont, Austria, said: "We have high quality requirements, and our wide multilayer parquets are offered in many different dimensions. After guaranteeing that our performance and quality requirements would be met, VAP developed a solution that was tailored specifically to us. All the key figures regarding quality, performance and deadline adherence were realized 100%."

 

 

 

 

 

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