Hauni’s KT 3 is Razor Sharp

Hauni has refined and developed the cutting and grinding assembly for its popular KT 2 tobacco cutter – and the changes have yielded impressive results. The new KT 3 sets completely new standards in terms of machine performance, flexibility, plant availability, effectiveness, and quality of the cut tobacco. To develop the optimum grinding unit, Hauni drew on the expertise of its sister company United Grinding from the the Körber Group.

“The new KT 3 is truly a quantum leap forward,” says Matthias Weber, head of customer projects primary. “Its sharper knives not only ensure better cutting quality, they also make light work of processing a wider range of tobacco types – such as the sensitive semi-oriental, heavily cased tobaccos, or with a recon content of up to 50%.”

Moreover, the KT 3 is equipped to handle the technologies of the future, such as soft processing in combination with the new HDT 3. Because its knives are always kept extremely sharp, it is capable of cutting tobaccos with a higher moisture content at a lower mouthpiece compression.

The knife lasts up to 10x longer

The knives in a cutter unit wear at different rates depending on the type of tobacco. In the predecessor model, the knives were sharpened continuously even if they were still sharp. In the new version, this process is adjusted to reflect the type of tobacco being cut.

To do this, the engineers used individual drives instead of a mechanical linkage between the knife advance in the KT 3 and the rotation of the cutting drum. This enables the operator to control the knife advance and grinder unit flexibly. Like the drum speed, these values can be altered digitally.

“With this technology, our customers can adjust their machines precisely to the requirements of every type of tobacco and sharpen the knives according to the rate of wear,” explains Weber. “This has a number of advantages: depending on the type of tobacco, the knives in the KT 3 last up to 10 times longer than in its predecessor and you can monitor their sharpness continuously.

“And once you have found the right parameter settings for a blend, you can save and recall them at any time using the integrated recipe management system. Not only does this mean that wearing parts need to be replaced much less frequently – changing the grinding wheel of the KT 3 is also much faster. This saves resources and increases machine availability. Exceptionally sharp, cleanly ground knives have further advantages for the production phase: they produce less dust, the cutting speed is high, fewer unwanted grinding products end up in the cigarette tobacco, and the machine operates more quietly.”

Turn your KT 2 into your KT 3

“The KT 2 tobacco cutter has established an outstanding reputation in production facilities around the world over many years,” said Weber. “We have sold a total of 460 KT 2 machines. The KT 3 now features new functionalities that can also be retrofitted to the KT 2. With this option, customers do not receive a completely new machine but can upgrade their KT 2 at a comparatively low cost and thus address the risk of obsolescence. They can continue to use their existing knives and spare parts while simultaneously enjoying the functionalities of the KT 3.”

More information: www.hauni.com