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The world’s first production lines for fully automatic high speed arrissing (seaming) of randomly mixed rectangular glass panes, was premiered by ASHTON INDUSTRIAL at the Glasstec show in Duesseldorf in 1998.

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Since then, and encompassing 4 generations of development, an average of one line every 6-8 weeks has left the ASHTON factory bound for glass tempering plants around the world.

Total reliability and success of these lines is confirmed by the many repeat orders received from major glass groups and independent tempering facilities. One major USA group has installed 8 lines, another has 5, two others have 3 each. International glass manufacturers and processors have ASHTON seaming lines in the UK, Sweden, Australia and Japan. A recent order for South Africa adds another continent.

FastTrak^TM lines are customised to each tempering facility, often linking cutting/breaking tables directly to the furnace. Lites are slid across from break-out with no contact to the upper glass surface, a feature which prevents countless rejects on soft-coat finishes. They are fully automatically seamed (arrissed) and laser logo marked, and optionally edge deleted, before arriving directly at the furnace load bed. Average cycle time of 7 seconds for lites up to approx.1 x 1m, maximum of 12 seconds for 3 x 2 m.

SeamMaX-X^TM is the very latest 2006 generation of lines. Half the size of  FastTrak^TMlines, but with very similar output capability (8-12 seconds approx. per lite) and significantly less expensive, SeamMaX-X^TM  is a new concept that simultaneously seams two parallel edges top and bottom. The seaming heads are designed around proven FastTrak principles, but fabricated entirely of aluminium and suspended from a very heavy duty gantry that spans the conveyors. Each gantry supports fixed heads for upper and lower seams on the datum edge, plus two more heads mounted on a moving carriage for the outer glass edge.

The carriage is driven at super-fast speed by precision Servo drives and controlled by a unique fully automated Seek-&-Find system designed by Ashton’s engineers. Totally random sizes are processed in seconds. A 90 degree transfer conveyor links two such gantries so that all 4 edges are processed.

On-line edge deletion, corner dubbing and laser marking are possible.

Fully automatic batching of glass loads for the furnace can be added to SeamMaX-X and FastTrak lines.

All lines feature ASHTON INDUSTRIAL’s driven vacuum belt hold-down system that resists glass slippage while grinding pressure is applied.

Central water recycling is featured as standard.

FILSTAR^TM solids separation units are optional but highly recommended for reducing maintenance and wear and downtime.