BAGHIN

Special Anti Scratch Plant
The Company Agglo Baghin SpA, of Riese Pio X, Treviso, belongs to the Breton Group. It specialises in manufacturing and marketing the Ecostone line, a natural product coming from the union of marbles, stones and granites with cement and water – a Breton Terastone System technology patent.

Customer Objectives
Jointly with Company owners Vittorio Baghin and his father, we had to address a very important problem that affected foreign Customers especially. When the material reached the End User, the brick outside presented a yellow colour caused by dampness absorbed, which meant it had to be left to breathe before use.
 Previous Situation
Objectives
The objective was to find a system capable of automatically applying hot melt glues without negatively affecting the production process. In particular, it was to:
• Apply 4 small consecutive cordons to a maximum height of 2 millimetres on the brick sides
• Satisfy production of 40x40 and 60x60 bricks
• Find a product capable of gripping to the brick without preventing it from breathing

Step One: Vittorio Baghin’s Idea
The first solution Agglo Baghin adopted to try and solve the issue had been to use a rechargeable cartridge hot-melt applicator, which presented the following drawbacks:
• At least one operator exclusively for the hot-melt
• Reduced production speed as 4 glues points had to be applied to each brick
• If the brick remained packed for a few months, it presented yellow markings under the glue point, so the Company decided to have GL Finishing find a remedy.
Impianto Hot-Melt 
 Present Situation
On reviewing line production distances and times, the decision was made to apply an automatic hot-melt glue plant similar to those in ceramic industry anti-scratch systems at line end, just before the pallet installation.

The Hot-Melt Applicator
We installed a Meler ML-262-ST plant managed by the new PC-STAR programmer, the only one capable of managing up to 4 glue points per brick. We used simple effect MSR-1 guns monitored by a brick passage reader electro-valve. All this was in the totally automatic, with no operator assistance. Melt to programmer interface and gun precision meant succeeding in applying the 4 cordons per side as required by the Customer. The problem of brick palleting however had to be solved, versus standard anti-scratch plants. The Breton line in fact provides for a palletiser to pick up 3 bricks at a time and lay them on a specially designed and built bench. The main issue was that the GL1134wax normally used for the anti-scratch system did not remain attached enough to the surface and once the brick was placet vertical, it fell, nullifying all the work done previously. So we worked out a model GL1130 hot melt product that had greater brick grip but could be easily removed and let the surface breathe. As the picture shows, bricks are now easily palletised:

Applicatore Hot-Melt I 4 punti di colla I punti colla 
 Advantages
Results
Cooperation between Agglo Baghin and GL Finishing enabled us to reach the objectives we had set and together find a solution to an important problem.