The UNIXX Belt Maker produces high quality endless steel belts by means of an innovative and accurately controlled extrusion process that can handle a wide range of compounds.

The system is optimally suited for hands-off, eyes-off production. Scrap and waste from angle- and compound changes are reduced because of the limited width of the extruded strip. Next to this, the automated and accurately controlled process produces a consistent high quality belt.

The VMI UNIXX Belt Maker allows for the production of thinner materials, contributing to a lower fuel consumption and CO₂ emission levels.

The creel unit unwinds the bobbins with steel cord. Each bobbin is placed on a unique tension controlled unwinding mechanism. The cord tension is controlled by an adjustable tension brake system with an accurate torque for each cord. The cords are fed into the dual extruder system. The dual extruder system is based on an upper and lower extruder. The system is placed in line with the cords to obtain a uniform strip with an equal thickness.

The festoon unit is placed after the extruders and is equipped with additional air cooling to cool down the material, before it will be fed into the cutter module, thus preventing undesirable stresses and strains.

The exact length of the strip is top-down fed by a servo driven roller into the cutter. The strip is cut into strokes by a disc and bar cutter, based on the latest VMI cutter technology. Robots are used for the handling of the steel belt strips. The cut steel belt strip is picked from the table and placed on the assembly conveyor. The position of the edge of the previous stroke is measured by a laser spot, before the next stroke is placed by the robot for accurate positioning and butt splicing.

An optional gum strip applicator unit is used to apply onto and to fold strips around a belt coming from the splicing conveyor.

The produced steel belts are wound-up in a wind-up configuration depending on customer requirements.

The user friendly and intuitive VMI CORTEXX HMI gives the operator full control over the production process.