Face Mask Making Machine Course: The Completely Manual

This is a list of all questions and answers about the use of face mask making machines. They will help you to understand the classification of face mask making machines, the production process of face mask making machines, the validation of face mask making machines, the commissioning and maintenance of face mask making machines, etc. So, before you build your face mask making machine production line, please read this guide.

• What is a face mask making machine?
• The application classification of face mask making machine
• The process of face mask making machine machine
• Face mask making machine specification
• Face mask making machine verification
• Face mask making machine debugging technology
• Face mask making machine maintenance

What is a face mask making machine?

Face mask making machine is a process of manufacturing various masks with certain filtration performance from multi-layer non-woven fabric through hot pressing, folding and forming, ultrasonic welding, waste removal, ear band nose strip welding, etc. The mask manufacturing machine production line is not a single machine, it requires multiple machines and equipments to cooperate with each other to complete various different processes.

At present, there are many different types of mask machines on the market, the more popular ones are mainly four kinds: flat face mask making machine, folding face mask making machine, fish face mask making machine and cup face mask making machine, in addition, there is a wide earloop face mask making machine specially for high speed production, the speed can reach 250pcs/min.

1 Flat face mask making machine / surgical face mask making machine

Flat face mask making machine is also called surgical face mask making machine, according to the customer’s demand to replace part of the mold can realize a variety of specifications of the mask piece, can be used for daily protection mask, medical surgical mask and other places.

After debugging, the face mask making machine has an output of 110pcs/min. The raw material device is placed on the feeding frame and the face mask making machine runs automatically, only need one person to operate, which completely realizes the whole automatic production.

2 Folding face mask making machine / N95 face mask making machine

Folding face mask making machine, also called C-type face mask makking machine, according to the different raw materials used, the masks produced can reach different standards such as FFP1, FFP2, N95, etc. The masks have good filtration effect and can be applied to construction, mining and other high pollution industries.

Features of folding face mask making machine

• PLC automatic control, automatic counting.
• Simple adjustment device, easy to change material.
• High degree of automation, easy and quick operation, high production efficiency.
• Photoelectric detection, high reliability, good welding effect, low failure rate.

3 KF94 face mask making machine

KF94 face mask making machine, fish design face mask making machine, is a fully automatic face mask making machine for KF94 standard or DS2 standard mask production, which can produce different standards of masks according to the raw materials used.

KF94 face mask making machine, controlled by PLC programming, can do mask embossing, folding, perforation and edge cutting in one time, which does not deform during production and can minimize material waste, and effectively ensure the quality of the face mask.

4 High-speed wide earloop face mask making machine

High speed wide earloop face mask making machine is specially developed by TESTEX to meet the requirements of high speed mask production line with a speed of up to 250pcs/min.

• Performance Features: the biggest advantage is one-process forming, do not need earloop welding machine to save labor costs, materials to finished in one set of machine.
• Fast and efficient: 250 masks per minute(Stable running).
• Convenient and intuitive to use: user-friendly design, self-adjustment system producing qualified masks.

The face masks produced by these face mask making machines can be used for daily protection, medical protection and industrial protection. The common types and uses of masks are shown in the table below.

Type	Labor Protection Masks	Medical Masks
Standard	EN149: 2001+A1 NIOSH Standards (Title 42 CFR Part 84) GB 2626	EN 14683 Type Ia, Type II, Type IIR ASTM F2100 Level 1, level 2, level 3 YY/T 0969, YY 0469, GB19083
Mask Level	EU: FFP1, FFP2, FFP3 USA: N, R, P series China: KN, KP series	Each of the three Chinese standards represents three levels, and Europe and the United States are writing the three levels into one standard. Different levels are used for different risk levels.
Application	Used in construction, industry and other polluting industries to filter particulate matter.	Used in the medical industry to prevent blood penetration, liquid penetration, and filter bacteria.
Remarks	Washable and sterilizable	No expiration valves, no cleaning.

The process of face mask making machine

To understand the process of mask manufacturing machine production line, let’s start with the composition structure of the mask itself. Common medical masks are mainly composed of three layers of non-woven fabric, the inner layer is ordinary non-woven fabric, the outer layer is a non-woven fabric with waterproof treatment, which is mainly used to isolate the liquid sprayed by the patient, and the middle layer is the main filter material, commonly used polypropylene meltblown fabric material.

Whether it is a flat face mask making machine, or N95 face mask making machine, KF94 face mask making machine, from the process point of view, the production process of face mask making machine is mainly divided into four parts: incoming material part, mask body part, ear loop welding part and disinfection packaging part.

Incoming material part

The incoming material part mainly refers to incoming material inspection, selecting the corresponding specification of non-woven fabric for the type of face mask to be produced, and installing it on the material holder.

Mask body part

The mask body forming part is a more important step of the face mask making machine, the focus is to ensure that the mask is folded into shape, the position of the nose bridge strip is adjusted, and the mask wrap edge is flat.

Earloop welding part

This step is the key to the quality of the face mask. The difficulty of earloop welding is how to ensure the accuracy of the welding position, the solidity of the welding, and the flatness of the ear strap folding for automated packaging.

UV sterilization and packaging

This is the last part of the face mask making machine and the preparation work before mask boxing. It mainly refers to the printing of mask logo, individual packaging of individual masks, UV sterilization, mask boxing, mask crating and so on, which can be selected according to the requirements.

In addition, medical masks, using ethylene oxide sterilization, after sterilization, there will be ethylene oxide residue on the mask, must be released through the analysis of the residual ethylene oxide, to reach the safety content standards, after testing qualified to sell.

Face mask making machine specification

The specification features of different types of face mask making machines are different. Before the production of face mask making machine, we need to know the size, automation, capacity and other related features of the face mask making machines.

Size of the face mask making machine

You will look at the machine in terms of the size and weight of the face mask making machine you need. You will size based on production capacity as well as the size of your production plant. The face mask making machine must fit well into your production floor.

Power requirements

This relates to the power that will flow through the face mask making machine to allow it to operate. You will also determine the power supply specifications and rating based on the area where you will be using the face mask making machine.

Degree of automation

In this case, you will look at the face mask making machine in terms of the degree of automation. You can have manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic surgical face mask making machines. The higher the degree of automation, the easier and faster the operation and the more efficient the production.

Production speed

You must understand the number of masks you need the face mask making machine to produce per minute, but of course the prerequisite for ensuring the speed is that the face mask making machine can run stably.

In theory, when the speed is within a certain range, the operation of the face mask making machine can be stable, but once the speed exceeds a certain threshold, the operation of mask making machine will easily go out of order and create various problems. (The speed of the face mask making machine refers to **pcs/min)

If the speed is too small, the output can’t keep up, and if the speed is too large, the machine operation is unstable and the quality is not guaranteed. Therefore, we need to find the speed range that can guarantee the output and quality. After experience and customer feedback, it is generally found that when the speed is in the range of 80pcs/min~100pcs/min, the speed and stability of the face mask making machine reach a perfect fit.

Face mask making machine validation

To prove that the face mask making machine meets the production operation requirements as well as the stability of operation, and to ensure that the masks produced meet the quality requirements, the face mask making machine needs installation qualification (IQ), operation qualification (OQ), and performance qualification (PQ).

Judgment criteria

Installation Qualification: Face mask making machine should have the technical data filed complete, the installation in line with the actual design requirements.

Operation Qualification: After installation qualification, under the idling of the face mask making machine, the test equipment parts should be intact performance, operation of each controller should be flexible and effective, and can fully meet the specified technical indicators and use requirements.

Performance Qualification: After being put into use, the operation and production quality of the face mask making machine can meet the requirements of the production process.

Verification Content

Installation Qualification

The technical data such as the instruction manual and certificate of conformity of the face mask making  machine are complete and filed.

Mask making machine installation around there should be enough space for activities, easy to operate, the ground should be solid, flat, etc.

Check all the instruments and meters related to the face mask making machine, whether they are normal and effective.

The parts of the face mask making machine in direct contact with the mask should be made of stainless steel, which will not cause pollution to the mask and meet the requirements of the production process.

The electric power supply of the face mask making machine is normal, the pipeline direction is safe and reasonable, and the electric wire is not aging and other phenomena.

Record the above information and establish documentation.

Operation Qualification

Idle the face mask making machine and test whether the operation of the face mask making machine is normal and smooth, and whether the performance of each part should be intact and can fully meet the specified technical indicators and use requirements.

Check whether all control switches of the face mask making machine can be used flexibly.

Check the fixed condition of the face mask making machine, there should be no obvious vibration or displacement.

Check whether the motors of the face mask making machine are running normally and there is no abnormal sound.

Check whether the safety chain device of the face mask making machine is sensitive and effective.

Run the face mask making machine according to the operation procedures and confirm the feasibility of the standard operation procedures.

Performance Qualification

Actual production operation, check and confirm that the technical indicators of the face mask making machine meet the production process requirements and GMP requirements.

Production in accordance with the production process, check every 5 minutes during the production process whether the control of ultrasonic heat bonding quality p quantity, cutting size, etc. meets the production process requirements.

The mask is free of black spots, stains, breakage and other unqualified phenomena.

All changes and deviations generated during the verification process should be counted into the verification report, and the relevant parties should be sought to help solve the problem. In addition, the face mask making machine must be verified again after overhaul, change of site or change of main technical parameters, and verified once a year.

Face mask making machine debugging technology

Fabric raw material

In terms of fabric raw material, the width and thickness of meltblown fabric and non-woven fabric will directly affect the normal use of the face mask making machine. As an example, in the actual production process, if the fabric is wide, then it may exceed the shaping range of the machine during the shaping process and encounter many problems in the process of wrapping the nose strip. In extreme cases, the resulting defective rate will be more than 50%, and a lot of time, energy and materials will be lost in the process of debugging, which is very terrible.

If the shaping is not done well, it may lead to poor mask folding, nose-clip line folding piling up folds, insufficient press fit welding out of the body forming, or not finishing the welding action of sealing the edges, which is a common phenomenon in mask production. In all the factors that cause bad, the bad rate caused by the problem of shaping accounts for 40%-60%.

Earloop welding

The elasticity, thickness, and round and flat ribbon of the earloop all interfere greatly with the actual production process yields.

The debugging of the earloop welding of the face mask making machine requires patience and care. If the debugging is not good, in actual production, it is easy to have various small problems such as not pulling the wire, not cutting the wire, poor welding, partial welding, welding through, failing the tensile strength test, etc., producing a large number of defective products.

The design of the face mask making machine is the biggest factor that affects the stability and yield of the earloop welding. At present, I have seen three kinds of earloop welding machine structure, but no matter it is linear taping type or reciprocating taping type, or rotary taping type, all have their own corresponding characteristics. TESTEX face mask making machine has improved the mask machine from the way of earloop conveying, which greatly reduces the difficulty of earloop welding debugging.

Surgical mask making machine debugging problem summary

• Scattered lines during nose clips installation
• Blockage of nose clips
• Wrinkles in the nose clips
• Uneven feeding of mask fabric
• Wrinkled mask press sheet
• Deformation of the mask after the mask body is pressed
• Mask body cannot be completely cut off
• Abnormal feeding of earloop welding machine – width adjustment of feeding rail
• Abnormal feeding of earloop welding machine – sensor adjustment
• Earloop hanging thread problem – pushing the clip claw is not in place
• Track width and ultrasonic die position adjustment
• Earloop welding quality adjustment
• Adjustment of rotating zero position of earloop holder
• Adjustment of earloop scissors position
• Earloop hanging wire problem – Insufficient welding time
• Poor earloop welding – Insufficient cylinder pressure
• Mask waveform wheel adjustment
• Face mask folding parts installation adjustment
• Adjustment of nose clips feeding and cutting mechanism
• Face mask width adjustment
• ……

Face mask making machine maintenance

After we understand the operation and commissioning of the face mask making machine above, we will talk about the way we should maintain the face mask making machine by what kind of maintenance.

1 Appearance

Face mask making machine production of the mask is to wear on the face, some medical surgical mask is required to bring into the operating room, so to keep the face mask making machine clean and tidy. At the end of a day of production, the face mask making machine should be properly cleaned, you can use alcohol or other disinfection easy to evaporate cleaning solution.

The face mask making machine cannot stick to easily corrosive liquids and objects, sweat is very easy to cause the equipment parts to rust, if the face mask making machine does not operate for a long time, then you need to apply anti-rust oil to the transmission system of the mask and the parts that are easy to rust.

2 Transmission system

The transmission system includes motor, gear, reducer, sprocket, chain, conveyor belt and other components. Check whether there is dust on the surface of the motor that affects heat dissipation, whether the gears and sprockets are oiled or fixed, whether the chain tightness is suitable, and whether there are foreign objects? Are the connecting screws of each transmission part loose? Is the lubricant of the reducer sufficient? Normally the lubricant must be changed every 1000 hours to 1500 hours.

3 Electrical system

Electrical control box and equipment vents are away from water, corrosive gas vapors, dust, and regular cleaning of compressed air connections to dust. Check whether the circuit connector of the face mask making machine is loose, whether the main power line, branch signal line, etc. are worn, aged and loose? Whether the electric box is clean and monotonous, whether the exhaust fan is working properly, etc.

Regularly test the insulation of the equipment, electrical components that are prone to aging, regularly check the ground wire to ensure that the equipment is properly grounded for this project will have a professional experienced electrician. Periodically test the power supply voltage of the equipment to confirm compliance with the requirements to avoid instability in high or low power long-term work.

4 Ultrasonic system

Check whether the ultrasonic system (consisting of ultrasonic electric box, ultrasonic transducer, welding head and connection line) is clean and the connection line is firm, especially the ultrasonic electric box, ultrasonic transducer and welding head need waterless cleaning. Check the wear and tear of the ultrasonic welding head of the N95 face mask making machine frequently. Check carefully whether the pointer of the voltmeter and ammeter on the ultrasonic electric box is normal.

The above is the details of the use of the face mask making machine tutorial, due to the conditions, may not be able to answer all your doubts, if you buy face mask making machine of TESTEX, please contact our after-sales staff, we will bring you professional answers.