James Ryba
General Manager
Production of the strip joiner began in 1964 as a direct result of a request by the president of Pre-Finish Metals, Inc. of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. At that time, we were buying pre-coated steel coils from them for use in our building panels. He came to us with the need for a joining system in their coil coating line. We then designed and made the first joiner and shipped it to their plant for testing. The results were so satisfactory that production joiners continued on from that date.
The first machines were made with a “fold-over” tab-type (SJ style) stitch which was suitable for mild steel and soft aluminum applications. The first 5 machines were 48″ models shipped to destinations in the USA. The sixth machine was also a 48″ model, but it was our first press placed outside the USA in Ontario, Canada. We produced a total of 43 joiners of the SJ style. The last of these was a 60″ model shipped valve-operated in August of 1971.
In early 1967, we started getting requests to join materials such as “full hard” temper aluminum, copper, brass and hard steels.
In 2017, both the new Tapered “T” punch design and valve operated joiner were released. The Tapered “T” was created for thin, soft materials, valve-operated as it reduces scuffing and fines during the stitch process as well as resists bending and pulling apart when wrapping around rollers. The valve operated joiner reduces the electrical demand for inrush current and motor which in turn extends the motor life and allows smaller breakers and line wires to be used.
Behlen Strip Joiners are designed with operational and maintenance simplicity in mind, providing you with a rugged, efficient joining machine at a lower cost than other joining methods.
A wide range of models to handle coil widths from 12″ (305 mm) to 120″ (2895 mm) and thicknesses from 0.004" (0.1mm) to 0.313" (8mm) are available.
Today, Behlen Custom Fabrication is a proven quality leader in strip joining with more than 925 joiners installed in over 59 countries worldwide.
Part of our quality commitment requires that every strip joiner be inspected and tested with similar material that the joiner will be seeing in your line before it is approved to leave Behlen Mfg. Co.
We are proud to be ISO 9001 certified since 1999. The ISO9001 series of standards assures customers that they will receive a consistent, high level of quality on every order. It means quality is a way of life and must be built into every step of our operation. Achieving ISO 9001 Certification is a result of involved people working together to continually improve our systems and meet or exceed customer expectations.
General Manager
Sr. Product Engineer
Engineer
Engineering Technician