May 2008

INDUSTRY NEWS

Arburg breaks its own record

With more than 4,100 visitors at its open house in Lossburg, Germany, held from 3-5 April this year, Arburg says the annual event has become akin to a “trade fair”. Aside from the high turnout, which is the highest in its records, the company also entertained visitors from the Asia Pacific region, especially from China, Thailand, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia.

The Technology Days event focused on the company’s theme for the year, which is “energy efficiency all-round”. This is labelled on its electric Allrounder A, hydraulic Allrounder S advance and Allrounder with electro-mechanical drive to indicate that these machines are energy efficient.

Of the more than 50machines on display, one of the highlights was the Exjection process shown  on the new 50tonne Allrounder 375Vvertical machine. The process was demonstrated using moulds from Austrian tool maker IB Steiner and was moulding products for Hybrid Composite Products. Exjection can be used to produce long, thinwall and structured components from viscous plastics. End caps and functional geometries can be formed with the profile.

The tandem mould process was presented on the new 200 tonne Allrounder 570S to manufacture a container with a lid made from PP. The1+1-cavity mould has two parting lines that are opened alternately for demoulding purposes. In addition to the Tandem Mould software, two core pulls and six heating circuits were installed for heating the mould. A 50 second cycle time was recorded for the 183 g and 83 g items comprising the lids and a container.

In the electric range, an Allrounder 570A with a 1300 size hydraulic injection moulding unit was presented. A hydraulic injection unit is now available for all the electricmachines to render a higher injection speed and material output as well as fast cycles. This means that the 570Acan also be used for applications where the performance requirements exceed the capabilities of the largest electric size800 injection unit.

As for the Golden Edition range, a new vertical Allrounder 1200T1000 rotary table machine was presented. Suitable for the production of inserts and encapsulated parts, this machine boasts reduced cycle times as a result of the servo electric drive for the rotary table. Furthermore, the provision of a light curtain as standard enables faster pick-uptimes as one operation is eliminated.

Italians look East

Brescia-based rubber injection moulding and vertical press maker MIRh as been acquired by HT Italy. A distributor for Haitian machinery, HT Italy was setup in 2003 to market the Chinese injection moulding machines in Europe.

Following on the heels of HT Brescia, second hand machinery specialist Ripress will launch its first machine for the European market in a collaboration with Ningbo-based Liguang. Ripress will purchase semi-assembled components from injection moulding machinery producer Liguang and add on its own electrical systems and components, thereby resulting in 30% cost savings. The five models, from 90 to 260 tonnes, will be equipped with variable flow pumps with closed loop controls.

Meanwhile, the troubled Italian machine manufacturer Sandretto seems to have more problems. Early this year, the Italian government extended its support for the ailing company by another three months as the search for a buyer continued but now the European Commission (EC) has announced that it is investigating the rescue aid package from the Italian government, which it says has over extended. The EC approved a state guarantee of EUR5 million in January 2007 but this was limited to a maximum of six months. Previously owned by the Cannon Group, Sandretto was sold to Taylor’s HPM in 2005.

Multi-component shades

Dual material components were used for a portable shade system from US company Too Kool Recreation, which can be used not only in a swimming pool but also on cars and RVs. RTP formulated a glass fibre-reinforced PP compound for the structural component (for the locking lever and pivot points), to allow it to withstand high pressure, while the suction cup is made from a UV stabiliser-modified TPE. This allows the Kool Klamps to be used without any metal screws or pins in the pivot points.

RTP says that both the moulding technique and material selection were essential to the success of the Kool Klamp, which has been expanded into other products such as a volleyball set and industrial utility applications. Moulder Rolco utilised its multi-shot moulding capabilities to ensure a mechanical and chemical bond between the TPE and glass-reinforced compound.

Plastic antenna for mobiles

Previously made of ceramic, BASF and South Korean EMW Antenna have innovated what they say is the first plastic chip antenna for GPS and Bluetooth mobile phones. Using a new laser-structurable Ultramid PA from BASF, the crystalline/aromatic high-temperature 6/6T material is 10% glass fibre and 25% mineral filler-reinforced for metallisation. The new material is said to render improvements over ceramic as it has a wider frequency range and shows lower VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio), with cost savings through a lower defect rate.

A three-step process, Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) uses a laser to draw a circuit onto the surface of a moulded part. At the heart of the process is a plastic that contains a laser-sensitive metal complex, compounded in the polymer with other additives. The non-conductive metal complex does not affect the polymer's dielectric properties and when it is exposed to 1064 nm infrared laser light, it breaks down into copper and residual organic groups. The laser treatment engraves the conductor tracks into the 3D surface and is metallised, yielding an optimal adhesion for the direct integration of electronic circuits. Compared to other methods for producing electronic components, the advantages include greater design freedom, shorter processing, smaller number of different materials needed and flexibility in changing the circuit layouts.