2017-2018 Exhibitions
Technology at Fakuma
Also, download this story from the electronic issue here
- Having unveiled a 650-tonne Allrounder 1120H hybrid at the K2016 show, with an electric toggle clamp and servohydraulic injection with gas accumulator, Germany-based Arburg will introduce the second model, the 500- tonne Allrounder 920H. The 1120H model, which has been tested by pilot customers and is ready for sale, will form part of an innovative turnkey solution, producing the familiar folding step stool in the Arburg design in a cycle time of 60 seconds. The eight individual parts will be handled by a Multilift V 40 linear robotic system and assembled ready for use by means of a six-axis robot and assembly station, as well as the new Gestica control system
- Arburg will also demonstrate its latest Industry 4.0 data networking on a vertical Allrounder 375V with a four-cavity mould, moulding elastic exercise bands. Visitors will choose between different band lengths and colours, as well as end pieces in hook/hook, hook/ eyelet, or eyelet/eyelet combinations. The selection among the corresponding cavities and hot-runner nozzles is controlled by means of slides, and the rubber band inserts are handled by a six-axis robot. Arburg says such a single-unit flexible production is ideal for producing automotive cable assemblies.
- As was shown at K2016, Arburg will also mould wristwatches using two colours and durometers of LSR for the wrist straps; while a thinwall packaging version of the Allrounder 570H will mould four PP IML tubs in less than 2-second cycles. Two Freeformer 3D printers will be running, showing off an expanded range of materials, including the first-ever processing of PP and brand-new armat 12 water-soluble support resin for use with PP.
- Engel Austria will demonstrate a new model E-mac
280, an expansion of what it says is its economically
priced, general-purpose line, suited to technical parts and
electronic components. The machine will run a four-cavity
mould for 40-pole connector housings of glass-filled PBT.
It will demonstrate three software packages for real-time
process control: iQ weight control (introduced in 2012),
which maintains constant shot size and compensates for
changes in the material or environmental conditions;
iQ clamp control (2015), which continuously adjusts clamp force to save energy and protect mould life,
while minimising flash; and the new iQ flow control
(2016), which regulates mould temperature-control units
according to the needs of the process. - Engel will also present the first applications for automotive exterior components using in-mould coating with clear liquid PU, which has up till now been targeted at interior decorative elements and electronic functional components. Engel’s clearmelt process moulds the thermoplastic substrate and then coats it in a second cavity. The process can be combined with IML to avoid any post-mould finishing or decorating. Hennecke in Germany will provide the integrated two-component PU mixing/dispensing system.
- For LSR, Engel will demonstrate real-time shot-size control with its iQ weight control software on a tiebarless Victory press running LSR in a 16-cavity mould.
- Wittmann Battenfeld will show its electric EcoPower,
which it launched in 2009, with improved features,
such as faster closing speed (up to 1,400 mm/second)
by using a rack-and-pinion drive for the clamping unit,
allowing for minimal transmission loss and maintenance.
Meanwhile, the sliding safety gate, which runs on rails,
provides easier access to the auger clutch and facilitates
screw change. The barrel heater plugs are integrated in
the machine
frame. As an
option, hot
runner control
boxes can
be mounted
inside the
mould
space, and
shockproof
sockets
as well as
interfaces for
the metering
device directly
on the injection unit. The Unilog B8 control system runs
under Windows 10 IoT, with a 21.5” Full-HD multi-touch.
- US firm Milacron will have various displays including an electric Elektron EVO 110, with a four-cavity Zahoransky medical syringe insert mould, clean room compliant system, operating in a cycle time of 14 seconds. Others are the Magna Toggle Servo 200, with a single-cavity automotive surface sample mould from Wirth Molds; a Mold-Masters TempMaster M1 controller, utilising Trexel’s Mucell system for physical foaming with SGI process in a 52 second cycle time. Also on display will be a Ferromatik 360 model, with Mold-Masters Master- Series hot runner with a fully integrated TempMaster iM2 controller, four-cavity packaging container mould and in-mould labeling technology from Müller in a 4-second cycle time.
- Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery will highlight its latest all-electric IntElect series, El-Exis SP, and a multi-component Systec Multi machine with an Industry 4.0 application. In the 50-tonne El-Exis, moulding PA bobbins, the mould is provided by Siemens, while material is supplied by Motan Colortronic. In the 200-tonne El-Exis SP 200-920, the production cell will produce decorative lids for food containers. SHI is presenting this exhibit in a joint project with Rouxel as the injection compression mould manufacturer, robot specialist Machines Pagès, label supplier Verstraete as well as Borealis as the polyolefin supplier.
- Japan’s Fanuc will exhibit three of its all-electric Robotshots. A 150-tonne in a fully automated production cell will demonstrate automotive parts with light conductor in a two-component process. It will feature a vertical SI-20iA injection unit, integrated in a Robotech Plastic-Mate production cell. The parts will be produced in BASF’s Macrolon PC in a Weber two-cavity turntable mould. Part removal will be carried out by a Fanuc LR-Mate 6-axis industrial robot combined with a linear axis as well as an iRVision integrated visual control station in a cycle time of 57 seconds. The second 130-tonne model will undertake LSR processing while the third exhibit, a 30-tonne model with an M-1iA robot, will produce smartphone precision connectors in LCP. A highlight in the LSR process is the turnkey system with a Nexus Robotshot LSR, an in-house mould with the Timeshot cold-runner control supplemented by the integration of two dosing systems featuring Splitnex technology. The material, Elastosil 3066/60 LSR, is supplied by Wacker Chemical.
- Swiss company Netstal will
unveil a co-injection process
for moulding three-layer
coffee capsules with
IML, on an all-electric,
120-tonne twocomponent
Elion. It
mounted auxiliary injector
from Plasdan Portugal, equipped
with a four-cavity test mould
from Fostag Switzerland in a
4.9-second cycle time. The IML
automation is from Beck and
labels from Verstraete. Finished
parts will be stacked and an IMD Vista optical inspection
system integrated with the removal robot to check the
position and thickness of the EVOH barrier. Finally, the
Nespresso-compatible capsules will be stored in bulk in a
container.
- Germany’s KraussMaffei will show off its new collaboration with mould maker Roctool, demonstrating extremely fine mould-surface replication and the wide range of decorative effects possible without secondary processes, using Roctool’s “HD Plastics” technology for heat/cool moulding with induction heating. KraussMaffei will mould 16 different surface effects, ranging from high gloss to matte, colour shading, and hologram effects, in one 16-cavity mould, on a two-platen, 200-tonne servohydraulic CX-200, which it introduced at the K2016 show.
- Other exhibits include two versions of its modular
PX all-electric series, also introduced at K2016. A 160-
tonne model will produce thinwall PP closures in a
configuration of faster injection and ejection, plus higher
torque and faster nozzle movement. A second CX
55-tonne SilcoSet model will produce LSR lenses with
micro-fine surface structure. It will also demonstrate the
APC plus control software (debuted at K2016), which
uses stored material data to assist in achieving uniform
part weight. APC plus also compensates for any potential
preliminary
crosslinking
of the
silicone,
says the
machine
maker.
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