Once again, the K 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, lived up to its claim to be the leading trade show for plastics technology. At least in the field of injection molding, there were exciting global innovations to see – if you looked closely.

Injection Molding Trends at K 2019

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Schaumspritzgießen

Smart Factory

Energieeffizienz

Mikrospritzgießen

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Spritzgießmaschinen, allgemein

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Spritzgießmaschinen

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Fließpressen

Handling, Handhabungstechnik für die spanende Fertigung

Automatisierungstechnik

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Spritzgießsimulation

Software

Simulation

Elastomer-Spritzgießen

Linearroboter für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrieroboter

Montagetechnik

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrie 4.0

Montage-Spritzgießen

Knickarmroboter

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Hybrid-Spritzgießen (Metall / Kunststoff)

Ressourcenmanagement

Produktion

Technical Excellence thanks  to Digital Assistance

The new Reverse Cube developed by Foboha manufactures various components or multi-component parts from varying materials in one step and assembles individual parts into finished products independently from the cycle time using an integrated handling robot. The automated process improves quality, accelerates cycle times by up to 40 % compared to separate injection molding and assembly processes, and thus enables substantial productivity gains at lower costs.

Manufacturing and Installing Multi-Component Parts on a Two-Part Cube Mold

Montage

Steuern, Regeln

Werkzeugtemperatursensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Heißkanalsysteme

Komponenten für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Reverse Rotation

After a year’s forced break of Fakuma, Wittmann Battenfeld is announcing the new servohydraulic SmartPlus machine as the highlight of this year’s trade show. It is claimed to be characterized by high economic and energy efficiency and repeat accuracy.

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

Spritzprägen

Injection Molding Innovations In-House, Live and in Color

Over past months, many in-house workflows and development processes have slowed down and also changed. Nevertheless, time has not stood still, also not in injection molding technology. The debate and development have been shaped by two themes: digitalization and the circular economy. Below are some examples of developments and projects that underpin this trend.

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Folientechnik (IMD, IML, FIM, u.a.)

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

Machine Learning / Künstliche Intelligenz für die spanende Fertigung

Industrie 4.0 für die spanende Fertigung

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Lasermarkieren

Oberflächentechnik

Laserbearbeitungen

Inline- / Online-Messsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Kreislaufwirtschaft

There Is More beyond the Horizon

In contrast to recent years, when particular key themes often dominated the fair exhibits of the leading injection molding machine builders, this year’s Fakuma will present more combinations of many different competences in complex production cells. Thus, Industry 4.0 not only takes slowly concrete shape, but is put into context with peripherals and controls in the development of new series. 

Re-Inventing Injection Molding Holistically  

Servomotoren

Instandhaltung, Wartung in der spanenden Fertigung

ERP-Systeme

Polyurethan

Additive Fertigung

Gasinjektionstechnik

Temperiertechnik

Reinraumsysteme / -technik

Machines as the Heart of Production 

The announcements in the field of injection molding give the impression that the developments of recent years are continuing. These include the increasing digitalization of injection molding production, as well as highly integrated production cells that combine very different competencies. The spotlight shines not only on the machinery, but rather on optimum system solutions for integrating molds and individually configured peripheries in the digital and the real world. 

Fakuma 2018: Injection Molding Networked and Integrated 

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Treibmittel

The Communicative Machine 

Making a racket is part of the trade. In the past, tradesmen would do this at markets by swinging wooden rattles to attract attention. Today, instead, it is the industry which is trying to make its developments heard and accepted, for example at trade fairs and in the media. What has injection molding technology had to offer recently, aside from Industry 4.0? The answer is process developments that in the main expand the range of applications for plastic parts, mechanical assistance systems that enable consistently high part quality to be achieved more reliably, and the huge field of temperature control. 

New Ways to Attain Special Part Properties Are Advancing the Art of Injection Molding 

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Making a Racket for Plastics  

CAD Werkzeug-, Formenbau

Einpressverbindungen, Gewinde, Bolzen

Normteile

Maschinenelemente

Extrusion

Gehäuse aus Kunststoff

Kühlkörper

Elektromechanik

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Thermoplaste

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Lohnfertigung

Dienstleistungen

Lager

Produkt- / Formteildesign

Teile nach Muster

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Werkzeug- und Formenbau

Werkzeug-, Formen- und Modellbau

ALKAZ Sp. z o.o. Sp. K.

A year to forget is nearing its completion. To brighten up this dreary fall season without a major event like Fakuma, injection molding machine builders have concocted various strategies.

Injection Molding Machine Builders Are Discovering New Ways to Reach Their Customers

Vernetzung / Cloudlösung für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Schneidmühlen

Silikonkautschuk

Kautschuk / Elastomere

What Can You Do at Fall Fairtime,  When There Aren’t Any?

The required screw diameter can be ascertained on the basis of the shot volume. The formula for the average residence time can be used to estimate the degree of utilization and the thermal load on the material.

Part 1 of the Series Discusses the Basic Design of a Plasticizing Unit and the Correct Choice of Injection Unit

All about Plasticizing Screws

Infrared heating technology has become established as the standard in the processing of thermoplastic composite materials. The focus is on process control. On the one hand, it is important that the heating process is fast, on the other hand, the material must not be overheated. It is also important to achieve excellent temperature homogeneity. Simultaneous processing of blanks with different thicknesses is a particular challenge.

Efficient and Precise Heating up of Thermoplastic Composites

Infrarotstrahler

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Software-Based Control of IR Ovens

To be able to carry out the practical test in a resource-saving manner, the designers use simulation tools to assess the screw geometry. What is important here is explained using a 3-zone screw as an example.

Part 2 of the Series Deals with Basic Methods for Evaluating a Screw Geometry

The new injection-molding machine Engel duo speed combines productivity and efficiency with short cycle times in a high clamping force range. The two-platen machine is thus making inroads into a range of packaging applications that were formerly the domain of toggle machines.

Engel Duo Speed Expands the Machine Portfolio for Packaging Applications

High-Speed Machine with a  Small Footprint

In the second part of the series, calculations were carried out on the throughput behaviour, pressure build-up capacity and the melting process on the basis of an exemplary geometry. These results are now to be examined in more detail and subsequently optimized.

Part 3 of the Series Deals with the Tests to Optimize the Screw Geometry

iQ process observer, the new process monitoring platform from Engel monitors hundreds of parameters from the injection molding cell in the background.

A Process Monitoring Platform Monitors Several Hundred Parameters Simultaneously

Prozessvisualisierung

Condition Monitoring / Prozessüberwachung

Instandhaltung

IoT-Plattformen für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

An Eye on the Process –  a Handle on Quality

The area of application of cube molds has expanded to take in the production of technical parts. The new Allrounder Cube 1800 from Arburg with a clamping force of 1800 kN is providing the response to this trend. With its compact cube, this machine completes the portfolio of products at the lower end of the range.

Innovative cube technology is reducing cycle time. Previously, Arburg’s hybrid cube series had been primarily intended for efficient high-volume production in the packaging industry. The area of application of cube molds has since expanded to take in the production of technical parts. The new Allrounder Cube 1800 with a clamping force of 1800 kN is providing the response to this trend. With its compact cube, this machine completes the portfolio of products at the lower end of the range. It is able to significantly reduce unit costs even when producing parts in low volumes. Its potential can be illustrated using the example of a two-component product from the field of personal care.

Despite high mold investment costs, the innovative cube technology quickly pays for itself. This is because it can significantly improve productivity – and it can do this in many different industries. The compact Allrounder Cube 1800 is particularly suitable for the cost-effective production of technical and medical products, for example, as well as for personal care products.

The hybrid Allrounder Cube 1800 has a clamping force of 1800 kN and a distance between tie-bars of 570 x 570 mm. It can be equipped with horizontal injection units in sizes from 400 to 1300 and moving injection units in sizes from 70 to 800. At its heart is a compact cube from partner company Foboha, which is easily accessible from above. The rotation of the cube is powered servo-electrically and the horizontal movement relies on rack and pinion mechanisms.

Fitted with an 8+8-cavity mold, for example, the Allrounder Cube 1800 is capable of more than double the output quantity of a conventional size 570 Allrounder with a 4+4-cavity rotary mold working with the same mold mounting surface. Or the same output as at least two Allrounders with comparable tie-bar spacing or one injection molding machine three numbers larger – which drastically reduces the installation area.

Bichrome Sealing Caps made from Recycled PP

An Allrounder Cube 1800 with two injection units in sizes 400 and 170 demonstrates an example of application for the personal care area of application involving a 4-cavity pilot mold from Foboha: each injection unit can produce four bichrome sealing caps made from chemically recycled PP from Borealis in a cycle time of 8.7 s. Four frames each weighing 0.85 g are injected at station one. Having been rotated 90° onto the passive side of the cube, the pre-molded parts are cooled at station two. Following a second rotation, the second component (2.10 g) is injected at station three. Finally, the finished parts are removed automatically at station four, also without influencing the cycle time.

The example application involves the use of a six-axis robot which is fully integrated in the machine controller. The robot system sets the finished parts down on a conveyor belt. The controller runs a check for defective injection molded parts and any that are identified as not OK are removed by the robot system. Furthermore, test samples can be removed at the touch of a button and set down in QA trays sorted by cube side for subsequent visual inspection of the injection molded parts.

The Allrounder Cube hybrid series combines speed and precision with reliability and energy efficiency. The machines are available with clamping forces of 1800, 2900 and 4600 kN. Injection molding in two sequential mold parting lines takes place at the same time as cooling and removal. Just using the passive sides of the cube as a cooling station can reduce cooling time by 30 %.

Other processes that do not influence cycle time (including loading inserts, unscrewing, the assembly of individual components, integrated checks and automated parts removal, for example) enable cost-effectiveness to be increased further beyond that of conventional free-fall packaging applications. In some circumstances, one Allrounder Cube can replace several conventional injection molding machines and reduce footprints by up to 75 %. Its energy requirement is up to 45 % lower compared with that of conventional Cube machines.

Close Cooperation between Arburg and Foboha

In matters of cube technology, Arburg works in close collaboration with Foboha, a mold specialist based in Haslach, Germany, and an established expert in its field. Combined with a “smart” machine controller, the modularity of the Allrounder Cube series delivers high levels of flexibility and can be perfectly matched to the mold technology. The robotic systems that are increasingly being used can also be integrated into the controller.

At Arburg, an interdisciplinary cube team consisting of colleagues from application technology, sales and automation to achieve very specific targets in the delivery of all aspects of “the cube”. This means that customers who are interested in cube-mold technology can get custom-made complete solutions from a single source. They include special designs like reverse cube technology with counter-rotating cube halves and cube machines for three-component injection molded parts.

FOBOHA GmbH  

https://www.advaltech.com

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG  

https://www.arburg.com

At the heart of the cube machine is a compact cube designed by our partner Foboha which can be easily accessed from above. The rotation of the cube is powered servo-electrically and the horizontal movement relies on rack and pinion mechanisms

2021-08-03 Arburg_Cube

In this cube-mold technology, the injection molding of the pre-molded part and the finished part, as well as cooling and removal, take place simultaneously. Just using the passive sides of the cube as a cooling station can reduce cooling time by 30 %

The hybrid Allrounder Cube 1800 with compact cube mold achieves more than double the output quantity of a conventional machine of the same size with rotary mold