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.

Fig. 1. Smart Operation – the machine is operated with only four buttons (© KraussMaffei)

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

Anyone looking around Fakuma could discover automation solutions to suit any budget and applications of any complexity. The forerunners of Industry 4.0 were also to be seen. 

Fakuma 2017 Offered a Wide Range of Solutions for Flexible Automated Production 

Automatisierungskomponenten

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

Inserttechnik

Handhabungsroboter

From Versatile to Highly Efficient 

Leoni AG of Nuremberg, Germany, is a well-known worldwide supplier of wires, optical fibers, cables, and cable systems. A subsidiary of the group of companies, Leoni Bordnetz-Systeme GmbH, produces four different housings for automobile fuse boxes on an Arburg flexible injection molding system. The challenge here is to reliably process up to forty elements per cycle.  

Leoni Produces Four Housing Versions with One Flexible Turnkey System 

Hybridtechnik

KFZ-Zulieferer

Reliable Connections 

The aim of the project was clear: a highly automated turnkey system must replace several decentralized, operator-guided machines in order to be able to mass produce enclosures for a vacuum sensor with three inserted pins in a way that is smooth, automated and therefore faster than before in large-scale production, and error-free. The plastics processor Goerlich chose the machine manufacturer Arburg as a partner in its goal of achieving greater production efficiency.

All upstream process steps are integrated in a very small space: after the pins have been  punched out (right), a Scara robot places them in the correct position on a loading plate (left) so that the Multilift V robotic system can pick up 24 pins and insert them into the mold

16:9

At Goerlich, a Turnkey Plant Replaces Two Machines with a Vertical Clamping Unit

Automatisierungszellen

A Machine Strategy with  Extra Automation

As an all-inclusive injection molding supplier, the Wittmann Group will also use the Fakuma to showcase its latest innovations in automation and peripherals. In 2019, the Sonic range of robots replaced the high-speed UHS series robots. Sonic robots now come with a new design and are fitted with the latest R9 robot control system.

The Sonic 108 is optimized for fast parts removal in packaging and “pick & place” applications

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

Extensions to Several Robot Series

Injection molding cell combines high article variance with automated product changeover.

With the turnkey solution, 159 product variants can be manufactured.

Flexible Production Concept Combines High Article Variance with Automation

Multiaxialroboter für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

One System, 159 Variants

High quality and reliability standards, together with a passion for detail in solving highly complex tasks – these were the strengths required for the development of a manufacturing concept for gear covers for windshield wiper systems and the construction of the necessary production system.  It had to be based on close cooperation between the Söhner Group and the high-performance plant manufacturer Hekuma. 

A Part Every 7.5 Seconds, Two Million Units per Year – a Model Project for a  High-Performance Injection Molding Line 

Montageeinrichtungen

Elektrische / Magnetische Messtechnik

Optische Mess- und Prüftechnik

Dichtheitsprüfsysteme, Lecksuchsysteme

Qualitätssicherung

The Task of Managing Complexity 

At Fakuma 2021, Engel is expanding its product range of intelligent assistance systems. The new iQ motion control allows Engel viper series linear robots a reliable early start combined with fully automatically optimized motion planning. Users benefit twofold: from a time-saving in teach-in and shorter production cycles.

iQ motion control operates with automatically optimized motion planning

Medizintechnik

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Optimized Motion Planning for Shorter Cycle Times

The aim of this joint project is to develop a production cell in which a rear license plate light can be manufactured with hybrid processes without any additional steps such as bonding. Some of the necessary analyses and pre-testing of the material combinations resulting from the structure of the product – plastic housing and optics plus metal conductive tracks – are presented in this article.

Lighting  solutions on various products. 

Manufacture of a Rear License Plate Light in a Highly Integrated Production Cell

LED / OLED-Systeme und Faseroptik

Lichttechnik

Polymethylmethacrylat

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

Polycarbonat

What Is the Most Suitable  Material Combination?

Pharmaceutical crimp caps generally consist of a thin aluminum sheet and a plastic component, and are used to seal medical vials, for example for vaccines. Through a combined deep-drawing and backmolding process with previous inline laser treatment of the thin aluminum sheet, the process can be significantly shortened. The media-proof joining together of the two materials is carried out through a mechanically interlocking connection.

A crimp cap for injection vials is manufactured in a two-step process.

Combined Deep-Drawing and Backmolding Process with Mechanically Interlocking Joint

Aluminiumlegierungen

Metall Werkstoffe

NE-Metalle

Laserbearbeitungen

Oberflächentechnik

Tiefziehen

Verfahren für die spanlose Fertigung

Simulation Stanzen / Umformen

Laserstrukturieren

Medizinprodukte

Process Chain for the Production of Hybrid Medical Products

The interplay between the physical and virtual process chain permits the fully automatic production of FRP-metal hybrid parts every minute.

Virtualization offers great potential for better understanding of complex manufacturing processes for hybrid parts and shortening development times. The digital twin, in combination with the recorded process parameters of the physical process chain, is intended as an efficient tool for virtual design and optimization for future hybrid processes.

From Simulation to Mass Production of Hybrid Parts

Leichtbau

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

With an Automated Process Chain  and a Digital Twin

Every three years, the showcase of plastics technology, the K fair, takes place, where one can deduce the current state of the industry. What is occupying the experts today, and what will still be flourishing in the future? The following article describes some of the development paths and trends. At the end of the day, there is a lot of tried-and-tested technology that is being continually refined and improved. There were also some innovative and visionary applications to be seen. 

Industry 4.0 Comes to Injection Molding and True Innovations at K 2016 

Instandhaltung

Polyethylenterephthalat

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Mehrfarben-Spritzgießmaschinen

Normalien und Heißkanaltechnik

Spritzprägen

Schäumen / Reaktive Verarbeitung

Injection Molding 4.0 – Visionary and Tried-and-Tested Solutions 

For the production of plastic components for an automotive air suspension system, LKH Kunststoffwerk Heiligenroth GmbH & Co. KG uses two flexible systems from the injection molding machines manufacturer Arburg. These produce up to six part variants and, thanks to an integrated laser station, each part is traceable via an individual data matrix code (DM code).

The gripper of the six-axis robot first removes the finished parts from one of the mold halves. It then places the pre-heated inserts into the opposite mold half

LKH Produces Fully Automated Traceable Part Variants for the Automotive Industry

Laserbeschriftung

Light Suspension

In injection molding, the component weight reflects the process consistency and the component quality. Components are therefore often weighed manually after production or automatically placed on a scale and picked up again. Engel has now developed a high-precision load cell for inline weight measurement that can be integrated directly between the rotary axes and the end-of-arm tooling of a linear robot.

Thanks to the new development, the component weight can be recorded inline

Weight Measuring System Directly on the Robot Ensures Process Quality

Wiege- und Dosiersysteme

Logistik

Verpackungstechnik

Weighing without Time Overhead

The new, 232 m<sup>2</sup> sales and service center in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, unites robot sales, service, parts, and robot-commissioning activities under one roof.

The new sales and service center located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England

Sepro UK to Open New Robot Sales and Service Center

NP Germany: Extraordinary Turnkey System for Automotive Products

NP Germany’s turnkey system around a vertical Arburg injection molding machine takes up a quarter of the production hall.

A more impressive sight is scarcely imaginable: NP Germany’s turnkey system around a vertical Arburg injection molding machine takes up a quarter of the production hall. During operation, six robotic systems dance a ballet to produce a pump impeller for the car coolant pump of an international automotive supplier – a level of fully automated production that was not an everyday occurrence.

Benedikt Niglis, head of project at NP Germany in Brilon, Germany, says he put several years of his professional engineering life into the project. And the result is really something to be proud of, he adds with conviction. The system is used to produce a pump impeller for a high-output car coolant pump, which can be used to cool vehicle components such as battery packs for hybrid vehicles.

One requirement for the turnkey system (Title figure) was to automate as many work steps as possible up to the finished product while maintaining a high level of autonomy through buffers. Another aspect of the system‘s great flexibility is its ability to run processing steps manually and to decouple the two aspects of injection molding and ultrasonic welding so that malfunctions in the welding cell do not lead to an interruption of the injection cycle.

NP Germany, founded in 1851 and member of the Clayens NP Group since 2012, and Arburg decided to integrate a vertical injection molding machine, type Allrounder 1500 T, because the machine‘s vertical mode of operation ensures that the inserts remain precisely positioned in the mold. The cycle time also plays a major role and has been shortened by more than 6 s compared with the horizontal concept. Even with all the different inserts, the electric two-station rotary table, on which there are two identical ejector sides, each with four cavities, saves valuable time as loading takes place at the same time as the spraying cycle.

The vertical machine is the first machine of its kind to be integrated into the production process at NP Germany. Initial concerns due to the complex handling processes were quickly dispelled by working with the Selogica controller, whose user interface was also implemented on the controller of the three Kuka six-axis robots involved in the process. The gradual ramp-up phase is scheduled for the second half of 2021.

Filigree Pockets Filled by High  Injection Flowrates

Two versions of the pump impeller made of PPS with 40 % glass fiber content are produced on the line. They are differentiated by the length of the integrated magnets and punch packs. In this way, the product is divided into two performance classes. Two hot runner molds with needle-type shut-off nozzles and four cavities each stand ready for each version. Before the cycle actually begins, a bearing bush and a rotor pack are inserted into each of the four cavities on the free side of the rotary table, into each of which six magnets have previously been automatically pressed. One special feature is the ejector side of the three-platen molds where, in addition to the mechanical slides, there are ejectors, which are used to precisely position the rotor packs to be overmolded using a core pull after the mold has been closed.

A six-axis robot removes these supply parts from a load carrier on a tray server, positions them correctly and transfers them to a preheating station. A linear robot system (Multilift V 30) collects the rotor packs from the heating station (Fig. 1). Prior to this, the bearing bushes had been received as bulk material. At the end of the cycle, the three-axis robot first removes the molded parts from the rotary table and then loads the cavities with the inserts. Since the punch packs have very filigree pockets through which the material must flow to fill the lower lid, this requires a high injection speed. After the injection molding process, the second handling unit removes the sprue tree.

The molded parts that have been re-moved are transferred to a camera inspection station, which checks their top sides for molding defects. The second six-axis robot takes charge of the parts and guides them to another camera station where their under-sides are also checked (Fig. 2). The molded parts are then placed on a double sliding table and leave the system in the direction of the welding cell. Once there, they are removed from the double sliding table by the third Kuka robot. The robot then collects lids, which are provided as bulk material via a vibratory bowl.

The lids are also turned out in the correct welding position by the six-axis robotic system before collection by a third linear handling system. Before the molded parts are transferred to the welding station (Fig. 3), the finished parts are removed. The six-axis robot then loads the welding station again and packs the finished parts on a load carrier, which is likewise supplied by a tray server. These then go directly to the customer.

Besides the fact that Arburg was able to provide all the components required for the turnkey system in cooperation with proven partners, NP Germany also appreciates “Arburg‘s cooperative approach, the standardized operation of its systems including all peripheral equipment, plus the company‘s swift support, short communication channels and solution-oriented work,” as Benedikt Niglis explains.

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG  

https://www.arburg.com

NP Germany GmbH  

https://www.clayens-np.com

Ausgabenartikel

Benedikt Niglis, head of project (left), and Plant Manager Mario von der Heyde are more than proud of their complex turnkey system

Fig. 1. A Multilift V picks them up, inserts them into the ejector side of the mold and removes the finished parts 

Fig. 2. A six-axis robot feeds the molded parts to the camera inspection (rear area) and sorting and deposits the good parts (front area)

Fig. 3. The transfer points of the six-axis robots, e.g. on the ultrasonic welding system, can also be approached manually during set-up 

Name - Hauptartikel

<b> Andreas Armbruster</b> is head of the Automation & Turnkey Solutions department at Arburg GmbH + Co KG, Lossburg, Germany.