Pipette tips feature a challenging wall thickness/length ratio, an inner geometry that is key for analysis results, and a tip opening just a few tenths of a millimeter wide. They have been in extremely high demand during the coronavirus pandemic, which is why the mold construction and hot runner specialist Männer has developed a mold with an innovative cluster concept.

At the Männer test center in Bahlingen, Germany: an injection mold for manufacturing pipette tips, shown here in operation. Automation of the system is currently being set up

Pipette Tips: Männer Presents a Mold with Replaceable Clusters

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Heißkanalsysteme

Komponenten für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Maintenance During (Nearly)  Uninterrupted Production

In plastics processing, efficient production methods are required, especially for articles with high volumes and exacting quality requirements, and these must be constantly optimized. The container specialist Walther Faltsysteme has been successfully working together with the Austrian moldmaker Haidlmair for many years.

Left: products which are manufactured using the technologies of the Haidlmair Group companies. Right: an application example with folding boxes

Walther Faltsysteme Combines Three Mold Technologies from the Haidlmair Group

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0

Condition Monitoring / Prozessüberwachung

Instandhaltung

Paletten und Behälter

Logistik

Verpackungstechnik

Dienstleistungen

Werkzeug-, Formen- und Modellbau

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

With Broad Sword and Data Collector

Aside from offering high mechanical strength, versatility and durability, polymer materials are ideal for applications in the electrical industry because of their ability to isolate electrical current.

For the conduction cooled MicroTCA systems, Harting processes LCP, a material that is flame-resistant, dimensionally stable at high temperatures, chemically resistant, and has only a low thermal expansion

Connectors for Industrial Lifelines: High-Tech Injection Molding at Harting

Hybridtechnik

Polymere, flüssigkristalline

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

Stanzen

Verfahren für die spanlose Fertigung

Schneiden

Hybrid-Spritzgießen (Metall / Kunststoff)

Steckverbinder

Elektromechanik

Well-Balanced Hot Runner Technology for LCP Processing

For a cutlery series made of a new biopolymer, three full hot runner molds with digital process monitoring were developed in close cooperation with mold maker Uniform and hot runner specialist Ewikon.

The 16-drop family mold on the machine. The removal and packaging of the parts are fully automated

16:9

Complete Digital Hot Runner Solution for Automated Biopolymer Processing

Biokunststoffe

Virtual Reality für die Qualitätssicherung

Process Reliability Is Crucial

A solution, which is unique in Europe, significantly increases productivity and comprises the production from a 12+12 stack mold with fully automated in-mold labeling and removal with visual 100 % inspection of the parts.

Before relocation to the production site, extensive functional tests and the final trial were carried out at the roth technical center

Fully Automated Production Line with Stack Mold and In-Mold Labeling

Award-Winning Packaging Solution Increases Productivity

Starting with the systematic design of manufacturing processes and the precise simulation of part manufacture, through smart tooling technology and sophisticated melt guidance, to efficient mold temperature control, numerous exhibitors have many innovations in the field of tooling technology on offer at K 2019.The current debates concerning marine pollution as well as anthropogenic climate change and its consequences seem to be having an effect at this world-leading trade show for plastics processing in Düsseldorf, Germany. A number of companies are noting the growing customer interest in sustainable, carbon-neutral and resource-efficient modes of production, and offering products and services intended to satisfy this interest.

Resource-Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Products Are the Trend in  Tooling Technology

Werkzeuginnendrucksensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Temperiergeräte

Gießanlagen

Temperiertechnik

Normalien für die Kunststofffertigung

Normalien

Spritzgießsimulation

Software

Simulation

Kaltkanalsysteme

Exhibitors See Green

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.

Two thermally separated cube molds rotate in opposite directions at a 90° angle. Bottom: injection and cooling of component 1 (roller made of PP) and component 2 (female connection made of POM), staggered by 180°

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

Montage

Montagetechnik

Steuern, Regeln

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Werkzeugtemperatursensoren

Industrieroboter

Spritzgießmaschinen

Reverse Rotation

A Polish pharmaceutical company is developing inhalation therapy for the treatment of lung disease and the appropriate drug delivery drug. The inhaler has a complex interior and consists of 14 components. In order to be able to produce these with the required precision, Celon Pharma has formed a partnership with the mold making company Glittenberg and its hot runner sister Witosa.

For its complex functional mechanism, the inhaler requires 14 components

Glittenberg Supplies Tools for Vital Medical Devices to Celon Pharma

Plastic in the Service of Medicine

Jessica Poliner has been appointed President of Barnes Molding Solutions. She replaces Norbert Scheid, who retired from Barnes Group in December 2020.

Jessica Poliner has been appointed President of Barnes Molding Solutions

Werkzeug- und Formenbau

Normalien und Heißkanaltechnik

New Management to Head Barnes Molding Solutions

The Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University is investigating a new control approach for injection molding in which the cavity pressure is controlled by different positions of the hot runner valve pin. The influence on the cavity pressure of different strokes in the holding pressure phase is investigated.

The experimental mold with the cavity of a bicycle saddle has a servo-electrically driven hot runner

20:7

Cavity-Specific Pressure Control to Increase Process Consistency

Mess-, Steuer- und Regelgeräte

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

The Hot Runner Valve Pin  as Actuating Variable

In the injection molding of engineering plastics, mold temperature control consumes more than one third of the total energy input. A novel technology offers the opportunity to reduce this continuous major cost factor – and eliminate hotspots.

Fig. 1. The temperature control units have the highest energy share in the injection molding process

Source: M. Schläger et al [2]; graphic: © Hanser

Reduced Energy Consumption and Shorter Cycle Times due to Structurally Integrated  Heat Pipe Mold Cores

Cooling with Heat Pipes

The spring clamping cylinder ESZS for a nominal clamping force range from 16k N to 350 kN enables hydromechanical clamping.

The ESZS spring clamping cylinder can be used wherever shiftable or movable machine parts have to be fixed or clamped

Presswerkzeuge, Kunststoff

Werkzeugspanntechnik

Spanntechnik

Robust and Reliable Clamping

For the further development of the Streamrunner and also for customer demonstration purposes, Hasco hot runner has developed an innovative 32 cavity injection mold tool.

The special feature of the mold is the 32-cavity Hasco Streamrunner

New Design Possibilities in Moldmaking

The Reversecube two-part cube mold is used to produce 60 million multicomponent parts per year on one production line and in the same process. The cycle times must be kept very short while at the same time maintaining stable processes and a high part quality. Sensor-based monitoring and automatic process control is therefore deployed in the form of Fillcontrol from Priamus. It consists of hot-runner balancing, viscosity and compression control as well as automatic holding pressure changeover.

The two halves of the Reversecube cube mold, in stacked arrangement, rotate in 90° steps. Bottom: injection and cooling component 1, analogous to the component 2 above, which is offset by 180°

Automating Injection Molding with Process Control – with the Example of a Cube Mold

Quality Assurance for Multiple Cavities

Zahoransky Automation & Molds GmbH has entered into a partnership with the Swiss company Kebo AG. The result of this collaboration is a new mold concept for the production of pipette tips, which features a double quick-change system.

If a core breaks during production, it can be replaced quickly

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

Double Quick-Change System Speeds up Production

Single-Shot Injection Molding of Heterogeneous Components

Family molds belong to the state-of-the-art in injection molding – at least when wall thicknesses and volumes of individual components vary considerably. Using a trial mold soon ready for series production, Synventive demonstrates that – though demanding – optimal process control can be achieved using the right technology. The filling of each mold cavity is controlled individually and in real time. The Kunststoffe editorial team were among the first guests at the new Tech Center.

Synventive Molding Solutions GmbH partnered with its affiliated company Foboha in expanding the Tech Center at the Haslach, Germany, location. Part of the overall package is an Engel Duo 2700/17060 injection molding machine including 6-axis handling, a materials dryer, mold turner and family mold equipped with a hot runner from Synventive’s full range of activeGate hot runner control systems. This is truly an eyecatcher and the tool is now available to interested customers. The Kunststoffe editorial team had the chance to visit the plant as one of the first guests.

Kai Irlenborn (Fig. 1), Sales & Marketing Director Europe of Synventive, is planning live tours so, as Covid restrictions permit, customers can experience the solution live at the expanded Molding Solutions Tech Center of Foboha Germany GmbH, which, like Synventive, is also a member of the Barnes Group. Six companies are part of the Barnes Molding Solutions group (see Box). The joint use of the Tech Center is only one example of collaboration among the companies. Even more partners in the group are involved in the project – more on that follows below. The trial and development mold was constructed by Müller Modell- und Formenbau GmbH and manufactures an assembly consisting of three individual polypropylene parts:

<ul><li>a door coating including loudspeaker mesh screen with a part weight of 1500 g and a wall thickness of 2.5 mm,</li><li>a map pocket weighing 350 g with a wall thickness of 2.3 mm, and</li><li> a door armrest with a part weight of 200 g and a wall thickness of 2.1 mm.</li></ul>

The total shot weight is 2060 g. The assembly of the family mold can be seen in Figure 2.

Complete Freedom Regarding  Filling Direction

The tool’s injection or distribution concept is designed to enable direct gating of components with or without a cold runner. Customers are also free to choose what filling direction they prefer: either from right to left – or outward from the middle. “With this tool we want to demonstrate the versatility of the technology. That is why there are many variants possible for manufacturing. Switching colors is also possible,” emphasizes Irlenborn. “For the largest component, seven injection points are available – partly with direct gating or using cold runners. At the moment we are filling outward from the middle using three injection points. But filling from left to right using four injection points is also possible. Customers decide what filling concept they want to use.”

The injection operation for all components within the family mold can start or end simultaneously in order to avoid warpage or surface defects. That is why pressure-regulated melt valves in the hot runner system check the required injection volume per component, much as with individual injection molding machines.

The Core: A Melt-Pressure Controlled System that Responds in Real Time

A key role in intelligent injection molding is played by the Dynamic Feed technology, which allows individual melt pressure control for specific nozzles or distribution areas. This technology addresses the difficulty of achieving consistently uniform filling behavior for each component by using central injection molding parameters in family and standard molds with several different mold cavities. Challenges include varying wall thicknesses or flow path ratios, which require different melt pressures or different melt volumes and can lead to local overfilling of individual cavities when the end of a given flow path is reached too early. At the same time the mold is exposed to asymmetric loads due to the varying surface designs, reducing mold service life.

Dynamic Feed makes it possible to set a separate injection profile for each hot runner nozzle or distributor segment to ensure the mold cavities are filled individually. In the family demo tool, the melt valves are located in a transducer block between the bridge manifold and the submanifold.

The injection and holding pressure profile is influenced by changing the flow cross-section. A pressure sensor downstream of the melt valve measures the melt pressure in the flow channel and transmits the measurement data to a controller. This results in a real-time melt pressure control system that ensures the mold cavities are filled individually.

A Crucial Difference: What Happens Is Regulated, Not Controlled

What is special about the Synventive system? Irlenborn emphasizes, “We are proud to be able to offer our customers a closed-loop process.” In contrast to an open-loop control with no control unit for reaching the setpoint value, a closed-loop control constantly compares the setpoint value with the actual value (input and output value). A closed-loop control ensures that the specified individual target melt pressure is attained and remains constant in the process. For the family tool, this means that a closed-loop control monitors each individual injection profile in real time to ensure uniform component results.

Improving the Component Surface  Using Software

The third generation of the field-tested Synflow control software is also used in the demo tool. A large number of setting parameters allows Synflow to monitor and control the pin opening motion of individual hot runner nozzles, enabling optimized molded part results to be achieved, especially in sequential injection molding and family molds (Fig. 3). The precise hydraulic control of the opening speed for each pin and pin opening position enables flexible use of the system.

Advantages in process management of family molds include individual control of the filling balance and the holding pressure, resulting in optimal filling of each component – even with demanding dimensional, shrinkage and warpage requirements – as well as clamp force reduction. Synflow helps avoid common error patterns such as flow front disturbance marks, marks opposite direct gating, sink marks after the painting process or reduced adhesion of coatings.

“For the Barnes family, supporting customers in process optimization is one of the key skills needed in the future,” Irlenborn emphasizes. “Data-driven insight for all software solutions is the process data actually generated in the mold and hot runner.” Consequently, the cavities of the family mold were equipped with Priamus temperature and pressure sensors that measure values directly. Additional temperature and pressure sensors monitor the mold, the hot runner manifold and the valve gate nozzles.

Data from the Priamus pressure and temperature sensors (Fig. 4) deliver their impulses to the company’s own Fillcontrol software solution. The special feature of these temperature sensors is their ability to detect the flow front. This means filling of the components is visualized in real time, and the time required to set up the cascade molding process is reduced. If the actual values deviate from the previously specified setpoint values, the quality of components is evaluated by the monitoring functions and defective parts automatically rejected. Fillcontrol compensates for varying flow behavior of the melt during mold filling by automatically optimizing the pin opening times.

In the family tool presented here, the following systems work hand in hand: Synventive Dynamic Feed regulates the volume flow to the cavities by means of melt valves in the hot runner. The opening of the cascade molding valve pin is controlled by the Priamus Fillcontrol software. Synventive Synflow, in turn, determines the motion profile, i.e., the pin opening speeds. The signals are converted by a G24 hot runner temperature controller from Gammaflux, also a member of the Barnes family.

Last but not least, the entire tool is monitored by the Molding Solutions “moldMind” solution. The “digital cockpit for injection molds” captures relevant process data in real time and stores it as a tamper-proof record during the entire life cycle of the family tool.

The device can also be used as a central storage location for comprehensive tool data, important documents and reports, such as all maintenance logs. For remote access, the data can be stored in a customer-owned cloud or, starting in the fall of 2022, in a moldMind cloud of its own.

The trial and development tool offers a whole range of possible applications, including:

<ul><li>processing of long glass fibers,</li><li>suitability for film insert molding,</li><li>suitability for injection compression molding, and is</li><li>capable of foam injection molding (MuCell).</li></ul>

Precisely because it offers so many possibilities, it is important to demonstrate them. As Irlenborn says: “We can demonstrate the added value of these technologies to our customers here on site. This is the only way we can make the benefits obvious. For example, we can reduce the clamping force by up to 50 % – simply through pressure control. And it is also possible to regulate the holding pressure individually. We believe that in this way we can reduce cycle times by 10 % to 15 %. Family molds deliver cost savings by reducing investment in molds and machines and eliminating cost-intensive fine-tuning of the degree of gloss and color for an assembly because the molding is done in a single shot. We are convinced that family molds, with the right closed-loop process control, can work in a stable, cost-effective and flexible process.”

Synventive Molding Solutions GmbH  

https://www.synventive.com

Otto Männer GmbH  

https://www.maenner-group.com

Barnes Group Inc.  

Ausgabenartikel

View into the mold space of the Engel Duo 2700 at the Tech Center. In the background, a 6-axis robot with 180 kg load-bearing capacity which removes the components.

Fig. 1. Kai Irlenborn of Synventive was closely involved in setting up the system.

Fig. 2.The trial and development mold manufactures an assembly for the door panel.

Fig. 3. Challenges in designing family molds..

Fig. 4. Making a clear difference: one of 19 sensors installed in the mold.

Name - Hauptartikel

The following companies are part of the Barnes global platform:

<ul><li>Foboha Germany GmbH: Moldmaking with a focus on “anything posing a technical challenge.” This includes multi-cavity, multi-component and thin-wall technology and Reversecube molds.</li><li> Gammaflux Controls GmbH: Temperature and sequential valve gate control systems for the plastics industry.</li><li>Otto Männer GmbH: Development and manufacture of high-precision molds and valve gate hot runner systems.</li><li> Priamus System Technologies: Intelligent process monitoring and process control systems for injection molding. Sensors, digital amplifiers and software systems are also part of the Priamus product portfolio.</li><li>Synventive Molding Solutions GmbH: Hot runner systems and temperature control systems for injection molds primarily for the automotive sector.</li><li>Thermoplay: Hot runner systems in standard and customized designs.</li></ul>