In the production of an electronic parking aid, 8-pin connectors ensure a reliable connection between the cameras and the electronic system. A seal made of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) molded onto a second tool in a two-component process protects the components against spray water and dust. H&B Electronic produce these icam connectors for systems provider Bosch on a two-component rotary table machine. 

Two-Component Rotary Table Machine Produces Two Million Connectors per Year for  BMW Parking Assistance 

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Spritzgießen

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Optische Mess- und Prüftechnik

KFZ-Zulieferer

Additional Eyes for Parking 

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

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Schaumspritzgießen

Smart Factory

Energieeffizienz

Mikrospritzgießen

Spritzgießmaschinen, allgemein

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Spritzgießmaschinen

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Fließpressen

Handling, Handhabungstechnik für die spanende Fertigung

Automatisierungstechnik

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

Automotive headlamps fitted with the latest combined LED and laser technology, especially the kind deployed in modern luxury sedans, rely on silicone components to bundle and guide the light. Weber Esslingen produces such a silicone light guide for the company Hella, a tier 1 customer. This injection molded part is integrated into the front lighting system of the latest Audi A8 generation. 

Wilhelm Weber Produces Light Guides for Use in LED Headlamps of Luxury Sedans 

Guiding Light with High Precision through LSR 

Tool manufacturer Vema was looking for a suitable hot runner system for a complicated injection molding component ¿ the LED strip of a luxury SUV center console. The challenges: two temperature-sensitive plastics, extremely low shot weights and extremely high demands on the quality of the finished class A part. Hot runner expert Witosa developed a solution based on its product range and provided assistance with the process optimization. 

Witosa Supplies a Hot Runner System for Complex Applications in a Premium Vehicle 

Normalien und Heißkanaltechnik

Feel-Good Ambient Lighting  Demands Perfection 

The hot runner manufacturer HRSflow presented a family mold for one-shot production of three high-quality visible parts for a door module for car interiors. The use of the Flexflow technology ensures flawless, finely grained surfaces without pressure lines or flow marks even though these parts differ considerably from one another in terms of their dimensions and volumes. 

Family Mold for Inner Door Trim Shows the Performance of the Flexflow  Hot Runner Technology 

Versatility for Vehicle Doors 

The integration of individual parts to a multifunctional assembly is one of the important innovation potentials of plastic injection molding, e. g. the production of glass window modules for car rear doors, as practiced at Henniges Automotive. They consist of the glass pane, a web strip, and fastening clips, which are overmolded by a TPE frame to a ready-to-install assembly. For the manufacturing the automotive supplier relies on vertical C-frame injection molding machines from LWB Steinl. 

Assembly of Higher Integrated Car Window Modules through Injection Molding 

From the Vertical Machine into the  Car Door 

Ambient lighting has captured the car interior – and facilitated orientation for the passengers. There is no need for anyone to fumble for the seat belt buckle in the dark in the Audi A7, as an integrated light guide shows the way. Kunststoff Helmbrechts produces the 3-component part and also developed the tool concept. The trick:  a so-called twin-turn tool which rotates on both sides. The company was awarded the GKV TecPart Innovation Prize for it at the K 2019.

Twin-Turn Tool Provides Solution to Production Problem with a Double Turn

Polycarbonat

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

Dienstleistungen

Runway Lights for the Seat Belt

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

Heißkanalsysteme

Komponenten für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Stanzen

Verfahren für die spanlose Fertigung

Schneiden

Steckverbinder

Elektromechanik

Well-Balanced Hot Runner Technology for LCP Processing

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

Werkzeuginnendrucksensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Steuern, Regeln

Werkzeugtemperatursensoren

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Qualitätssicherung

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

Medizintechnik

Double Quick-Change System Speeds up Production

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.

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

Arburg Expands Hybrid Cube Series

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

Electrical components are made from conductive and nonconductive materials. Pressure of competition makes it necessary to reduce the number of components and work steps and to streamline assembly. The moldmaker Mühlbeyer uses a hybrid technology for manufacturing stators and rotors, in which the contact material and plastic are permanently bonded in one production step.

Various plastic-coated stators. During overmolding of the sheet components, not only insulation but also technical functions can be incorporated

Overmolding as a Prerequisite for Cost-Efficient, High-Quality Electric Motors

Elektromotoren

Antriebe

Werkzeug-, Formen- und Modellbau

Injection Molds for Insulating  Stators and Rotors

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

Complete Digital Hot Runner Solution for Automated Biopolymer Processing

Condition Monitoring / Prozessüberwachung

Instandhaltung

Biokunststoffe

Virtual Reality für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Process Reliability Is Crucial

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.

Two displays are seamlessly integrated into the continuously 3D-formed instrument panel

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

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

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

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

Kreislaufwirtschaft

There Is More beyond the Horizon

Fully Automated In-Mold Assembly Process at TKW Molding

The plastics processor TKW Molding, which specializes in safety-related automotive components, is responding to the increasing requirements of its tier 1 and OEM customers by extensively automating its injection molding production. This also encompasses downstream process steps, such as integrated component testing, traceable part deposition and packaging. The company has been working closely with Arburg in this field since 2020.

TKW Molding GmbH, part of the Henn Group of Austria, headquartered in Blankenhain (Thüringen), Germany, manufactures, besides containers for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry and plastic parts for the electronics sector, especially technical plastic parts, for example, for vehicle seat belt systems or seating groups. In addition to high-precision, automated production, subsequent steps such as optical parts inspection, separate set-down according to cavity, and intelligent and highly autonomous packaging of the articles in special cardboard boxes are of crucial importance for TKW and its automotive customers.

In the injection molding division, a two-manufacturer strategy is pursued, but the complex automation tasks are placed exclusively with Arburg and its turnkey team. As Benito Hinkeldein (Fig.1.), Managing Director of TKW Molding, points out: “Arburg is the right point of contact for us at project level due to its comprehensive expertise. The turnkey specialists have always responded very quickly to our requests and implemented requirements in full. When it comes to full automation combined with highly specialized technical solutions, we feel we are in very good hands.”

Arburg’s turnkey systems are used to produce items such as covers for belt adjusters (snap-on covers), moving parts for integration in belt buckles (cantilevers) and airbag housings. The process spectrum ranges from multi-component and assembly injection molding to fiber direct compounding (FDC) for lightweight, fiber-filled molded parts. The automation includes all downstream work steps related to quality assurance and packaging.

The automated production of cantilevers (Fig. 2.) using the two-component assembly injection molding process is a “lighthouse project” in terms of flexibility and complexity. According to Benito Hinkeldein, the component, weighing only 0.4 g with a flexible hinge is responsible for the correct operational sequence in the belt buckle when the red belt button is locked or unlocked. The requirements for the turnkey system are correspondingly challenging. The task was to fully automate the injection molding and removal process and to integrate:

<ul><li>the inspection of the cantilever for completeness and function using two forked photoelectric sensors,</li><li>the downstream set-down, and</li><li>the separate collection of NOK and startup parts in the protected area</li></ul>

– and all this with the smallest possible space requirement.

The solution offered by Arburg’s turnkey specialists consisted essentially of a hydraulic two-component injection molding machine (type: Allrounder 520 S) with a clamping force of 1600 kN and two small injection units that were adapted to the part size (Fig. 3), with a 20 mm and an 18 mm screw. This was supplemented by a Multilift V robotic system with a load of 15 kg in the longitudinal installation. A container changer with pipe manifold for small load carriers is used for cavity-separated set-down, and a QA drawer above the roller conveyor of the container changer for the separate collection of test parts. This arrangement saved a lot of space, especially widthwise.

The cantilevers are manufactured from two POM grades in different colors, with the two components being injected simultaneously. The 8+8-cavity mold (Title figure) for the small, delicate articles was created in TKW’s own moldmaking, and includes two hot runner systems – one with a needle valve and one open – for direct sprueless gating. “During the injection molding process, the two components are separated from one another by virtue of the mold design. The individual parts are only connected together via the hinge with the mold opening movement and thanks to a clever ejector solution,” say Hinkeldein, explaining the assembly process.

The start-up phase of the system installed in 2020 ended with the production release by the Tier 1 customer in May 2021. “The system is currently running at full capacity with two different articles,” says Benito Hinkeldein. TKW collaborates with Arburg on complex automation tasks. This enables the joint development and implementation of unique systems that are both fully automated and highly flexible, and realized in close coordination with the company and its customers. “The plant combines functionality, flexibility, precision, and output. These are precisely the qualities that count for our automotive customers too,” Benito Hinkeldein adds. “This enhances both our delivery and QA performance, and thus our reputation.”

ARBURG GmbH + Co KG  

https://www.arburg.com

TKW MOLDING GMBH  

https://www.tkw-molding.com

Ausgabenartikel

A robotic system removes the parts from TKW’s 8+8-cavity mold.

Fig. 1. For TKW Managing Director Benito Hinkeldein, the production of the cantilever is a “lighthouse turnkey project” in terms of flexibility and complexity.

Fig. 2. Transmitting the locking and unlocking in the belt lock: the small cantilevers with movable hinge. 

Fig. 3. Small, filigree cantilevers are produced on a two-component Allrounder 520 S injection molding machine using the assembly injection molding process.

Name - Hauptartikel

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

TKW Molding GmbH<br/><a href="https://www.tkw-molding.com/en/plastic-molded-parts-from-thuringia.html" target="_blank">www.tkw-molding.com</a>