“At our trade show presentation this year, we are concentrating on the automation and digitalization of our injection-molding machines,” says Alfred Schiffer, marketing partner at Dr. Boy GmbH & Co. KG, explaining the activities planned for Fakuma. Three of the four applications at its own tradeshow booth – four more can be seen at its partners – are equipped with Dr. Boy’s own LR 5 linear handling unit.

On the Boy 35 E, the LR 5 compact telescopic handling system is use for a medical LSR application

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Messe Fakuma

kunststoffe-international.com

kunststoffe.de

Elastomer-Spritzgießen

Linearroboter für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Automatisierungstechnik

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Spritzgießmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Individual Automation and Digitalization

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.

The new SmartPlus machine is equipped with the HiQ Flow software and the CMS Light condition monitoring system

Schaumspritzgießen

Mikrospritzgießen

Spritzgießmaschinen, allgemein

Spritzprägen

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrie 4.0

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.

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

Innovative Injection Molding in Times of Pandemic

Künstliche Intelligenz für die Qualitätssicherung

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Steuern, Regeln

Software

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

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Spritzgieß-Sonderverfahren

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Spritzgießsimulation

Simulation

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

At the introductory press conference for K 2022, Dr Thorsten Thümen, Senior Director Technology, outlined the company’s evolving strategic focus.

Senior Director for Technology Dr. Thorsten Thümen announces several premieres at K 2022.

16:9

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

Energieeffizienz

Elektrische Antriebe für Spritzgießmaschinen

Antriebe

Elektrische Antriebe

New High-Speed Machine for the Packaging Market

Three solutions for increasing the productivity in the automotive, medical and packaging industries are presented by Tederic at K 2022 with the Neo injection molding machine series. T

The Neo·Ec combines electrical and hydraulic drives.

Polylactid

Thermoplaste

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Applications in Three Key Sectors

For several years a quartet of developers has been working on a new technology for painting thermoplastic parts in the injection mold. The process of flow coating in the injection mold using reaction system technology has now started into series production for the first time. The new Peugeot SUV 3008 is the first car in the world to feature elegant deep piano black A-pillar trims with a mirror finish – manufactured in a fast one-step process that does not require either solvents or release agents. 

Painting without Runs – Cycle Time Less than One Minute 

Polyurethan

Lackieren

KFZ-Zulieferer

Mirror-Finish Painting in the Mold 

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 

Optische Mess- und Prüftechnik

Additional Eyes for Parking 

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 

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

Dienstleistungen

Runway Lights for the Seat Belt

At the US location in Auborn Hills, Michigan, fischer automotive systems produces kinematic components for the center console of the Mercedes GLE class, which are equipped with a roller blind.

The center console of the Mercedes GLE class, which are equipped with a roller blind. The individual slats of the roller blind are injection molded using a two-component machine and combined with externally supplied parts to form the finished subassembly (© fischer)

Flexible Turnkey System for Multi-Variant Roller Blinds

Montage

Montagetechnik

Industrieroboter

Industrieroboter klein

Montageeinrichtungen

Rattle-Free Part

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

Smart Factory

Fließpressen

Handling, Handhabungstechnik für die spanende Fertigung

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.

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

Werkzeugtemperatursensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Heißkanalsysteme

Komponenten für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Reverse Rotation

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

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has succeeded in combining thermoplastics and elastomers with the necessary strength.

In the Multicomponent Development Center elastomer seals are tested.

Kautschuk / Elastomere

Multicomponent Technology Expanded

Arburg has adopted a clear message for its trade fair appearance at the K 2022 in Düsseldorf: „There is only a Plan A“.

In the arburgGreenworld pavilion of the VDMA Circular Economy Forum, an Allrounder 370 A with recyclate package is manufacturing “Greenline” wall plugs from Fischer.

Sustainability thanks to Digitalization

With a System Change  to New Competitiveness

Eldisy Switches to Vertical Machines for the Production of Large-Size 2-Components

In the past, relying on vertical injection molding machines instead of traditional horizontal molding machines when it came to the production of 2-component molded parts was a common option for molding small and medium-sized parts but not for large size parts. But when the automotive supplier Eldisy was faced with parts in that segment horizontal injection molding machines proved to be an inaptly alternative as new vertical machine systems proved as more reliable and therefore more productive. In the Bavarian injection molding machine manufacturer LWB-Steinl, the company found a partner to enter this new territory.

Multi-component injection molding enables the combination of two or more plastic components with different properties in one injection molding process. In other words, multi-component injection molding allows different molded parts to be combined inline in the injection molding machine. This replaces assembly operations. Today, no branch of industry can do without the resulting productivity and precision advantages (due to the consistently correct position and form-fit connection). The automotive industry is outstanding in terms of quantities and innovation. Currently, the switch to electric drive technology is proving to be an upswing to the next level of innovation. This is because, instead of the combustion engine noises, the wind or rolling noises of the tires come to the fore, as do body vibrations.

This is the environment in which Eldisy (an acronym for Elastomer Sealing Systems), who focuses on sealing systems for automotive and industrial applications and operates with seven production sites worldwide. The company based in Gardelegen/Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, mainly produces extruded profile seals for all door openings in automobiles, as well as a wide range of single- and multi-component body components. One example of Eldisy’s systems expertise is that it has been commissioned by Volkswagen’s commercial vehicle division in Hanover, Germany, to produce all the plastic exterior components for the new VW ID.Buzz, which will be available from 2022.

One of the components from this parts package is the approximately 180 cm wide “water box cover” installed in front of the windshield (Fig. 1 and Info box). It consists of an arc-shaped polypropylene structure combined with elastic TPE-sections at the contact points to the metal body and at the through-holes for the windshield wipers (Fig. 2.).

Rethinking Could Lead to the  Desired Goal

2-component automotive parts are not new for the Eldisy injection molding department. Examples from previous contract manufacturing include water deflectors, sill strips, joint seals or window guides. The production machines used for this purpose were or are the 2-component variants of conventional horizontal injection molding machines from various manufacturers. All of them are equipped with a rotary table on the moving machine platen and injection by means of two injection units in piggyback arrangement through the fixed machine platen.

Dr. Detlef Scharge, Eldisy’s plant manager for many years but recently retired, comments: “For many years, this concept was regarded by us as the “state-of-the-art system” for multi-component injection molding. We used it consistently over a wide clamping force range. However, the larger the machines became, the more serious the system-related disadvantages became. In particular, the horizontal rotary axis, including the rotary feedthroughs for the media fed to the mold, suffered from the one-sided weight load of the injection molds hanging on the rotary tables. This resulted in increased maintenance and servicing costs. The hot runner design was also more restricted than desirable with increasing mold size due to the system-related close proximity of the injection positions of the piggyback units. “Therefore, the search for alternatives had been on our agenda for some time. But the real catalyst for this was the order for the water box cover. Because of its size, we had to find a solution, as we would have needed a 16,000 kN machine to install the mold for it according to the old principle, which would have been uneconomical both for the technical reasons already mentioned and because of the investment required for this.”

This opened the door for a market research. Chance came to the rescue, namely at the K 2019 trade show booth of the LWB-Steinl company. There, LWB had exhibited a production cell with a large rotary table clamping unit with thermoplastic injection unit. A similar layout seemed to be the alternative Eldisy management was looking for. It was the starting point for the discussions. By coincidence, the LWB managers responsible for design and sales and company boss Peter Steinl were also present at this time and immediately took up the ideas of the Eldisy management and were able to sketch out a feasible machine concept together with them.

Helpful was also the presentable additional reference of a large machine delivered in 2019 in the form of a precision sheet metal press with a clamping force of 19,000 kN with a clamping area of 2.5 x 2.5 m (note: a project report on this can be viewed on the LWB website). Both of these things together then paved the way for a concrete project inquiry that initiated the system change in 2-component-large-part production. And this despite the fact that LWB had not previously been “on the cards” as a possible supplier for plastic injection molding machines of this size.

The Clamping Unit Dimensions Can Be Determined Freely upon Requirement

At the end of the subsequent concept phase, a machine with the specific type designation VR 12000 / 1097 / 220 Dual Sonder took shape (Title figure). This bulky designation stands for a machine from the VR (vertical frame) series. Its clamping concept is a specific LWB development and occupies a special position between the tie-bar-less C-frame machines and the conventional tie-bar machines. The central components are portal frame modules as carriers for the mold fixing platens and the press modules for generating the clamping force.

The VR series has a modular design throughout and is therefore largely freely scalable. The reason for this, and this is the great advantage of the VR system, is that the size of the clamping unit is not tied to the size of castings. Since the frame modules are made from thick sheet semifinished products, this allows an individual and largely free choic e of dimensions. In this specific case, the portal opening was selected in consultation with the customer and the mold maker to accommodate a rotary table with a turning diameter of 2720 mm, on which molds with a platen size of 2200 x 1600 mm or 2000 x 1800 mm can be clamped. This made it possible to align the machine to the clamping force requirement (maximum 12,000 kN) and not to the given size specifications of conventional horizontal machines.

In addition to flexibility in dimensioning, the VR-machine-system from LWB-Steinl also offers other advantages: the clamping unit, for example, which consists of two frame modules, offers the possibility of adjusting or balancing the clamping force to the two mold cavities, if required, thanks to the four pressure modules positioned above both frame units. The horizontal rotary plane of the rotary table eliminates all weight influences on its rotary axis bearing and the rotary feedthroughs for the coolants and the electro supplies (Fig. 3).

The injection unit positions also differ from the usual ones. Instead of the piggyback configuration with close injection spacing through a central opening in the fixed machine platen, the two units are mounted separately on the top of the clamping frame modules and are thus easily accessible (Fig. 4). Another advantage of the VR-clamping unit is its slim structure. This provides good accessibility to the mold area by means of an industrial robot positioned next to the machine – and is thus also comparatively easier and more space-saving than with the horizontal machines (Fig. 5).

For the (infrequent) mold changes, a mold station with a mechanical telescopic cross transport is docked to the machine and the mold, which weighs up to 18 t, is pulled out of the clamping unit. The in-house transport of the mold station and the mold is handled by the overhead crane.

Another advantage of the VR-concept over a conventional horizontal injection molding machine should not go unmentioned: due to the vertical configuration, the floor space requirement is significantly smaller than that of the horizontal machine. However, the vertical space requirement is comparatively taller and places demands on the hall height in this respect.

Commenting on the experience gained so far with the alternative 2-component injection molding cell, Eldisy Managing Director Dipl.-Ing. Elmar Stoffel summarizes on behalf of the entire project team (Fig. 6): “We consider the new machine concept to have eliminated all our points of criticism of the injection molding systems used to date and will thus be able to supply the molded parts required by Volkswagen. Our confidence in the correctness of the decision has prompted us to order three more VR-machines from LWB-Steinl, this time with 9000 and 18,000 kN. Several more are in concrete planning. With this, we have completed the system change and assume that we have thus further secured our competitiveness as an automotive supplier.”

LWB Steinl GmbH & Co. KG  

https://www.lwb-steinl.com/

Eldisy GmbH  

https://www.eldisy.de

Ausgabenartikel

A vertical gantry frame machine with two thermoplastic injection units injecting from above proves to be a “gamechanger” for the production of 2-component automotive components at Eldisy in the German Gardelegen.

The VW ID.Buzz is the fully electric version from the new VW Bus family.

Fig. 1. An example of long narrow 2-component automotive components is the “water box cover”, which covers the area in front of the windshield across the entire width of the vehicle.

Fig. 2. The molded part is made of two thermoplastic components, specifically the main body made of polypropylene, which is combined with elastic TPE-sections at the contact points with the car body and in the passage areas for the windshield wipers.

Fig. 3. Detailed view of the rotary table with the 18 t injection mold and the four pressure pad modules.

Fig. 4. Detailed view of the thermoplastic injection units positioned on the top of the frame modules and injecting from above.

Fig. 5. Detailed view of the robot position for the molded part manipulation.

Fig. 6. The Eldisy production team confirms the correctness of the decision in favor of the LWB machine technology (from left): LWB sales engineer Thomas Vodnansky, plastics engineer Christian Walter, retired plant manager Dr. Detlef Scharge, Managing Director Eldisy Group Dipl.-Ing. Elmar Stoffel, plant manager Sebastian Mlodochowski and head of plastics injection molding Thomas Thiele.

Name - Hauptartikel

The <b>VW ID.Buzz</b> is the fully electric version from the new VW Bus family. It is based on the design-study presented in 2017 and adopts the brand’s current electric car design. The closed front mask and LED headlights evoke associations with ID.3 or ID.4, the electric models from the Golf family. The ID.Buzz is characterized by short overhangs, flared wheel arches and a front end that merges almost seamlessly with the windshield. The rear features narrow taillights and a spoiler-shielded rear window. The ID.Buzz will be available in two body styles, a 5-door multi-window lifestyle van and a 3-door purpose-built version for tradesmen and transport companies.

 <b>Dipl.-Ing. Reinhard Bauer</b> is a freelance technical writer for plastics engineering; <a href="mailto:office@technokomm.at">office@technokomm.at</a>