Conformal cooling | product development
Appliance maker Rowenta uses conformal mould cooling in multi- component iron bodies produced at its plant at Erbach in Germany to improve part quality and production economics
Ironing out problems
The Rowenta division of appliance maker SEB is proud of the ‘Made in Germany’ branding its ironing products carry. But manufacturing in a high-labour cost location such as Europe means making full use of automated production technologies – as well as novel designs - to keep cost down and to deliver products that consumers want to buy. “The average buyer makes an initial choice based on
appearance. If they like something, they pick it up – so the handle is a key element of the iron. Only then do they take a closer look at the functions and performance details,” says Rowenta project engineer Klaus Maier. A typical iron is made up of some 150 single parts.
Plastics components include the soleplate heat shield, which is produced in a thermoset BMC, and the handle and reservoir. Handles and reservoirs are generally made in PP at Rowenta, with dials and switches produced in PC. The handle parts, together with the rear cover and
thermostat controls, are manufactured in the com- pany’s dedicated plastics production facility at Erbach in Germany. “The handle is key to a purchasing decision,” says Maier. “If it feels substantial in your hand, that’s the mark of a good iron.” Rowenta has been making extensive use of two and
three-component moulding and conformal cooling technology to help it to minimise manufacturing costs
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for close to a decade. Maier says the company produced its fi rst three-component (3K) parts in 2004, using conformal cooling techniques in key areas of the complex mouldings from the outset. Compared to assembling individual moulded parts, the multi-component manufacturing approach reduces assembly requirements, improves functional integra- tion, allows better quality to be achieved, and results in shorter cycle times, Maier says. Replacement of several individual processes with one – albeit it more complex – manufacturing step also results in reduced cost. Rowenta uses a variety of multi-component tech- niques, including turning plate systems, rotary table tools and indexing plate technology. In general, rotating tools are the preferred choice, he says, as this approach keeps the injection-moulded part on the core during the subsequent overmoulding stages. However, the fi nal decision is made on the engineering strategy that best suits the particular iron model – a turning plate design allows a three-component solution that would very likely be too large for the clamping dimensions on a rotary table, he says. The tooling decision will also take into account factors
such as capacity planning and batch size. Irons are produced in a number of different colour combinations and, perhaps surprisingly, it is a cyclical business in demand terms. “Six model series translate to about 60
October 2013 | INJECTION WORLD 21
Main image: A turning plate multi-compo- nent mould by Hofmann in
production at German iron manufacturer Rowenta’s
plant at Erbach
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