thin wall moulding | Innovations
Above and right: Arburg showed production of SKET PP yoghurt tubs with peel-off card labels at Fakuma. The tubs feature a wall less than 0.2mm thick
power only accounts for 30 % of the load peak. At K 2013, the Engel e-Speed 650 was demonstrated with a 90 mm barrier screw producing thin-wall PP food containers using an 8+8-cavity stack mould (from StackTeck). Overall cycle time was 3.6s and the specifi c energy consumption was 0.52 kWh/kg. Since then, the company says one of its customers has been producing 4-litre PP pails on a four-cavity mould (shot weight 560 g) at a cycle time of 7.4s and a specifi c energy consumption of 0.39 kWh/kg. Nordson Xaloy is focusing on the thin wall packaging sector with its new barrier screw plasticising develop- ment. Quantum is claimed to provide increased plasticising rates with minimal shear generation and polymer degradation and faster recovery. The system will be launched at the NPE show in the US next month (see our NPE preview on page 43 of this edition for more details)
commit to all-electric technology for packag- ing moulding, using direct drive servo technology in its eKW machine range. Nigel Baker, managing director of BMB’s operation in the UK, says he believes it is the only injection machine maker able to offer a full electric packaging option up to 1,000 tonnes (customers can choose an electric, hydraulic or hybrid injection unit to pair with the electric clamp in its eKW series machines). Baker cites a UK customer with an 850 tonne eKW machine producing thin-wall 500g containers on cycle times of less than 6s.
Engel also sees electric technology making Right: The
electric clamp on Engel’s e-Speed packaging machine
headway. It says its e-Speed hybrid machine provides the performance required by the packaging industry, even in versions with clamp forces over 400 tonnes. The company presented its fi rst e-Speed - a 650 tonne toggle machine - at K 2013. It says that in the fi rst applications, the new machine concept is saving over 50 % energy in comparison to conventional accumula- tor-driven machines. “With an electrical clamping unit and a hydraulic injection unit, the machine is ideal for thin-wall injection moulding,” the company says. The e-Speed design incorporates a novel
energy accumulator concept that uses a fl ywheel to recover the braking energy from the mould mounting platens and then make it available again as needed. Any energy that is not required is fed back into the grid. Load peaks, such as those that commonly occur when large electrical injection moulding machines are employed with high dynamics, are avoided. Drawn electrical
36 INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2015
www.injectionworld.com
Machine maker Sumitomo SHI Demag also adopts a hybrid solution for the most demanding packaging applications in the form of
its El-Exis SP series machines. The hybrid drive system with energy recycling saves up to 40% of energy. “Although the production rate is the focus in most cases, the quality of the parts and a more energy-effi - cient overall process are essential for the economic production of packaging,” the company says. “IML often used for thin walls additionally increases the complexity of the injection moulding process.” At Fakuma, the company demonstrated a 200 tonne El-Exis SP 200-920 making PP food containers with IML. The 6.2g cups were produced in a four-cavity mould from Otto Hofstetter and the compact manufac- turing cell was running with a cycle time of under 3.5s. Sumitomo (SHI) Demag says the decentralised
electric drive of the clamping unit on the El-Exis SP design allows fast and sensitive opening and closing of the tool. “This ensures the precise positioning of the labels and correct removal of the fi nished cups,” the company says.
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