LIQUID SILICONE RUBBER | INNOVATION


remaining in the emptied drums to less than 1%, he said. Another feature is automatic pump de-aeration, in which the system detects air bubbles in the material, purging out material in those doses where air is present. An optimised follower plate with a flat design also minimises material remains. Reinhardt-Technik has been working with Arburg in the context of Industry 4.0. Gerke said they have developed an interface, based on the OPC-UA communication protocol, which allows all parameters in the dosing and metering to be controlled from the injection moulding machine. Elmet, another leading dosing technology


supplier, has launched a barcode material identifica- tion option for use with its TOP5000P dosing system. Developed in conjunction with Wacker, the system is designed to make it near impossible to set up a job with the incorrect material components and was developed in response to a customer request. “They came to us and said: ‘Can you make a system that makes it impossible to use the wrong material because it takes me 24 hours to clean the machine and I can’t make anything,’” said Elmet Sales Manager Helmut Gaderer during the Fakuma show. “It [loading the wrong material drum] may be a small risk but it can happen and it costs. The barcode scan option costs maybe €1,000 to €1,500 but if you make the mistake once it can cost many times more,” he said. The system works using a barcode printed on


each drum by Wacker before despatch. This is read in the processor’s plant using a barcode reader supplied by Elmet that connects to the TOP5000P control unit and will only allow the pump to be installed in a correctly identified drum. Gaderer said it hopes the barcode identification system will be adopted by other material suppliers. The material identification option is available as


part of Elmet’s TOP5000P system, which can be supplied as a standalone unit or as part of a full turkey production system including machine, dosing technology and mould design and con- struction. Gaderer says the company currently delivers


around a dozen full turnkey systems annually. “We integrate everything that is needed for the produc- tion of silicone parts,” he says. “Production starts in


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our plant and the handover takes place there before we move it to the custom- er’s plant.”


Elmet can build a turnkey system


around any brand of moulding machine, which it converts to LSR


operation. Projects to date use ma- chines with clamping forces ranging from 60-500 tonnes running moulds with up to 572 cavities. Nexus Automation is a relative newcomer in LSR dosing systems. The company has developed


different technology to established piston systems, said Dietmar Wai- zenauer, Managing Partner at Nexus, who founded the company in 2007 with two


partners. Its Servomix LSR dosing systems have servo-driven pump technology which provides “pulsation-free constant volume flow”, says the company. Newly-developed Splitnex technology separates air bubbles from the material before entering the process line, leading to improved process stability. Nexus says other features include: permanently precise mixing ratio, automatic drum ventilation with air detection and lower energy consumption. Waizenauer said the Nexus LSR dosing technology will be featured on the Milacron stand at NPE 2018, taking place in Orlando, US, next month. Milacron will have an LSR moulding cell among its demonstrations at NPE. It said a Milacron-Fanuc Roboshot 140 will be fitted with an Enhanced LSR Package that includes a special Milacron screw and barrel with water jackets, vacuum pump, and water regulator. Milacron said all of these components can be retrofitted to its Roboshot machines. The E-Multi LSR from Mold-Masters, which enables LSR two-component moulding, will also be on display on the Milacron stand.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.momentive.com � www.wacker.com � www.dow.com � www.engelglobal.com � www.negribossi.com � www.kraussmaffei.com � www.arburg.com � www.rico.at � www.reinhardt-technik.com � www.elmet.com � www.nexusautomation.at � www.milacron.com


April 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 33


Left: Elmet’s TOP5000P dosing system


Below: The E-Multi LSR unit from


Mold-Masters


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