TECHNOLOGY | THIN-WALL MOULDING
new W837 pro IML automation system from Wittmann. Cycle time was close to 3 s. Husky is pursuing various routes to help reduce the impact of plastics packaging on the environ- ment, including lightweighting, increased use of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) and alternative materials such as biopolymers, and reduction of the energy that injection moulding systems consume in the production of thin-wall packaging. That’s according to Manuel Jorge, Manager, Multi-Layer Packaging Solutions, with Husky Injection Molding Systems in Dudelange, Luxembourg. The company’s HyperSync system and machine
platform, which debuted at K2016, is available as an integrated system solution for closures and thin wall packaging or as a standalone machine platform. Husky is currently developing a variant of the system, originally developed with a 6,000 kN clamp for barrier packaging, that will be better suited to production of multi-layer containers with core layers of PCR. This will be bigger, with a 10,000 kN clamping unit. While with current systems, the emphasis is on obtaining a core barrier layer as thin and even as possible to obtain the required level of barrier, the aim of the new variant will be to get as much PCR into the core as possible, while having very thin skins to provide high-quality surfaces. PCR-contain- ing multi-wall containers are likely to be thicker- walled than barrier containers: Jorge says Husky is currently looking into products such as pails with 1.5 mm walls, but he does not rule out production of containers with walls below 1 mm. Husky has sold over 40 HyperSync multi-layer systems worldwide, around two-thirds of them for production of PET preforms with a core layer of barrier resin or to provide an aesthetic effect. The other one-third, which began being put into operation in early 2018, are for food containers, including coffee capsules. Husky is now also offering HyperSync
systems for production of multi-layer food cans. Jorge says the company has completed internal trials on such aspects as retortability to prove the feasibility of the system, and it is now in contact with potential customers. He hopes commercial can production could begin around the end of the year. Jorge provided a presentation on multi-layer technology at AMI’s Thin Wall Packaging 2018 conference in Cologne in December (the presenta- tion was actually given by his colleague Christophe Halter). He said that Husky’s systems approach – it is the only company in the multi-layer thin-wall sector to provide injection machine, moulds and hot runners, and can also integrate part handling and vision systems – has enabled it to draw ahead of the competition in terms of part quality and productivity. “Every component in the system has an effect,”
he says, whether it is force distribution across the platens, temperature distribution in the hot runners, core shift in the moulds, or motion synchronisation though fully integrated controls, he points out. He cites a case study where the Husky system operated with cycle times 20% faster than rival systems and where wall thickness variation and barrier layer distribution was seven times better. Jorge says that with HyperSync systems, it is possible to produce coffee capsules with 15 micron barrier layers (PP/EVOH/PP) that have an oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of 0.00055 cm3 package/day, or 0.084 cm3
/ /m2 /day. Larger packag-
ing – he showed concepts of tuna cans – with a 50 micron barrier could have an OTR of 0.0001 cm3 package/day, or 0.0114 cm3
/ /m2 /day.
Right: Husky’s HyperSync system
Thomas Bechtel, Sales Director Packaging & Medical for Milacron, says one of the most interest- ing solutions for thin wall from the company is the Kortec Connect Co-Injection system. This package includes a Kortec co-injection hot half with an E-Multi – a servo-driven, electric auxiliary injection unit. “This combination allows moulders to easily and economically convert any of their existing single-shot injection moulding machines to produce co-injected products,” he says. “Kortec Connect can lower the moulder’s capital invest- ment requirements by up to 84% versus purchasing a new full-size 2k machine. Also, moulders interested in Kortec Connect have the flexibility to work with any machine or mould supplier.”
Bechtel claims Kortec is the number one systems supplier for
production of plastics coffee capsules. “Moulders produce over three billion capsules annually using
30 INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2019
www.injectionworld.com
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