THIN-WALL MOULDING | TECHNOLOGY
Technology groups are enhancing
thin-wall applications by means of multi-cavity tooling, speed and quality improvements, automation and foaming. By Peter Mapleston
Packaging: less material and more market
The global market for thin-walled plastics contain- ers continues to increase ahead of overall econom- ic growth. One unconfirmed estimate puts annual expansion between 2018 and 2026 at around 6.5%. Light-weighting scores in terms of consumer convenience, production economics and, of course, sustainability. Developers of injection moulding equipment, moulds, plastics materials and processing technologies are all helping drive the ongoing success of thin-wall moulding. StackTeck Systems, which produces multi-cavity, high-volume production moulds for various types of packaging, used the K2019 exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany last October to showcase a 1x4 TRIM IML 500g rectangular container running with Trexel’s Mu- Cell foaming process in a 4,500-kN BMB hybrid machine. The mould was optimised with StackTeck’s KoolTrack technology, built with conformal cooling channels in gate pad/insert and core cap. “This IML container features a three-sided label [from Verstraete, manipulated by IML automation
www.injectionworld.com
from Machine Pagès] and it is 20% lighter than a conventional thin-wall container, combining two very effective ultra-light-weighting technologies for thin-wall applications,” said StackTeck. Wall thickness was 0.25mm; cycle time was 4.5 s. “We’ve used our considerable engineering
resources to develop a toolbox of practical, effective, light weighting technologies for our customers, to help them with their sustainability challenges,” says Vince Travaglini, CEO and President of StackTeck Systems. The BMB machine was an eKW 45HP/2200, one
of the company’s new range of HP Series machines. BMB says it was “totally customised for the produc- tion of rectangular thin-walled containers, with IML and MuCell technologies.” BMB says new HP machines are faster and more
precise than before and have also been designed with particular attention to integration/interconnec- tion from an Industry 4.0 perspective. The eK- W45HP/2200 features electric plasticisation and
March 2020 | INJECTION WORLD 15
Main image: Collaboration is aiding further development of thin-wall packaging, such as a project
involving BMB machinery, a StackTeck mould and Trexel’s foaming technology demonstrated at K2019
IMAGE: BMB
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