TECHNOLOGY REVIEW | NPE 2018
ing 22% of its €126m group sales in 2017. Re- naudeau said Sepro is taking a new approach in North America, ten years after it initially set up a US-based business in partnership with Conair. It has named Raul Scheller as Managing Director, North America, effective in mid-June. Scheller’s task, said Renaudeau, is to lead Sepro’s
initiative to bring North American customers more of the speed and responsiveness that they are looking for. This initiative started in 2017 when Sepro America’s expanded Warrendale, PA facility became the first outside France to begin assem- bling Sepro robots. One of these US-made robots was displayed at its booth, a 5-axis 7X-45 robot. The group has expanded its North American service operations, with four new technicians in Mexico and two in Canada backed up by a larger US based team. It will also expand the availability of “Solutions by Sepro,” the company’s automation services offering. This encompasses increasingly sophisti- cated pre-and post-mould automation solutions that include equipment, engineering and service. Sepro also announced its latest partner agree-
ment, with Absolute Haitian agreeing to make 3 axis, 5-axis and 6-axis robots built by Sepro available with Haitian and Zhafir injection moulding machines sold in the US and Canada. An example of this IMM/robot integration was on display in the Absolute Haitian booth. A Zhafir Jenius hybrid machine with an electric injection unit and two- platen clamp (JE6500/3350) was moulding an automotive grille, while top-entry part removal was accomplished by a Sepro 5X-35 5-axis servo robot, which combines Sepro’s 3-axis Cartesian design with a 2-axis Stäubli wrist. The main feature of the Dukane stand in Orlando was the hot gas welding technology developed by Bielefeld, Germany-based welding specialist KVT, which it acquired in November last year. The patented hot gas welding process allows large welds with complex geometries to be made quickly and without the risk of particulate or stringing contamination or oxidation of the polymer. Competing with both hot plate and laser techniques, it uses hot nitrogen gas directed through precision tubular guides to heat the weld surfaces prior to joining. “Customers are becoming more demanding,
particularly for particle-free parts,” said Dukane CEO Michael Johnston, who described the KVT technology as a great fit with its existing business. “They have been very successful but it was difficult for KVT to support customers worldwide.” The hot gas technique is flexible in application. It can handle all of the typical PP and PA-based
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MHS launches micro- moulder
Mold Hotrunner Solutions (MHS) used NPE 2018 as a platform to launch its M3 micro injection moulding machine, which is described as an electro-pneumatic production cell for direct gating small and micro-sized plastic parts. It is aimed at companies developing miniature parts, especially for medical and electronic devices. Despite the M3 name that comes from ‘micro moulding ma-
chine’, the company said that the machine is not restricted to micro parts as it has enough clamping force and shot volume to produce ‘larger’ small parts. It can also expand the number of parts pro- duced on one machine. The design is based on previous models, the first of which was introduced in Germany in 2013. The new M3 uses MHS’s Isokor high pressure injection process and has a lower residence time than most conventional machines, thus protecting against the common problem associated with micro-injection moulding, plastic degradation in the runners. “Our goal is to take micro-injection from a niche moulding technology to the mainstream,” says MHS president Harald Schmidt. �
www.mhs-hotrunners.com
compounds used in automotive applications, as well as more demanding polymers such as PBT, POM, PPO and PPS. It is widely used for parts such as engine intake manifolds, as well as aesthetically demanding components such as tail light assem- blies.
Johnston says that, compared to vibration welding or hot plate welding, hot gas is a little slower but it results in a cleaner weld and can handle much more complex weld geometries. Against laser welding, it is more cost effective and is not limited by material transparency.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.plasticsindustry.org �
www.wittmann-group.com �
www.milacron.com �
www.engelglobal.com �
www.arburg.com �
www.dr-boy.de �
www.kraussmaffei.com �
www.sepro-group.com �
www.dukane.com
May 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 35
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