MOULDS | TECHNOLOGY
Hot runners: achieving balance and control
K2019 provided a showcase of hot runner technologies that help moulders achieve increasingly excellent
results.Peter Mapleston discovers what’s new from leading suppliers
Hot runner technology was introduced to the plastics industry over 50 years ago. It revolution- ised injection moulding processing capabilities then, helping to make major improvements to moulded part quality, enhance production efficien- cies, reduce scrap, and save processors money. Today, it continues to help push the envelope of what is possible in injection moulding. A visit to K2019 last month would have provided ample proof of what it is capable of, especially when it is put together with advanced control systems. Case in point: the Barnes Molding Solutions
group. It now comprises several companies involved in or connected to moulds and hot runner manufacturing – which were all grouped together on a single stand at the show. Christopherus Bader, Managing Director at Priamus System Technolo- gies, says: “The reason these companies [hot runner makers Otto Männer, Synventive and Thermoplay, controller producer Gammaflux, system control specialist Priamus, mould maker Foboha] are all together is to find synergies for different applications.” A show-stopping produc-
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tion cell running at the show provided a perfect example of how those synergies look in practice. (Among the hot runner makers in the group, Männer specialises in valve gates. In the future, Thermoplay will concentrate on thermal gating systems. Both provide systems for multi-cavity moulds. Synventive specialises in large moulds.) The production cell based around a fascinating
Foboha Reverse Cube mould running on an Arburg injection moulding machine, used a Männer valve gate system, coupled to Männer’s MoldMind II smart device for monitoring and analysing key parameters. Hot runner and manifold temperatures were controlled by a Gammaflux unit. Data picked up by the device were also transferred to a Priamus FillControl system to provide highly precise control over the moulding process. The Foboha Reverse Cube is essentially two cube (or stack-turning) moulds, each with 24 cavities on each of its four sides, rotating around the same vertical axis, in opposite directions. The two cubes, thermally insulated from each other, have cavities for producing separate components
Main image: Foboha Reverse Cube mould is supported by technology from other companies in Barnes Molding Solutions group: Otto Männer, Synventive, Thermoplay, Gammaflux and Priamus
November/December 2019 | INJECTION WORLD 35
PHOTO: BARNES MOLDING SOLUTIONS
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