HOT RUNNERS | TECHNOLOGY
Innovations in hot runners improve part quality, thermal control, the speed of colour changes and more. Mikell Knights reports on developments shown at Fakuma 2023
Hot runner technologies raise the performance bar
The body of technology components relating to hot runners, including nozzle and manifold designs, complete systems and temperature control units, are improving efficiency on a variety of fronts. The latest developments introduce compact and space-saving creations or employ 3D manufacturing in designs for complex moulding tasks or to ease processing troubles, handle a broader range of materials while executing quicker material and colour changeovers, improve tem- perature control with software and/or heating technology while delivering ease of use, and incorporate connectivity for real-time monitoring and control remotely. Hasco introduced a new valve gate hot runner
design at last month’s Fakuma 2023 show in Germany that is built using additive manufacturing to eliminate areas of poor melt flow. Florian Larisch, Executive VP for the Hot Runners division, says its new Shadowfree valve gate technology eliminates “flow shadows” or dead spots which can occur behind a valve pin and can lead to flow disruptions, visible melt flow lines, degradation of plastic and extended colour changes. Hasco manufactures the screw-in type Shadow-
www.injectionworld.com
free valve gate using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) additive manufacturing and a finishing treatment procedure it developed, which divides the material flow into streamlined channels that course uniform- ly around the needle. The streamlined melt flow reunites at a point where the valve pin enters the melt channel. The design enables colour changes in the hot runner that are up to 70% faster than conventional designs. According to Hasco, rigor- ous testing has shown that the system provides a rapid transition from black to white material in just 25 cycles, whereas conventional valve gate systems may require up to 200 cycles, says Larisch. Hasco first incorporated the SLM additive manufacturing concept in the production of its Streamrunner line of hot runner manifold systems, introduced in 2019 and designed for multi-cavity systems. The use of SLM allows for the creation of optimised, “free three-dimensional design of the runners,” without dead spots and sharp corners. The melt flow channels offer gentle passage of the melt with uniform flow to each drop, even with an uneven number of cavities or with a complex, asymmetric nozzle arrangement, Larisch says. The Streamrunner manifold is leak-proof and
Main image: Hasco’s Streamrunner manifold was one of many hot runner highlights at the Fakuma 2023 exhibition
November/December 2023 | INJECTION WORLD 19
IMAGE: HASCO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
