Injection Molding machinery suppliers at NPE2018 unveiled new and enhanced all-electric lines with features such as more space between tie bars to handle bigger parts, more robust servo motors for precision molding and the ability to overlap movements to shorten cycle times.
NEGRI BOSSI
Negri Bossi introduced an all-electric toggle machine line designed for high-speed molding applications, including packaging, caps and closures, and medical and optical parts.
The Nova eT line has eight models with clamping forces ranging from 55 to 386 tons; a larger machine with 495 tons of clamping force is scheduled for release later this year, CEO Craig Ward said.
Compared with Negri Bossi's ELE series of all-electric toggle machines, the Nova eT line features more space between the tie bars and larger injection units in relation to the clamping unit. The ELE series of all-electric toggle machines was introduced at the K show in 2016.
Machines in the Nova eT line employ a toothed belt drive and servo motor for each machine motion, which allows for independent operation of screw recovery/plasticizing, injection, clamping and ejection. Users can overlap the independently operated motions during a molding cycle to reduce overall production time.
Additional features include linear bearings on prismatic guides to ensure that the movement of the injection unit occurs with no friction and at precise speeds, while oil-free, self-lubricating linear platen guides provide clean operation and energy-efficient movement of the platen. The line also incorporates Negri Bossi's Smart Flex 2 toggle clamp that delivers fast and precise opening and closing movements and locking speed. It is especially designed to work with the electrically driven platen movements. An electric-servo motor provides accurate clamping actuation even with high-speed movements.
The new line uses a 22-inch-by-21-inch color Tactum machine controller with gesture navigation, allowing users to move through control screens by scrolling or swiping.
Negri Bossi's Amico 4.0 wireless or wired communication interface is standard on the Nova eT line. It allows users to connect to remote technical assistance and analysis and provides access to machine software updates online. The Tactum controller and Amico programs provide machine monitoring, clamping force auto-correction and closed-loop feed-throat cooling as part of a self-adaptive process.
A second all-electric injection unit can be added to the primary machine for multi-color or multi-shot molding. When compared with a conventional hydraulic press, Negri Bossi said the all-electric line offers energy savings of up to 80 percent. Injection units with injection speeds of up to 600mm per second are optional. The motor drive and screw configuration are fully customizable.
YIZUMI-HPM
Yizumi-HPM Corp. rolled out its FE-N line of all-electric toggle machines designed for the North American market. Based on the FE line, which it began developing in 2016 for the Asian market, the FE-N line replaces the HSE series. The presses are designed for high-speed production of packaging and general-purpose molding but have undergone several design updates since their Asian introduction.
The FE-N series has four models with clamping forces ranging from 65 tons to 290 tons; however, additional machines with clamping forces up to 900 tons will become commercially available in about six months, said Bill Duff, GM, sales and marketing.
The machines feature four larger servo-driven motors and encoders that are customizable to provide more precise operation and positioning control of the belt and ball screws used for plasticizing, injection, clamping and ejection. Asynchronous motors control mold-height adjustment and the movement of the injection carriage and provide more accurate torque control with lower energy consumption. A small hydraulic package performs core pull, Duff said.
To prevent friction during mold movements, the tie bars and movable platen don't touch. A negative caster angle for the five-point toggle clamp moves the toggle links down during platen movements, which makes the clamping motion smoother.
Low-friction linear guides provide support and smooth movement of the movable platen. The platen is designed to maintain mold parallelism.
Standard injection speeds range from 250mm per second to 350mm per second depending on the size of the injection molding machine; however, the units can be designed for low-speed (150mm per second) or high-speed (500mm per second) injection, Duff said.
The FE-N has a KePlast i2000-series controller from Keba with a 12-inch color touch screen.
JSW
JSW debuted a fully electric injection add-on unit featuring an add-on secondary screw and barrel unit that can be installed in either a horizontal or vertical position.
The new Flip-20V is a modular all-electric injection unit that can be used for multi-shot molding with any JSW J-ADS or J-AD model up to 450 tons. The company offers the Flip-20V injection unit with a choice of three screw diameters, which deliver a nozzle touch force of 1.65 tons, screw stroke of 2.56 inches and shot size ranging from 1 ounce to 1.5 ounces, depending on the size of screw and barrel it uses. The Flip-20V model provides an injection speed of 200mm per second. JSW is developing a Flip-55V add-on injection unit, which handles larger screw diameters and provides faster injection rates. The unit is supported by its own height-adjustable stand when installed in the horizontal position, on the non-operator side. The Flip-20V has a screw with a 16:1 L:D ratio.
When used on a J-ADS machine, the Flip-20V is a plug-and-play unit operated through the machine controller, the Syscom 5000i. When used on a JSW J-AD press — featuring the Syscom 3000 + I/O controller — the Flip-20V uses its own controller, which receives a signal from the primary molding machine.
JSW also unveiled a wide-platen version of its J-ADS all-electric models. At NPE, the company displayed a J850ADW featuring approximately 100mm of additional daylight. Smaller models in the J-ADS line gain 50mm of daylight. The wide-platen model at the show produced an automotive trim part from PP in a single cavity in a 5-second cycle.
ABSOLUTE HAITIAN
Absolute Haitian unveiled the third generation of its Venus all-electric machine, which features an optimized toggle clamp design, more generous tie-bar spacing and injection units capable of higher injection pressures.
To improve parallelism, the updated Venus III series, which includes models with clamping forces from 45 tons to 618 tons, feature a bushing-less platen and linear rails. The Sigmatek controller incorporated into the Venus III line has a user interface that is 30 percent larger and will incorporate new software that allows for Industry 4.0 connectivity.
Presses in the line use four upgraded servo motors to control the injection, plasticizing and clamping movements of the injection unit, as well as die height adjustment and nozzle touch.
During NPE, Absolute Haitian featured the Venus III VE 900 with 101 tons of clamping force. The press, which produced a medical part from a copolyester in an eight-cavity mold in a cycle time of 10.5 seconds, integrated a Cognex vision system to monitor both sides of the mold, as well as an infrared thermal monitoring system that allowed the operator to see the mold and part to identify any potential mold issues, such as a blocked channel.
WITTMANN BATTENFELD
Wittmann Battenfeld is extending the range of models in its EcoPower Xpress line of all-electric presses for thin-wall parts and high-speed production of packaging.
The line, which previously had models with clamping forces ranging from 55 tons to 300 tons, will gain presses with 400, 500 and 600 tons of clamping force. Wittmann Battenfeld introduced the line at the K show in 2016.
The EcoPower Xpress machines are based on the company's EcoPower line but incorporate larger motors, bigger drives and a different gearbox design. The linear rail for the platen movement, the automatic lubrication system and the linear rail are different from those used in the EcoPower line. The EcoPower Xpress is a direct-drive, beltless machine that uses highly dynamic servo motors for precise injection and accurate platen opening and closing movements.
Features include a rack-and-pinion drive system operated by two water-cooled servo motors that provide fast speeds for injection acceleration and deceleration. Injection speeds up to 600mm per second and clamp closing speeds of 1,800mm per second are possible.
Wittmann Battenfeld said the machines' new, compact injection unit is 40 percent more responsive than a hydraulic accumulator-type injection unit. An integrated servo pump ensures repeatable and precise injection volumes, injection pressures and switchovers to holding pressure, even at injection speeds of 600mm per second.
The machines employ five-point double-toggle clamps. The machine uses the company's newest machine controller, the B8.
At NPE, an EcoPower Xpress 400/3300+ machine molded 1.3-gram bottle caps made from HDPE in a 96-cavity mold in a cycle time of 2.5 seconds. Filling time was 0.22 second with a shot size of 125 grams. Carriage retraction was 0.15 second and cooling time was just 0.5 second.
Mikell Knights, senior staff reporter
Contact:
Absolute Haitian Corp., Parma, Ohio, 216-452-1000, www.absolutehaitian.com
JSW Plastics Machinery Inc.,
Lake Zurich, Ill., 847-550-0704,www.jswpmi.com
Negri Bossi North America,
New Castle, Del., 302-328-8020,www.negribossi.com
Wittmann Battenfeld Inc., Torrington, Conn., 860-496-9603, www.wittmann-group.com
Yizumi-HPM Corp.,
Iberia, Ohio, 740-382-5600,www.yizumi-hpm.com
