Product category:
Injection moulding
News Release from: Engel Austria | Subject: MacPET high-performance preform system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 June 2003
Five-point toggle clamp opens PET moulds
quickly
A five-point toggle clamp operating with an additional hydraulic accumulator ensures extremely fast opening and closing of the mould and high rigidity of the PET moulder's clamping system.
A five-point toggle clamp operating in conjunction with an additional hydraulic accumulator ensures extremely fast opening and closing of the mould and high rigidity of the PET moulder's clamping system The nucleus of every MacPET (formerly Premax) high-performance preform production system is the injection moulding machine, a toggle clamp machine based on the Engel Classic Series
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Jan 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Equipped with special modules for fast-cycling PET injection moulding, including a special holding pressure unit on the injection side, the MacPET Series comprises five sizes of machine with clamping forces ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 kN.
The machine sizes are specially tailored for use with moulds with 32, 48, 64, 72 or 96 cavities.
So far more than a hundred machines of this type are giving reliable service in twenty countries in all parts of the world.
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Among a number of new injection moulding process developments from Engel are X-melt for small precision parts, thin wall injection moulding and the Foammelt process for high rigidity.
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The Engel DUO 5550H/500H/900 Combi (Cleanshot) is a multiple injection unit machine for the production of 2-3 component / 2-3 colour mouldings.
A five-point toggle clamp operating in conjunction with an additional hydraulic accumulator ensures not only extremely fast opening and closing of the mould but also high rigidity of the clamping system and gentle treatment of the mould.
The economically efficient operation of the machine is supported by an energy-saving hydraulic system featuring four servo-controlled variable delivery pumps for all movements of the screw.
These pumps keep specific energy consumption to a very minimum (around 0.32 kWh/kg).
The injection unit is of space-saving design and equipped with a barrier screw which achieves a high plasticizing capacity while ensuring gentle treatment of the melt.
Optionally available, for pigmenting applications, are screws with integrated mixing elements which are distinguished by their high homogenizing efficiency.
In cases where requirements are focussed on a low concentration of acetaldehyde and its even distribution over all the cavities of the mould (the standard concentration, which is unavoidable due to polymer degradation during the plasticizing process, is max.
2 - 3 ppm), Engel offers a static mixer for installation in the space in front of the screw.
The economic efficiency of a PET preform production machine is dependant not least on the speed of the demoulding system, whereby it is not just the actual speed of robot movement which is the decisive factor.
In such fast cycling applications, the demoulded preforms are still very hot and hence too delicate to be placed on the discharge conveyor immediately.
Consequently, the Engel linear robots used on the MacPET machines are equipped with takeover heads with integrated cooling systems.
Each linear robot has four such takeover heads with demoulding positions corresponding to the number of mould cavities.
Mounted on a rotating mechanism, they perform their demoulding operations one after the other such that the demoulded preforms are cooled for the duration of four injection cycles prior to being placed, without risk of damage, on the discharge conveyor.
Stripper mechanisms with light beam monitoring systems ensure that all the preforms are removed from the mould and picked up by the demoulding arm of the robot.
The Engel robot control system and the machine control system are fully integrated and share the same control panel.
This not only facilitates operation but also keeps the necessary time for data exchange to a minimum, as the various interfaces are then optimally co-ordinated, and this in turn makes for even faster cycle times.
Similarly optimized is the co-ordination of machine operation with other component modules such as the cooling systems for the mould and the robot, the drying and conveying system for the compounding and feed of the PET granules and the dry air curtain surrounding the mould, all of which are integrated into the system in keeping with the customer's need for a fully equipped preform production cell which, once delivered, can immediately commence production.
In addition to its existing co-operation with SIG Corpoplast, Engel has since the middle of last year been manufacturing and supplying PET preform injection moulding machines and demoulding robots as individual units under its own name.
Now that Engel has taken over the responsibility for the entire turnkey production system, existing SIG Corpoplast customers will now be able to benefit from Engel's close-meshed, world-wide service network and the broadly based expertise and experience of its injection moulding experts.
Engel is the world's largest single-brand manufacturer of injection moulding machines and at the same time one of the world's leading manufacturers of plastics processing machinery.
Today the Engel Group offers all the technology modules necessary for the processing of plastics from a single source: injection moulding machines for thermoplastics and elastomers, moulds and automation equipment, whereby even individual component units compete and sell successfully.
With eight production plants in Europe, North America and Korea, its own branches in 17 countries and agencies in more than 70 countries, Engel offers its customers optimum local support worldwide, with new technologies and leading-edge production machines and equipment, enabling them to hold their own in today's extremely competitive market.
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