ALBA Enterprises, Inc.

Most of the emphasis is on valve gating and on doing more in less space. Other highlights include standardized mold components, some impressive feats of moldmaking creativity, and advances in mold simulation.

At the world’s largest plastics show in Dusseldorf last fall, hot-runner and controller manufacturers introduced a flood of new developments in speed, size, accuracy, and reliability.

There were new presses of all stripes aplenty at K 2010, but the “wow” factor was supplied by automated work cells and integrated manu-facturing systems performing multiple operations before, during, and after molding.

Several new developments include a brand-new compression blow process, the first foamed PET bottles, and a preform decontamination approach for aseptically filled products sold at ambient temperature. Attendees also saw a new stack-mold Multi-Parting Line concept that doubles bottle output within the same machine footprint. (Additional NPE blow molding news appeared in May and June—see Learn More box.)

If a better machine can help your company beat challenging economic conditions, you’ll probably find it at NPE. And finding it will be easier, thanks to our editors’ efforts to sift out of some 2000 exhibits the most significant news in injection and blow molding, extrusion, compounding, and thermoforming.

A new LSR model of Babyplast hydraulic tabletop injection press comes from Cronoplast S.L. of Spain, represented here by Alba Enterprises Inc., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

The accepted ground rule for balancing melt flow in multi-cavity injection molds is to achieve equal flow distance from the injection point to each cavity.

WEB EXCLUSIVE.

A new high-temperature lubricant for liquid silicone rubber or other thermoset molds, and a new solvent for cleaning between lubrication cycles, come from Alba Enterprises Inc., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Liquid silicone rubber is breaking out of its niche into a broader array of applications, helped by new developments in materials, machinery, and processing. Larger parts, micro-parts, foams, and multi-color or multi-material combinations are key areas of innovation.

A new hot-runner sprue-tip design featuring a single heater rather than a more complex dual heater is new from Alba Enterprises, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

What hot runners are to thermoplastics, cold runners are to thermosets like liquid silicone rubber (LSR). Two cold-runner systems for LSR were introduced at this year's NPE show in Chicago.

Electrically driven valve pins, a low-cost alternative to valve-gating, mold-mounted temperature controllers, and new components for fast color changes are some of a host of new components and systems unveiled at the giant NPE 2006 show in Chicago this past June. (Some brand-new introductions since the show are also included in this report.) The news includes runnerless products aimed at everything from micromolding to shot weights up to 17.4 lb.

Thermal and mechanical testers, color and appearance sensors, vision inspection devices and CMMs—the NPE had them all in more compact, economical, and easy-to-use models.

Energy-saving all-electric machines will continue to be a big draw at NPE, where new designs or upgraded models will be found in virtually every press maker’s booth.

Closer cavity spacing, in-press serviceability, improved valve gates, smarter controls, quick-ship standard manifolds, and Internet e-commerce were leading themes in hot runners at the big show in Chicago.Hot-runner components were one of the largest categories of injection molding products exhibited at the triennial NPE show in June.