Integrated Energy Calculator For Most Energy-Efficient Machine Operation

Provided By ENGEL

ENGEL, a world leader in the design and manufacture of injection molding machines and part-handling automation systems, has developed a new energy calculation software program which allows operators to view and analyze real-time energy consumption under different machine set-up parameters. The integrated energy calculator allows for the most efficient machine cycle while maintaining peak performance.

Available on all new ENGEL machines equipped with CC200 A02 controllers (both hydraulic and all-electric models), molders only need to enter the shot weight into the set-up screen and the machine will automatically calculate the energy required to process the part based on the individual settings such as clamp motion, injection, cooling, parts ejection, etc.

Energy values are calculated based on oil pressure and volume on hydraulic machines, and motor speeds and torque on all-electric machines. Once the machine provides three representative cycles, the measured values are compared to an extensive database, and the energy consumption calculation is provided in an intuitive and easily-understandable graphic display.
 
Having the “dashboard” with energy consumption quantified for each individual motion / operation, the machine operator has the ability to adjust all motion parameters individually, such as adjusting acceleration / deceleration, maximum velocity to the most energy-efficient parameters, without compromising cycle time or overall throughput.

Practical tests have shown that using the integrated energy calculator as guidance in setting up the individual machine functions will save 15 to 25 percent energy consumption versus a set-up on the same machine, without transparency to energy usage of the individual motions.
 

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Increased Energy Efficiency: ENGEL duo pico With ecodrive

Provided By ENGEL

ENGEL, a world leader in the design and manufacture of injection molding machines and part-handling automation systems, is introducing the new duo pico line of two-platen injection molding machines at NPE2009, equipped with a great new energy saving feature: ecodrive.

Maximum power on a small footprint. 

The recently-introduced hydraulic duo pico product line is compact, fast and economical – geared for exacting quality requirements and available in sizes from 500 to 770 US tons.  The pico design provides a minimal footprint (under 24’ for duo 550 pico) and low weight, thanks to the compact two-platen clamping mechanism.  Additionally, the ENGEL duo pico offers a dry cycle of just 2.6 seconds, making it the fastest two-platen machine on the market.

On top of this, the duo pico machine line provides the lowest energy consumption – 25 percent less energy consumption compared to ENGEL’s main competitor’s, as determined in a recent independent study – and excellent mold protection due to zero contact between the tie bars and the moving platen.  This relates to a minimum 2.5 percent lower overall production costs compared to the same competitor’s.  

ENGEL is now introducing the duo pico with the newly-developed ecodrive, an energy-saving system consisting of speed-controlled servo pumps, one of the highlights of ENGEL’s NPE2009 display. 

The duo pico with ecodrive achieves energy savings similar to fully electric machines, but has the ability to maintain that energy-efficiency in applications utilizing hydraulic components (such as hydraulic core pulls, hot runner needles and mold mounting systems).   The variable drive motor helps to achieve the perfect operating point for each movement.  The machine is equipped with an electric plasticizing unit, which allows the hydraulic pumps to idle during plasticizing for additional energy savings.

Compared to existing machines in the market in the 500 to 770 ton clamping force range, an ENGEL duo pico equipped with ecodrive requires about 45 to 60 percent less energy, while providing the integrated hydraulics for core pulls and other hydraulic elements.

Considering the reduced energy consumption, repeatability and performance of the electric screw drive, together with the fast cycle time and minimal floor space requirement, the duo pico ecodrive is easily the most economical solution for mid-size tonnage machine applications.

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ENGEL e-factory Takes Injection Molding Productivity To A Higher Level

Provided By ENGEL

Improving efficiencies, reducing costs and enhancing service are among the benefits of ENGEL e-factory, a modular software solution for the central acquisition of operation and process data as well as the setting data to ENGEL injection molding machines.
 
ENGEL e-factory serves as the interface and the communication gateway between injection molding production and an organization’s network. Integrating this information allows companies to make smarter and faster decisions about machine usage.

ENGEL e-factory lets you transfer, visualize, evaluate and administer all mold setting data (set values) as well as process actual values and operational data from the production stations.  This allows for further processing in the central databases of the organization’s network (such as for production parameter documentation).  What that ultimately means is shorter set-up times, reduced downtime, process improvements, and access to information for more efficient machine and personnel planning.

The integration of the machines with ENGEL e-factory also enhances service support. Using e-factory.Support allows ENGEL customer service to transfer all relevant data online to and from the machine – providing a direct on-site connection to the service engineers in ENGEL subsidiaries and experts in ENGEL production plants.  If an organization manufactures at more than one site, ENGEL e-factory.Support can also be used as an efficient internal communications platform for service and maintenance, supporting the experience and information exchange between the individual production sites.

“Molders will be increasingly forced by their internal or external customers to carry out their production with methods from the so called ‘Digital Factory’,” said Steve Braig, president & CEO of ENGEL North America.  “The goal for e-factory is to completely illustrate universal product development, production planning and production technical information.  Using e-factory, companies can integrate and simulate operations in order to optimize and to continuously improve the entire manufacturing chain.”

How e-factory can help

ENGEL e-factory helps take productivity to a higher level in a number of ways, including:
•Documented quality of produced parts through simply monitoring quality-defining parameters
•Fast and secure archiving of data as verification for the reproduced quality according to ISO 9001
•Direct availability of the setting and actual conditions of the machines at any monitor inside and outside of the company (remote monitoring)
•Visualization of the data in real-time as a graph or table
•Alarm notification with cause analysis and remote maintenance
•Interface between production and ERP Systems (Enterprise Resource Planning)
•Shorter set up times since the parameters can be loaded directly from the host computer
•Secure data – since manual transfer of data is not applicable
•Process improvement through documented and traceable changes
•Collection and retention of “know-how” through the configuration of databases

ENGEL e-factory is another example of ENGEL delivering added value to help customers get the most from their injection molding machines.

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ENGEL Unveils The Viper

Provided By ENGEL

ENGEL North America, a world leader in the design and manufacture of injection molding machines and parts-handling automation has introduced a compact, machine-mounted, parts-removal servo robot that is a lightweight, lightning-fast, heavy-lifter.

Optimized acceleration capabilities, maximized operational stability, and customized operator convenience are features of the viper—a powerful, next-generation series of servo robots from ENGEL.

An innovative use of laser-welded steel sections in the viper's compact construction reduces its machine-mounted weight, while also providing operational stability, even when handling relatively heavy parts at high-speed cycles.

And, equipped with an intuitive, easy-to-use control system, the viper is as smart as it is swift, strong, and stable. Improved productivity and uptime when operating at high-speed cycles is ensured by the following three, key software features:

•Mass Identification identifies the manipulated mass and adapts the viper's dynamic operational values to match the manipulated mass, thereby ensuring optimum acceleration;
•Vibration Control reduces structural borne vibration even for longer axis dimensions;
•Efficiency Control optimizes the viper's movements to maximize productivity, while minimizing energy consumption.

The impressive results; ultra-fast cycle times and maximum productivity accompanied by low energy consumption. Whether it is fully integrated into a production line, or used as an efficient stand-alone solution, the ENGEL viper can provide a profitable price/performance ratio to improve competitiveness.

Available in several models with load-bearing capacities ranging from 55-to-120 lb, and for machines from 120-to-1650 tons the ENGEL viper robot series is a vital step in reinforcing ENGEL's full-system competency.

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ENGEL Introduces Smaller, Swifter Twin-Platens

Provided By ENGEL

ENGEL extends its latest series of compact, twin-platen, injection molding machines with fast-cycling, floor-space-friendly, feather-weight models.

ENGEL North America, a global leader in the design and manufacture of injection molding machines and parts-handling automation, recently introduced two new competitively priced entries into its “duo pico” series of high-performance, twin-platen injection molding machines—the 400-ton ENGEL duo 400 pico US, and the 440-ton ENGEL duo 440 pico US.

ENGEL officials are absolutely confident that their two new duo pico models will appeal to their North American customer base for a very good reason—feature-for-feature, and pound-for-pound both new models have been engineered and built from the ground up to satisfy specific customer requests.

At their global premier at NPE 2009, ENGEL's duo pico presses ranged from 500 to 770 tons. More recently, customers asked that ENGEL continue to build its duo pico machines for high-speed operation, but requested that new models be supplied to them in smaller tonnages, with smaller floor space footprints and in lighter weights.

ENGEL officials are confident that their duo pico line extension will make ENGEL extremely competitive in the two-platen marketplace for reasons other than their availability in smaller sizes. As with other, larger models, the new duo pico's provide variable platen distances for accommodating a variety of special manufacturing applications, such as in-mold labeling and the use of stack molds.

Their energy-saving plasticizing units allow the machines' hydraulic pumps to idle during plasticizing. And both new models are available with ENGEL's “ecodrive”—a   variable-drive system that incorporates speed-controlled servo pumps as standard equipment, making their duo pico presses even more energy efficient. On average, ecodrive-equipped machines consume 45 to 60% less energy than similarly sized hydraulic machines.

Although ENGEL's ecodrive-equipped machines provide all-electric-like energy savings, they also have the ability to maintain efficiencies in applications normally reserved for hydraulic machines — such as powering hot-runner needles, mold mounting systems, and hydraulic corepulls.

ENGEL's new, smaller duo pico machines can also be equipped with an integrated precision coining package and are adaptable to special manufacturing technologies, such as the company’s ‘combi M’ system for the two-component molding of large surface-area parts. And, like the larger-tonnage models, they are fast—the compact, new duo pico machines dry cycle at just 2.5 seconds at a 22-in. opening stroke.

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ENGEL Streamlines Clear-Coated Parts Production

Provided By ENGEL

ENGEL's new clearmelt system mates injection molding with reaction injection molding for the 'single-cell' production of secure, serviceable, and stunning clear-coated components.

ENGEL North America, a world leader in the design and manufacture of injection molding machines and parts-handling automation has introduced clearmelt—a high-volume manufacturing system that combines both thermoplastic injection molding and thermoset polyurethane (PUR) reaction injection molding, with innovative mold design and dedicated automation to efficiently and economically produce scratch-proof, attractive, clear-coated components, such as finished automotive interior trim.

For example, when using a sliding-platen two-cavity mold a thermoplastic substrate is molded, while, simultaneously, the empty mold cavity is sprayed with a PUR mold release agent. When moved into position, a clear PUR coating is injected onto the molded thermoplastic part and cured. Then, when that portion of the mold opens, the finished part is robotically removed, oriented, and stacked while, simultaneously, a thermoplastic substrate is molded in the other, empty, closed cavity.

For a more continuous clear-coated parts production using the clearmelt process, a multicavity rotary-platen mold can be used.

Unlike more conventional spray-coating and varnishing methods, ENGEL clearmelt reduces finishing requirements, while also reducing the cost of labor, materials, and waste disposal. Also, conventional spray-coating and varnishing technologies can require time-consuming and expensive multiple coating methods, which often can result in a substantial number of rejects. And, unlike clearmelt, such conventional technologies are incapable of producing aesthetically pleasing three-dimensional effects at coating thicknesses of less than 0.5 mm.

In addition to its use in the economical, highly productive manufacturing of protected and eye-catching interior and exterior automotive components, ENGEL's clearmelt technology also may advance into the field of consumer electronics—enhancing the aesthetically appealing appearance of finished electronic parts, while also providing more opportunities for increasing integrated part functionality.

For example, ENGEL has demonstrated the production of functional electronic components that incorporate a capacitive foil overmolded with a clear, protective, ultra-high-gloss PUR film. Electronic circuits can be actuated simply by touching the respective symbol beneath the thin PUR film. ENGEL has also demonstrated the versatility of clearmelt technology by molding sample products with a non-functional, but aesthetically pleasing appearance, including clear-coated parts with carbon- and wood-finished substrates.

ENGEL clearmelt was developed in collaboration with Schöfer GmbH (Schwertberg, Austria; www.schoefer.at), originators of both the mold design and the processing technology itself; and Hennecke GmbH (represented in North America by Hennecke Inc., Lawrence, PA; www.hennecke.com) suppliers of PUR RIM machinery.

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Capture the productivity

Provided By ENGEL

With introduction of the e-cap, ENGEL is setting completely new standards in the production of closure caps. The newly developed machine is geared to peak performance and maximum output, while being extremely economical in terms of energy and cooling water. It adeptly bridges this gap by utilizing fully electric drive technology combined with a series of sophisticated features, such as the latest powerful, premium quality injection unit and fast closing drive.

The new ENGEL e-cap works in the name of efficiency. The ENGEL e-cap 420 produces 130,000 closure caps per hour - with 96 cavities and a cycle time of 2.7 seconds. Thanks to the optimum process stability of the entire system, it achieves a maximum of good parts. The fully electric machine also has a firm grip on production costs. “The machine is extremely energy-efficient, has low cooling water requirements and offers an impressive level of reliability. All in all this keeps production costs at a modest level,“ says Walter Jungwirth, Head of the Packaging business unit at ENGEL.

The ENGEL e-cap is the only fully electric solution for closure cap production on the market. The machine takes its high-performance genes from the e-motion series -- which has proven itself over many years to provide fully electric efficiency -- with a robust 5-point toggle lever clamping unit to ensure fast, dynamic and high-precision movements, high plasticising capacity and intelligent ENGEL CC 200 high-performance control. Moreover, the machine was tuned by our engineers to meet the special requirements of closure cap production.

For example, it has an even more efficient, premium quality injection unit, increased ejector force and a faster closing drive. The result is cycle times of under three seconds.

A global nework of strong partners for molds and peripheral units enables ENGEL to devise highly sophisticated closure cap solutions for its customers. “As a system supplier, our focus is on the whole. We make sure that machine, mold and automation work in concert. We closely scrutinize the customer`s requirements and select the suitable partner. The benefit to the customer: we take care of everything. He has only one point of contact – ENGEL,” Jungwirth concludes.

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Economical processing of solid silicone and BMC

Provided By ENGEL

Progress in plastics technology is marked by new applications and innovations to ensure constantly new or expanded fields of application for injection molding.  With the development of the ENGEL roto feeder – a new rotary conveyor for continuous feeding of solid silicone or BMC materials to the plasticizing unit – avoiding inclusions and maintaining constant pressure during processing of these materials could become significantly easier and more economical.

The development of the new all-electric ENGEL roto feeder opens the use of solid silicone and BMC materials to applications where these materials were previously not cost-effective due to high material and processing costs.  
The lack of automatic process engineering capabilities, particularly for small batch sizes (up to 50,000 parts), often made the use of solid silicone or BMC materials unfeasible. The continuous, air-free material feeding through the ENGEL roto feeder dispenses with the cost-intensive, problematic engineering process of rolling the silicone, and therefore allows for an economical molding process. 

Processing is kept consistent via the units’ closed loop pressure control which regulates the speed of the feed-screw, and the all-electric design provides energy efficiency and a cleaner process than found with the typical hydraulic stuffer unit.  The new roto feeder also eliminates material leakage, again supporting a cleaner more cost efficient process.

New fields of application are now technologically and economically feasible, such as seals in the automotive industry and medical technology, due to the low investment cost of this system.

The new ENGEL roto feeder was featured, processing solid silicone gaskets, on an ENGEL victory 330/100 US machine at the recent K 2010 show.  Production of the 6mm diameter gasket was fully automatic, and post-processing free, using a 64-cavity mold with cold runner technology.

The ENGEL roto feeder is available on machines with injection units of 310 cc and larger.

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Increased energy efficiency: ENGEL e-victory with ecodrive

Provided By ENGEL

ENGEL North America will exhibit a solution for increased energy efficiency at the upcoming Plastec West 2011 show in Anaheim, CA.  On display will be an ecodrive equipped, 30 ton ENGEL e-victory hybrid tie- bar-less machine, molding an LSR application.

ENGEL North America, a world leader in the design and manufacture of injection molding machines and parts-handling automation, will exhibit a hybrid tie bar-less injection molding machine – the ENGEL e-victory 80/30 US -- running a 2-cavity LSR mold with automatic part inspection and removal.  The ENGEL e-victory machine series is characterized by a high-precision, servo-electrical injection unit and a tie bar-less, hydraulic clamping unit.   With the addition of the new ecodrive, this machine has become as energy efficient as an all-electric machine.

ENGEL’s ecodrive is an innovative drive system based on servomotors that control the drive speed independently of the speed required for the machine. In other words, the drive is only active during machine movements, with energy consumption dropping to virtually zero when the machine is idle.

Benefits of the ecodrive are particularly great when it comes to the tie bar-less ENGEL victory and e-victory machines. In contrast to standard hydraulics with asynchronous drives, ecodrive does not consume flushing or idle energy when the machine is not in motion. Legacy hydraulic drives continuously pump the hydraulic oil through the system.

Besides the increased energy consumption due to constant motor/pump activity, the cooling water requirements of standard systems are also higher because the hydraulic oil is heated by the constant movement. Heating of hydraulic oil in particular is a key indicator of energy efficiency. With ecodrive, some ENGEL victory machines will no longer need oil cooling. The use of ecodrive also offers the benefits of low heat impact thereby keeping heat-related air turbulence to a minimum. This makes the machine perfect for cleanroom applications. 

Using all-electric injection units along with servo-hydraulics has an additional positive effect on the energy household, as no energy is consumed while the hydraulics are idle, which leads to vastly improved energy utilization. In addition to this, clamping pressure lock-in, a standard feature, improves ecodrive’s efficiency. This means that the clamping pressure is locked into the sealed hydraulic clamping system by means of a non-return valve. This removes the need to consume energy to maintain clamping pressure.

In total, the use of ecodrive with ENGEL victory machines can save up to 70 percent of energy consumption compared with standard hydraulics, providing savings similar to comparable fully electric machines.

Additionally, the machine is perfectly suited for energy-saving production using molds with hydraulic components (such as core-pulls).

For the Plastec West 2011 show, an ENGEL e-victory press will be running a 2 cavity, cold-runner plunger tip mold with a cycle time of 15 seconds.  Partners in the exhibit include Roembke Mfg & Design (mold), Design Facts (part removal and vision system), Fluid Automation (material feeding system), Wacker Silicone (material) and Gayson SDI (colorant).

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