Show goers will see an electric injection machine in nearly every press maker’s booth this year, and electric/hydraulic hybrids in several.

Improved cavity filling and cooling are the aims of a new line of inserts for hot runners that are made by “selected laser melting” (SLM) of H-13 steel powders.

While a number of exhibitors at the “K” show in Dusseldorf are keeping their new entries under wraps until showtime later this month, some suppliers have released a few details on their new hot-runner components and controls.D-M-E will introduce the Bacchus hot-runner system for crates and packaging.

A new multifunctional hot-runner controller is available from HRS Hot Runner System NA Inc., Windsor, Ont.

A new line of screw-in hot-runner nozzles has two heaters and two thermocouples to ensure continuity of production in case one element fails.

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.

This emerging market promises to be big but challenging. Polycarbonate car windows require specialized machinery, high-end processing capability, premium polymers, advanced coating technologies, and innovative mold and runner designs.

Vacuum-assisted hot-runner nozzles that eliminate air or gases during two-shot overmolding are new from HRS Flow Hot Runner Systems NA Inc., Windsor, Ont.

From complete hot halves to individual nozzles, a host of new products promise smaller gate vestiges, less maintenance, better temperature control, and lower cost.