Arburg Molding Cells Show Off LSR, High-Speed Packaging, Automotive Composites, and Industry 4.0
Arburg’s nine exhibits include an Allrounder 1120H (730 U.S. tons), molding eight components of folding step stool from a family mold and assembling via robot.
Eight-piece stepstool assembly is automated after demolding from the Arburg Allrounder 1120H.
Two-color, dual-durometer LSR/LSR watch straps are being molded by Arburg.
Arburg has a total of nine exhibits at NPE2018. One of the most eye-catching is its newest and largest machine, the Allrounder 1120H (730 U.S. tons) molding a PP folding step stool, molded in an eight-cavity family mold and snapped together in an adjoining cell with a six-axis robot. Among the others:
• An electric Allrounder 570A is producing wrist straps in LSR with two colors and durometers (70 and 30 Shore A), and assembling a complete watch in a robotic cell.
• A dual-durometer LSR/LSR (70 and 30 Shore A) membrane for valves used in medical and automotive applications is molded on an Allrounder 270A with a 0.1-oz micro-injection unit incorporating a 0.3-in. screw to produce one 0.0018-oz component, which is then overmolded using a servo-electric injector from Kipe Molds, Placentia, Calif. The injector system is integrated into the 1 + 1 cavity mold and Selogica control system.
• A packaging version of the Allrounder 570H designed specifically for thin-wall molding, produces four IML tubs from PP in a cycle time around 1.9 sec. The finished parts weigh 0.12 oz and have walls 0.0126 in. thick.
• In another cell, an electric Allrounder 470 A molds two cups of medical-grade PP, each weighing just over 0.05 oz, in a cycle of 2.9 sec.
• For automotive, long-glass reinforced airbag housings are molded with “fiber direct compounding” (FDC), whereby continuous glass rovings are fed into the injection barrel downstream of the feed opening. A side feeder with integrated cutter and a special screw and barrel permit customizing the fiber length and concentration. A weight monitor displays the consistency of shot weight.
• Insert encapsulation is being shown on a vertical rotary-table machine. Metal inserts are fed to a plasma pretreatment station before overmolding with nylon 66.
• In what has become a trademark exhibit for Arburg at major shows, Industry 4.0 networking capability is demonstrated via individualized manufacturing—in this case, of business-card holders. They are injection molded and then barcode labeled them by laser marking, followed by custom decorating with Arburg’s Freeformer 3D printer.
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