Engel to show DecoJect technology at NPE

“We can respond to the requirements and requests of our customers in the various industries even faster, and provide them with more targeted support in solving their very individual challenges,” said Engel Machinery president Mark Sankovitch.

“As a systems provider, we are increasingly accompanying our customers throughout the entire life cycle of the machines and systems—this is a trend that we are addressing with the new structure,” he added.

The five areas are automotive, technical moulding, telectronics, medical and packaging.

NPE2018 marks the first North America showing of Engel’s a fully automated production cell for the DecoJect process — a technology that combines injection moulding and in-mould graining.

The process can make premium automotive interior components, so at NPE, an Engel duo press will produce interior upper door trim with various surface structures.

As opposed to convention in-mould decorating, DecoJect does just transfer the paint from the foil to the part. Instead, the foil is punched out and remains on the component—so in addition to colour and pattern, surface structure and haptics are also added.

The eight-cavity mould will be from Hack Formenbau and a Heckuma automation system. The parts will be vision-inspected then packed into retail bags, 16 parts to a bag. A bag will leave the production cell every four seconds.

In the teletronics arena, an Engel vertical injection molding will make thermal switch housings, as the cell does all steps, including feeding brass carrier plates directly from a reel.

The thread is servo-electrically tapped before the carrier plates, still on the line, are overmoulded with glass-filled nylon. Both camera inspection and high-voltage testing is integrated into the mould, then eight parts will come out every 20 seconds.

Turning to packaging, an all-electric e-cap press with a 96-cavity mould will turn out 26-millimeter beverage caps with tamper-proof bands—at a two-second cycle time.

Engel also will demonstrate technical moulding by making LED automotive lenses from liquid silicone rubber, on an e-victory press.

“Prerequisite for the economic production of advanced products with liquid silicone are automated processes and a high degree of precision and stability in the injection moulding process,” said Steve Broadbent, who is responsible for elastomer projects for Engel in North America.

“Thanks to its tie-barless clamping unit, the e-victory machine with its electric injection unit has shown itself to be predestined for this purpose,” added Broadbent.