ENGEL at Plast 2018 with two elastomer exhibits

Milan, Italy - With two applications  - one at its own trade fair booth and another with partner company Mesgo, at Plast 2018 in Milan  -ENGEL shows the wide range of use of its injection moulding machines and systems for elastomer applications in the automotive, teletronics, technical moulding and medical industries.

In many applications, the integrated injection moulding process is a prerequisite to bonding thermoplastics and silicone in stable layers. One example of this are coupling cushions made of PBT and LSR, which serve as windshield fasteners for rain sensors.

At the ENGEL trade fair stand and using the ENGEL combimelt process, these demanding dual-component parts will be produced on a tie-bar-less victory 200H/200L/160 combi injection moulding machine with an integrated ENGEL viper 40 linear robot.

The 4+4 cavity mould for the parallel processing of PBT and LSR is by Rico (Thalheim, Austria). The all-electric LSR dosing system is a new development by Dopag (Cham, Switzerland), and the LSR for this application is a product of Wacker in Burghausen, Germany.

Manufacturing two-component parts optimally leverages the efficiency potential of the tie-bar-less ENGEL victory machine. The tie-bar-less technology allows for the mounting of large, complex multi-component moulds on comparatively small machines.

Automation is a second efficiency factor. The ENGEL linear robot can reach the cavities directly from the side and operate safely without having to circumvent any protruding edges. Thirdly, the extremely high process consistency constructively ensured by the tie-bar-less clamping unit factors significantly into the high degree of overall efficiency.

The patented force divider enables the moving mould mounting platen to follow the mould exactly while clamping force is building up and ensures that the clamping force is evenly distributed across the platen face. Both the outer and inner cavities are therefore kept closed with exactly the same force, reducing mould wear and raising product quality.

iQ weight control is used to ensure a consistent process and consistently high parts quality in spite of fluctuations in the environmental conditions and the raw material batch. The intelligent assistance system from ENGEL's inject 4.0 programme adjusts the injection profile as well as the switchover point and the holding pressure profile for each individual shot to the respective conditions, thus compensating for external influences before a reject is produced.

Mesgo display

During the four days of the fair, Hall 11 is where the elastomer processors will meet. At Booth C61/D62, Mesgo (Gorlago, Italy) is presenting the fully automated production of membrane seals on an ENGEL flexseal 500/300.

The compact and energy efficient flexseal injection moulding machine was specifically adapted to the requirements of O-ring and flat seal manufacturers. In the production of very large volumes, the servo-hydraulic machine guarantees the highest efficiency and highest precision.

Mesgo will present an especially demanding application. Thermoplastic PBT inserts will be overmoulded with solid silicone and the components will be inspected by camera inline immediately following production.

ENGEL is providing the completely integrated system solution for this. The parts will be handled by an ENGEL easix articulated robot, which, in this application, is being combined with an Anyfeeder for the first time.

The ENGEL roto feeder will be used for the material feed. The rotating funnel with a counter-directional screw continuously transports the solid silicone, free of bubbles and at consistent pressure, thus ensuring a very high degree of process security.

System partners for this application are the tool manufacturers ORP Stampi (Viadanica, Italy) and Giasini (Grassobio, Italy), as well as Proplast Plastic Innovation Pole (Rivalta Scrivia, Italy), who provided the CAD-Design.