• Allrounders and Freeformers: the entire range for cost-effective plastic parts production
• Injection moulding highlights: Lightweight construction, Industry 4.0, medical and packaging technology
• Additive manufacturing: Sales launch and American premiere for the Freeformer

 

February, 20, 2014 --- At the NPE in Orlando from 23 to 27 March 2015, Arburg will present a total of ten exhibits on high-end injection moulding technology and industrial additive manufacturing to cover the entire production spectrum from one-off parts through to mass-produced items. At the 650 square-metre exhibition stand W3729 (Level 2) in the West hall, five Allrounder injection moulding machines and two Freeformers will demonstrate sophisticated applications and innovative processes covering topics such as lightweight construction, multi-component injection moulding, automation and LSR processing. Five further Allrounder machines will be featured on partner stands. In the context of accompanying conferences, Arburg will also hold several presentations on the topic of additive manufacturing.

“For us, the NPE is the most important trade fair in the US, at which we will present product premieres, innovative processes and sophisticated applications to the trade visitors. The sales launch of the Freeformer for industrial additive manufacturing in America will also coincide with the exhibition,” says Friedrich Kanz, Managing Director of the North American Arburg subsidiary. “With our offerings, we cover the entire production spectrum – from the industrial additive manufacturing of one-off parts and multi-variant small batches, through to cost-effective injection moulding of mass-produced articles.” He went on to say that production efficiency is the focus with regard to all of the exhibits.

Freeformer for two-component additive processing: With two Freeformers, Arburg will demonstrate how fully functional plastic parts can be additively manufactured from standard granulate using the patented Arburg Plastic Freeforming process based on 3D CAD data, without a mould. As with injection moulding, the granulate is first melted in a plasticising cylinder. Plastic droplets are applied layer-by-layer onto a moving part carrier via the nozzle of a stationary discharge unit by means of high-frequency piezo technology at a specified duty cycle of 60 to 200 Hertz.

The second discharge unit can be used for an additional component in order to produce, for example, a part in different colours, with special tactile qualities, or as a hard/soft combination. At the NPE, a Freeformer will combine an elastic standard TPU material with a special support material – a first in additive manufacturing. Possible applications include e.g. bellows, hoses, sleeves, or flexible components for robotic grippers. The supporting structures can subsequently be removed in a water bath.

Industry 4.0: individualised toy buggies: At the NPE 2015, Arburg will demonstrate its practical capabilities with regard to the topical subject of Industry 4.0 using an electric Allrounder 370 E, based on the example of a toy buggy. The Arburg host computer system (ALS) is of central importance here, networking various independent stations, recording all the parameters and transmitting them to a web server.

First of all, a personalised chip card is read in by the Selogica control system of the production cell. During the following cycle, the corresponding buggy is injection moulded and an individual code is applied onto its roof by laser. A linear Multilift Select robotic system performs handling and assembly of the buggy, and removes it from the machine via a chute. Next, the toy car can be checked, e.g. for correct operation. The code on each individual buggy can be read out using a mobile device. It leads to a part-related web page containing all the process data for the moulded part. All the work steps are seamlessly documented, error-free. This ensures transparent, 100 percent traceable production.

Industry specific: Allrounder “Packaging” version: In Orlando, Arburg will be exhibiting an injection moulding machine in the “Packaging” version especially designed for the packaging industry. The hybrid Allrounder 630 H (P) has been specially configured for thin-wall applications. It produces four round lids per cycle, made from a transparent PP with a label from Verstraete IML that is printed on both sides. The mould was built by the Canadian partner Stack Teck and an IML system from Yudo is used for the automation. The cycle time is around four seconds.

Medical technology: Thanks to their high precision, speed and low-emission operation, electric machines are ideal for the production of medical items. At the NPE 2015, Arburg will exhibit a representative of its electric high-end Alldrive series. The GMP-compliant, stainless steel Allrounder 520 A machine version uses a high-performance mould from Tanner to produce 64 pipette tips in a cycle time of around 4.8 seconds. For removal, a Hekuma robotic system is used.

Lightweight construction: long-fibre direct injection moulding combined with organic sheet: Arburg presents an innovative leightweight process that is marked as an exhibit as part of the Blue Competence initiative of the German Machinery and Plant Manufacturers Association (VDMA): Using long-fibre direct injection molding a side feeder incorporates the fibres in the liquid plastic melt. The advantages of this innovative process include flexibly adjustable fibre lengths of up to 50 millimetres, a low incidence of fibre damage in the plastic melt and significant cost advantages compared to fibre-reinforced standard granulates.

The process will be demonstrated on a hydraulic Allrounder 820 S, operating with a mould from company Georg Kaufmann Formenbau. Through the overmoulding of continuous-fibre reinforced thermoplastic inserts (organic sheets), high-strength, resilient composite parts are created, which weigh less than 200 grams at a length exceeding 500 millimetres. A six-axis robotic system picks up two organic sheets of different thicknesses from a magazine. The flat inserts are gently heated, process-reliably, using a new technology in the gripper system and transferred to the LIPA (Lightweight Integrated Process Application) mould at a precise forming temperature. Here, forming of the inserts and injection moulding of the functional and reinforcement elements are performed simultaneously in a cycle time of around 55 seconds. The composite part produced provides a good illustration of how lightweight parts can be manufactured, e.g. for the automotive industry, with a high level of functional integration and short cycle times by combining organic sheets and long-fibre direct injection moulding. Thanks to the servo-hydraulic system, the hydraulic Allrounder ensures particularly energy-efficient and low-emission operation.

Multi-component technology: Suction pad made from thermoplastic and liquid silicone: As a multi-component application, Arburg will demonstrate the production of vacuum suction pads made from thermoplastic and liquid silicone (LSR). For this purpose, an electric Allrounder 570 A is equipped with two injection units in L-position and a 4+4-cavity mould from Rico. Thanks to its horizontal configuration, the Multilift Select robotic system is able to enter the clamping unit from above. It transfers the pre-moulded PBT parts to the LSR cavities and sets the finished parts down onto a conveyor belt. Four vacuum suction pads (used e.g. for moving bulky or heavy loads in handling equipment), are produced in a cycle time of around 40 seconds.

Arburg presentations round off trade fair appearance: Arburg will not only be represented by its exhibition stand at the NPE, it will also contribute with keynote presentations on the topic of additive manufacturing: Managing Director Sales, Helmut Heinson, will provide an outlook on the global and US markets at the special NPE3D event.At the Antec Technology Forum, Managing Director Technology & Engineering, Heinz Gaub, will give a presentation on how additive manufacturing is changing the plastics industry.

About Arburg: The german machine manufacturer Arburg is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of injection moulding machines with clamping forces between 125 and 5,000 kN. This is complemented by robotic systems, customer- and industry-specific turnkey solutions and further peripherals. An innovative additive manufacturing system developed in-house was added to the plastic processing range in 2013.

Source: Arburg