ENGEL targets robust packaging sector at Plastics & Rubber Vietnam 2016

At the Plastics & Rubber Vietnam from March 1-3, 2016 in Ho-Chi-Minh-City, ENGEL brings its latest range of injection molding machines in response to the booming Vietnamese packaging maret. At the ENGEL booth, noodle containers will be produced on an ENGEL victory 500/160 injection moulding machine with an integrated ENGEL viper 6 linear robot designed with a high level of floor space productivity, very low unit costs and top process consistency.

 

Based on the individual requirements, ENGEL develops custom-tailored solutions which can include not only the injection molding machine, but also automation, molds and process technology. When all components of a manufacturing cell are perfectly coordinated right from the outset, it is then possible to fully exploit the efficiency potential and realise extremely low unit costs. The production of noodle containers during the four days of the trade fair is a practical illustration of such an achievement.

 

The machine used for this purpose will be an ENGEL victory 500/160 tech injection moulding machine with a clamping force of 1600 kN. The fact that the bulky noodle container mold – constructed by Donghae Plastic Company in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea – fits on a comparatively small injection molding machine is due to a special design feature of the ENGEL victory machine: the tie-bar-less clamping unit. Because there are no tie bars in the way, the mold mounting platens can be fully used up to their very edges. Motors for core-pulls or other functional components can even jut out beyond that. For the fabrication of products with an elaborate geometry but rather small projected area and thus low clamping force requirements, a smaller injection molding machine can often be used than the mold size would dictate when using a traditional machine with tie bars. Thus savings are achieved in expenditures for both investments and running costs and the production cell is kept compact. This increases the output per square meter of production space, which has become a key figure for efficiency in an increasing number of businesses.

 

More than 25 years ago, ENGEL became the first injection moulding machine manufacturer worldwide to develop a series of machines with a tie-bar-less clamping unit, and still today this remains a unique product that distinguishes ENGEL on the market. Further benefits of the tie-bar-less technology include fast mold set-up processes and efficient automation solutions because robots can access the mould area directly from the side without having to circumvent any obstacles.

 

The patented Force Divider flexlink ensures high precision and process consistency. Thanks to the preloaded tension of the Force Divider, the parallelism of the mold mounting platens remains constant even while the mold is being mounted. In addition, the Force Divider distributes the clamping force evenly across the entire platen face, resulting in extremely consistent wall thicknesses, in particular in moulds with multiple cavities.

 

At the trade show, an ENGEL viper 6 linear robot is used to remove the noodle containers from the mold and place them on a conveyor belt. When ENGEL is the supplier for both the injection molding machine and automation, the RC300 robot controls are integrated into the CC300 control unit of the injection molding machine, further boosting overall efficiency. The operator benefits in particular from the consistent control logic and the shared database. This not only reduces the risk of data-entry mistakes, but also makes it possible for the robot to coordinate its movements with those of the machine. Thus the robot arm can already enter the mould area during the opening movement, reducing cycle times.

 

ENGEL at the Plastics & Rubber Vietnam 2016: Austrian Pavilion, stand L01.