Arburg showed off strength in light-guide panels production

Arburg’s exhibit during Chinaplas 2012 was highly successful. The company presented three exhibits to demonstrate the range and performance capability of its machine technology. Electric, hybrid and hydraulic Allrounders, all of them bearing the Arburg “e2” energy-efficiency label, for the production of high-quality moulded parts, e.g. for the optical and packaging sectors. In particular, Arburg introduced to Chinaplas visitors the new Edrive series, which has extended the electric machine range.

The new Edrive series expands Arburg’s machine series and covers a clamping force range from 600 to 2,000 kN.  An Allrounder 470 E with a clamping force of 1,000 kN was presented at the Chinaplas. The Edrive machines are primarily designed for the efficient production of standard items such as technical moulded parts, making them an energy-efficient electric alternative to basic hydraulic machines.

The Allrounder E machines offer advantages in terms of cycle times thanks to their rapid and simultaneous execution of the most important machine movements and their potential with regard to energy efficiency. The high efficiency of the servo-electric drives and the toggle-type clamping unit ensure extremely energy-efficient operation on all electric Arburg machines. Servo motor energy recovery during braking also has a beneficial effect on the machines’ overall energy consumption. Together, these factors combine to reduce energy consumption by up to 50 percent compared to standard hydraulic machines. The new Allrounder E machines consequently bear the Arburg “e2” energy-efficiency label to indicate their optimum energy efficiency.

Arburg also presented an Allrounder 570 H with a clamping force of 2000 kN and a size 1300 clamping unit as a representative of the Hidrive hybrid high-performance series. The machine is equipped with a special packaging unit tailored to the requirements of the high-speed thin-walled application on show. An injection unit specially optimised for the high-performance segment is used in order to ensure short cycle times. The 55 mm screw with an L/D ratio of 22:1 ensures a sufficient degree of plasticising. In addition, there are specially optimised mounting platens for the clamping unit for the thin-walled sector, as well as the relevant interface for operating an IML system, which has been provided by Beck Automation in this exhibition application.

The exhibit operated with a four-cavity mould from Glaroform and produces polystyrene cups in a cycle time of three seconds. The moulded part weighs 10.1 grams and the material throughput is approximately 50 kg/h. The use of transparent polystyrene and a film printed on both sides means that the cups have a decorative surface both inside and out.

The high-performance hybrid machines of the Hidrive (H) series are predestined for high-speed packaging applications of this kind. The hybrid Allrounder H series covers a clamping force range of between 600 and 5,000 kN and combines maximum production output with short cycles and reduced energy consumption. Accordingly, they bear the Arburg “e2” energy-efficiency label.

In addition to the electric and hybrid machines, the hydraulic S series was also represented with the Allrounder 630 S. The Allrounder S machines cover a clamping force range from 125 to 5,000 kN, can be flexibly expanded from basic to high-tech machines, and are therefore suitable for all injection moulding tasks and processes. One particularly impressive application example featured a clamping force of 2,500 kN and operated with a 2-cavity mould from Hejiu Technology. So-called light-guide panels for TFT screNike