The machines of tomorrow

The FAKUMA international trade fair for plastics is considered one of the world’s most important plastics trade fair. Scheduled to take place at the Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre from 16 to 20 October, 2012, the show has evolved into a Mecca of the European plastics industry in the non-“K” years. With its venue in Friedrichshafen, it’s located at the heart of the industry’s European centre and offers worldclass, comprehensive offerings covering all aspects of injection moulding technology as well as extrusion and thermoforming. Whether raw materials, processing machines, peripherals, automation solutions or C technology is involved – FAKUMA functions as a source of information and ideas, and as a trend barometer, at the same time retaining its very special, personal and relaxed atmosphere.

The show’s 2011 edition is by far the largest trade fair for plastics in the German speaking countries in that year. For 2012, FAKUMA will again demonstrate the unified efforts of the plastics industry in the conservation of resources, lightweight design engineering and energy efficiency that are currently the central issues which will provide the industry with enormous opportunities for the future.

ENGEL’s E-novation

ENGEL e-mac is ENGEL AUSTRIA's latest answer to the maximum precision required for the production of technical parts. The machines in the new range are all-electric and produce ultra-precise results. They are also fully modular and extremely efficient – attributes that will be demonstrated at Fakuma by an ENGEL e-mac 310/100 machine with viper 6 robot, which will produce wine bottle stoppers from polypropylene and liquid silicone at the ENGEL stand in hall A5. The innovative nature of the machine is matched by its range of applications: for the first time, it is possible to process liquid silicone together with polypropylene via multicomponent injection moulding.

ENGEL also presents production of trim rings for BMW radiator grilles using an ENGEL duo 2550/500 pico. Another striking feature is the manufacturing cell used to produce housings for moisture-proof lamps under the MOLD’n SEAL process is the minimal footprint of the plant. The housings will be injected using polycarbonate on an ENGEL victory 1350/300 tech injection moulding machine, with a polyurethane sealing bead affixed immediately afterwards. In this application, an ENGEL easix multiaxis robot will showcase the high stability and reproducibility of its movements by affixing the sealing bead on the root of the sealing groove, which is just millimetres wide. The entire manufacturing cell – including the PUR system, roNew Balance Womens Shoes