WITTMANN BATTENFELD never disappoints at Fakuma, with a fully animated show presence that includes a dynamic robotic display, and the 25th edition of the event was no exception for the injection moulding technology giant.
EcoPower Xpress 400
EcoPower Xpress 400
The undoubted star of the stand, however, is not the dancing robots, but the EcoPower Xpress 400 - shown for the first time as a prototype at K 2016. The all-electric high-speed injection moulding machine boasts operations that are rapid, clean and green.
EcoPower Xpress is a high-speed, all-electric machine model primarily geared to the requirements of the packaging and thin wall industry. The highly dynamic drive axes for injection as well as closing and opening of the EcoPower Xpress are designed for fast movements and ultimate control accuracy. Moreover, extremely high energy efficiency is achieved by using servo drives.
WITTMANN BATTENFELD is demonstrating the functionality of the EcoPower Xpress 400/3300+ by manufacturing HDPE closing caps within a cycle time of 2.6 seconds in a 96-cavity mould supplied by Plastisud. The caps are being cooled with the cap cooler from Eisbär, Austria and then deposited in boxes.
Smart multi-component technology for complex applications
The main focus of WITTMANN BATTENFELD’s Fakuma agenda lies on COMBIMOULD machines from the PowerSeries. The actual exhibits include two machines from the servo-hydraulic SmartPower series and one machine designed for injection moulding of micro parts from the all-electric MicroPower series with compactly integrated multi-component technology.
On a SmartPower 120/525H/130L, a two-component application will be presented, in which one component is a thermoplastic material, the other liquid silicone. The parts are manufactured with a 4+4-cavity mould supplied by the Italian company Silital (Oldrati group), produced by Linea Stampi Srl. The parts are being removed and deposited on a conveyor belt by a W931 robot from WITTMANN equipped with the new R9 control system.
A 3-component application will be shown on a SmartPower 60/210H/210S/210V. With a 6-cavity mold from Geobra Brandstätter, PBT, POM and PA will be processed into a Playmobil chimpanzee. The open design of the SmartPower with its generous dimensions and excellent accessibility is particularly well suited for multi-component applications, with simultaneous optimal energy efficiency.
The third COMBIMOULD application is the production of a two-component plug inside the recording head of a vinyl record player. The parts made of PC and electro conductive PC are being produced with a single-cavity mould from Ortofon, Denmark on a MicroPower 15/10H/10H, equipped with two parallel injection units and a rotary disk. Parts removal and depositing are being handled by a WITTMANN W8VS4 Scara robot specially designed for this machine. Moreover, a built-in camera system inside the machine will provide fully automatic quality inspection of the parts.
WITTMANN 4.0
On all exhibits shown at Fakuma, the integration of the machines and peripherals into a network under WITTMANN 4.0 are being implemented and demonstrated. For the first time, the integration of WITTMANN ATON material dryers into the UNILOG B8 machine control system has also become possible in addition to the integration of robots, TEMPRO temperature controllers, GRAVIMAX gravimetric metering devices and FLOWCON flow controllers.
In particular, integration into the UNILOG B8 machine control system via WITTMANN 4.0 will be demonstrated on an all-electric machine from the EcoPower series with an insider cell. On this machine, an EcoPower 160/750 with 1,600 kN clamping force, a coat hanger is being manufactured with a single-cavity mould from Haidlmair, Austria, using the WITTMANN BATTENFELD AIRMOULD internal gas pressure process. The AIRMOULD interface is also integrated in the UNILOG B8 control system. The combined compressor and nitrogen generator unit used has been developed and manufactured by WITTMANN BATTENFELD. The parts are removed and deposited on the conveyor belt integrated in the production cell by a W918 robot from WITTMANN with the new R9 robot control system.
An 'AIRMOULD-Center' next to the machine offers visitors an opportunity to examine the WITTMANN BATTENFELD AIRMOULD process in detail.
To give visitors an even better understanding of WITTMANN 4.0, the Industry 4.0 solution provided by the WITTMANN Group, an interactive display board presents how WITTMANN peripherals integrate into the UNILOG B8 machine control system.
MES and CMS – smart and efficient
WITTMANN BATTENFELD’s Fakuma agenda also presents the MES system from new MES partner MPDV Mikrolab for integrating injection moulding machines into a corporate network and thus into the world of Industry 4.0.
A special highlight is the WIBA-MPDV SmartMonitoring module, which can be integrated on every B8 monitor screen. In this way, the status of all machines in the network can be viewed from every injection moulding machine. For the first time, the integration of an injection moulding machine via the Euromap 77/83 protocol based on OPC/US will be shown, which will become available in the near future. Euromap plans to release the new EM 77/83 version in February 2018.
Visitors can also gather information about the functionality of CMS, the modern machine condition monitoring system, and WebService 24/7 system, the company’s online service available round the clock.
The CMS system measures important machine condition data with sensors, analyses the readings in the machine’s control system and transfers the data to the corporate MES system to enable optimal planning of maintenance schedules.
