Engel will show highly integrated manufacturing solutions at the Engel exhibition booth in Hall A5 at Fakuma, providing ways to achieve a higher degree of quality, efficiency and profitability – respectively tailored to the specific requirements of the various application industries. Engel will have an all-electric e-mac injection moulding machine in a new clamping force class, the first clearmelt exterior component, the new compact pipe distributor for the cleanroom, and an even higher degree of precision for LSR processing.
At Fakuma, Engel and its Clearmelt technology will demonstrate a new application area in exterior parts for cars.
High gloss exterior panels will be produced on an Engel duo 2460/500 injection moulding machine. In addition to the extremely high quality appearance of the components and the outstanding efficiency of the highly integrated process, extremely scratch-proof surfaces are another advantage that clearmelt technology provides for the exterior area. Testing in a car wash has shown the initial sample parts to be very robust.
In the Clearmelt process, a thermoplastic base carrier is produced in the injection moulding machine, then coated with polyurethane in a second cavity. The process can be easily combined with IML, allowing for the use of decorative and capacitive foils as well as wood veneers. In a single step, Clearmelt technology provides pre-finished vehicle components that do not need to be varnished or post-processed in any way. The polyurethane coating provides the high-gloss, scratch-proof surface.
ENGEL Automotive
Engel developed the Clearmelt technology in collaboration with partner companies. The exclusive partner for polyurethane processing is Hennecke in St. Augustin, Germany.
Teletronics: Economic precision for even larger moulds
Engel will be going all-electric at the Fakuma in the teletronics exhibition area. Sophisticated connector housings for vehicle doors will be produced on an Engel e-mac 940/280. Until now, the e-mac series has been available with clamping forces of up to 1800 kN. In time for the Fakuma, Engel has expanded the line with a 2800 kN version.
E-mac machines are distinguished by their speed and precision, extremely energy efficient operation and a high degree of flexibility. They have proven themselves to be extremely reliable in continuous operation, and guarantee stable production around the clock. They are also less expensive to purchase than all-electric high-performance machines. This spectrum of characteristics predestines the series to produce technical parts and electronic components. In both application areas, the trend is moving towards larger moulds with higher cavitation. With the expansion of the series, Engel has taken this trend into account.
With the production of 40-pole connector housings made of glass-fibre reinforced PBT, during the exhibition Engel will demonstrate how highest demands on precision can be combined with economic efficiency. In this market segment, due to the very filigree structure inside the connector housing, the competitiveness of the producer is defined by the precision of the injection moulding process. In several sequential process steps, the connector housings are equipped with stabiliser inserts, gaskets and contacts, then laser inscribed. Imprecisely injected areas or warping will impede the automated assembly and may lead to a halt in production. Since injection errors often are not detected until the end of the process chain, rejects also become costlier. To prevent this, the e-mac machine makes sure that very thin-walled areas are filled, even across long flow paths.
With the intelligent assistance systems from Engel’s Inject 4.0 programme, the already very reliable e-mac machines are also perfectly equipped for process fluctuations through external influences. Three iQ products are installed on the exhibition machine: iQ weight control, which maintains constant melt volume and adjusts fluctuations in the environmental conditions and the raw material, iQ clamp control, which continuously adjusts clamping force based on the mould breathing, and the new iQ flow control for the needs-based regulation of the temperature control units. iQ weight control was the first of the iQ systems, and was introduced to the market five years ago. It has already become very well-established in the production of connectors, because in this segment with its especially filigree component structures, process fluctuations are one of the main causes of rejects. iQ weight control is a reliable aid in preventing production-related rejects.
The processing of liquid silicone (LSR) in injection moulding fully uses the efficiency potential of the tie-bar-less Engel Victory machines. The patented force divider enables the moving mould mounting platen to follow the mould exactly while clamping force is building up, and ensures that the clamping force is evenly distributed across the platen face. Both the outer and inner cavities are therefore kept closed with the same force, ensuring consistent compression of the mould and a consistently high product quality. This almost burr-free, zero-waste, rework-free, and fully automatic processing is the key element in the economic manufacturing of high-tech products from liquid silicone. At the Fakuma, with the production of venting valves for beverage bottles on an Engel Victory 860/160 injection moulding machine, Engel will demonstrate how this can look in practice. With a diameter of approximately 50mm, the venting valves have a geometrically complex structure with varying wall thicknesses. The iQ weight control software, which Engel is now offering also for injection moulding machines with hydraulic injection units, ensures that cavities are filled reliably even when there are fluctuations in the raw material.
It will be the first time that Engel presents a Victory machine with a next generation injection unit at a trade fair. Last Autumn, based on its long years of experience in the various application areas of its injection moulding machines, Engel reorganised the sizes of the hydraulic injection units and further optimised the performance specifications such as injection pressure, injection speed, and plasticising capacity.
