At this year’s Fakuma, automation specialist, Waldorf Technik GmbH & Co. KG, is presenting its innovations and new technologies for the production of packaging and medical solutions using injection moulding.
The classic highflex and Stack mould IML solutions now come with completely new features, while barrier coating is revolutionising the entire food-packaging sector and cavity sorting for
pipette tips is reaching new heights.
The modern world of packaging is now inconceivable without IML, as the brilliant printing and cost-efficient flexibility of this decoration method is quite simply too attractive for a variety of print images.
Waldorf Technik has worked assiduously over the last two years to develop and consistently expand its product segment of IML automation. Now the portfolio covers five different standard series to meet an array of customer needs such as reduced invest, stack molds, extremely compact space, systems for consumer goods packaging and also big bags like pails.
Indeed, the traditional flagship product at Waldorf Technik, the highflex IML robot, has been fundamentally re-worked in the second system generation to add a variety of new features. For instance, it now occupies 30 – 40 per cent less space than before. The automation system is able to process cups and lids in all IML label geometries. Furthermore, it is entirely at the discretion of the injection moulders to use the highflex IML automation for moulds with a variety of cavity numbers and cavity pitches – and all this with only 20 – 30 minutes changeover time between different products. In extreme cases, even the manufacture of products which are injected from inside and outside is possible using just one highflex IML automation. This means that the system concept remains unique throughout the world – so far, all other manufacturers of IML systems can only offer limited flexibility.
From now on, Waldorf Technik is also setting new standards for stack mould IML systems. The restrictions on the design of stack molds for IML decoration belong to the past. Waldorf Technik has developed a new process for inserting IML labels quickly and safely in the middle plates of stack moulds. And this has seriously positive benefits for injection moulders and their customers.
In the case of stack moulds, insertion of IML labels was restricted in the past to the outer platen of the mould. The result was that containers, for example, always had to be injected from the inside; inside gating for containers always brings a danger of plastic threads in the material due to unavoidable wear on the moulds, and often a reduction in productivity due to lower cooling of mould cores.
With the new development by Waldorf Technik to simplify the stack IML processes, these restrictions belong now to the past. Building on IML technologies already tried and tested in the company for many years, a further standard automation for IML stack moulds has now been successfully brought on stream which allows up to 8+8 labels to be inserted into the inner plates of stack moulds as efficiently, precisely and safely as for single-face tools.
Holger Kast, Director Business Development at Waldorf Technik, said: "The danger of threads forming when using efficient stack molds is lessened by injecting containers from the outside. Manufacturers, who have hitherto been producing on single-face molds for reasons of quality, can in future achieve almost double the output in the same space and with the same injection moulding machine. By comparison with IML containers already made with stack molds, the outside gating to be used in future can be expected to result in shorter cooling times for many products and therefore also higher output."
Another highlight will be the presentation of barrier coating as an industrial method of equipping injection moulding receptacles with unbeatable barrier properties at low cost. The first industrial system with a cycle time of less than four seconds is already installed on the market; project planning for systems with up to 64 cavities is also underway with international customers.
What is so special about barrier coating? This method permits the combination of benefits offered by glass jars (for instance the outstanding gas and water vapor barrier, taste preservation, protection against the migration of outside substances into the food and such like) with the advantages of cost-efficient plastic packaging (unbreakable, does not splinter, stackable, compact space requirements and good for logistics).
For instance, coffee in a capsule form remains fresh and preserves its aroma, even without sophisticated secondary packaging. Fresh products also keep their attractive look. The shelf life of all kinds of food products is extended significantly compared with current plastic solutions. In turn, this enables food manufacturers to produce substantially more efficient batch sizes, thus saving logistic costs in restocking retail shelves.
Unlike the other methods of manufacturing plastic barrier containers available today (e.g. EVOH thermoforming), barrier coating provides packaging designers with a hitherto unseen level of freedom when it comes to the forms. The coating process fits seamlessly into the container geometries, so even entirely asymmetrical forms and receptacles with ribs or stacking edges can be made into barrier packs with no difficulty at all. And the costs are unbeatably low, as the barrier layer is a mere 0.1 micrometers and hence comes with practically no material expenditure at all. All this means that the method has a promising future that may well just revolutionise the market of food packaging.
In terms of automation for medical technology Waldorf Technik remains unrivalled. Under the brand name Vario TIP, a patented, variable system concept for the manufacture of pipette tips and blood reagent containers, Waldorf Technik demonstrates how automation should work. Thanks to the intelligent extraction technology and patented logistics, the space requirement at twice the output is reduced by 50 to 75 per cent in comparison with competitors’ systems. Furthermore, the use of compressed air as a transport medium can be eliminated, which lowers operating costs and significantly limits the risk of contamination to the products.
Instead of using compressed air and free fall, the plastic parts with their sensitive geometry are collected in a parts storage unit in cavity groups using specially developed gripper and converter technology; the racks are then filled by this parts storage unit individually and by cavity. The system is built in a modular design. In the simple version, the part storage unit is linked to a turntable. In this case the racks are filled immediately without further checks or filter insertion. The extended version uses several parts storage units in a circulation system; this way various function modules can be docked such as a filter insertion, systematic error checking, sporadic error checking, defective part exchange stations and different packaging variations. The system concept is not dependent on the number of cavities in the mould.
"The process is made even simpler for our customers since visual inspection is no longer necessary thanks to cavity-specific sorting," Wolfgang Czizegg, CEO of Waldorf Technik, explained. "This is achieved because critical defects are generally of a systemic nature. The global leader in pipette tips, in terms of market share and quality, even dispenses with integrated camera inspection for large parts of its range because it has total control over quality thanks to cavity sorting in racks and systematic random checks."
Cameras are expensive and always produce a certain number of 'false positives'; by using intelligent cavity sorting, manufacturers can keep investments in check and avoid unnecessary waste.
Waldorf Technik is happy that its customers are extremely satisfied with the benefits of consistent cavity sorting – a fact which in recent years has made the company global market leader for automation systems for pipette tips. The technology is protected by patent and only recently confirmed and reinforced in proceedings at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.
Manufacturers of pipette tips and other laboratory consumables, too, are happy that Waldorf Technik is systematically pushing ahead with development of this special technology for the benefit of its customers.
And, above all, patients are happy that they ultimately benefit from the increased level of safety brought about by cavity sorting.
Waldorf Technik develops and constructs high-performance automation systems for injection molders worldwide. Core competences include projects in the fields of IML packaging and medical consumables with short cycle times.
Hall B2, Stand 2204
