Moldmaking Expo preview

HELICAL GEAR CENTERING SYSTEM SIMPLIFIES STACK MOLD DESIGN

The highlight of D-M-E’s exhibit will be a new helical gear stack mold system which greatly simplifies the design and development of stack molds. Helical gear centering devices synchronize the two parting line openings of the mold.

Other D-M-E new product and service offerings at the show include Euro-Series mold bases that feature a common bore alignment; close-tolerance ejector pins with a tolerance band of 0.0002 inch; Polivalve hot runner systems that are fully integrated for multiple uses; valve gate sequencers for reliable, accurate, and efficient control; and the D-M-E contour roughing service, begun at the request of moldmakers to help reduce lead time and focus on other high-value machining.

D-M-E of Canada Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.dme.net; 800-387-6600

ACCU-VALVE VALVE GATE HOT RUNNER SOLUTION

Mold-Masters introduces the new Accu-Valve line of precision valve gates.

The Accu-Valve CX, for commodity resins, uses open flow channels in its patent pending design, providing accelerated melt flow and dispersion with virtually no dead or blind spots in the constant guiding mechanism. This dramatically accelerates color changes.

The Accu-Valve EX, for engineered resins, provides precise gate area thermal conditions to ensure no pin resistance to closing, while still maintaining exact alignment between pin and cavity insert. This ensures that thermally sensitive resins maintain their properties.The Accu-Valve EX line is also available in a liner valve style, which allows the Mold-Masters supplied transfer seal to act as a replaceable gate insert in the mold with only a small witness mark.

Mold-Masters Limited (Georgetown, Ont.); www.moldmasters.com; 905-877-0185

BACK-TO-BACK VALVE GATE SAVES STACK MOLD SPACE

Compact yet functional designs are a necessity for stack mold applications. Common valve gate designs require the cylinders that operate the valve gate to be offset in order to reduce stack height dimensions. Still this design generally results in larger molds and perhaps injection molding machine size. Incoe’s new back-to-back design eliminates the offset requirement while making no compromise in stack height and presents the potential for cost savings in mold construction.

Incoe Corp. (Troy, Mich.); www.incoe.com; 248-616-0220

STRACK SPECIALTY MOLD COMPONENTS

Depending on the configuration of the mold, the use of standard parts results in production times which are 25 to 45 percent shorter than molds made without the use of standard parts.

Alba Enterprises offers specialty mold components from Strack Normalien (Germany): slide units, slide holding devices, slide construction kits, two-stage ejector units, folding units, round latch locks, and more. Strack standard parts, produced with high precision, ensure that designers and users have a helpful basis, even at the calculation and offer phase, when determining prices and deadlines for the mold to be produced.

Alba Enterprises Inc. (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.); www.albaent.com; 800-432-6653

HUSKY’S NEWEST HOT RUNNER DEVELOPMENTS

Husky Hot Runners will exhibit the smallest of its valve gate systems, the Ultra 350. This nozzle is ideal for ultra-compact, multi-cavity production of small parts. Husky will also display a back-to-back valve gate design for stack systems. Husky also provides complete hot halves with plates, which come with a three-year leakproof guarantee. Multi-material systems are available as complete hot halves with plates and manifold systems. All systems use the Ultra family of nozzles that are capable of handling throughputs ranging from 1 g/second up to 2,000 g/second. A hydraulic valve gate option is available on the Ultra 1750 and Ultra 1250 series nozzles.

Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. (Bolton, Ont.); www.husky.ca; 905-951-5000

D-M-E’s helical gear stack mold system

The Ultra 350, Husky’s smallest valve gate.

FAST FACTS ON MOLDMAKING EXPO

When:April 18-19, 2007 Exhibit Hours: 10 am-5 pm Conference Hours: 8:30 am-4:30 pm

Where: Donald E. Stephens Center Rosemont, Ill. (near Chicago’s O’Hare airport)

Website:www.moldmakingexpo.com