K 2010 ROUND-UP: MOLDMAKING COMPONENTS/HOT RUNNERS

New sequential valve gate system uses more signals

Hot runner control supplier SISE introduced at K the IS’TECH sequential valve gating control system, which is capable of handling up to twenty valve gates and up to five openings and closings per cycle and per valve gate.

Valve gates are triggered by any sensor signal (from either the mold or the press). Reaction times are very fast. The system will accommodate six standard mold signals (four for pressure and two for temperature). Forty-eight mold settings may be saved in the controller, and it comes with a mold recognition plug (1 to 128 molds) for fast, seamless mold changes.

The enhanced Windows-operated monitoring system offers increased performance and is easy to use. Connecting to a computer is very simple thanks to the USB communication plug.

The IS’Tech is particularly useful for keeping track of what’s happening inside the mold. Alarms can be set up if a part goes out of tolerance. Production data can be saved to Excel spreadsheets.

SISE Plastics Control Systems, Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.) www.sise-plastics.com; 404-784-8676

   Automatisation S.A.B. Inc.,( Varennes, Que.); 450-652-9767

   Plastic Automation (Toronto); 416-938-3648

Cooling manifold optimizes cooling times 

With the newly introcuded Cooling manifold from D-M-E, molders can now optimize their cooling time and reduce cycle times by 15%.

The cooling manifold enables molders to easily install and group cooling connections and hoses.  In- and outlets can be connected seperately. Hose lengths can be reduced, enabling the molder to work with lower pressure in the system. Efficient moldcooling with shorter cycle times results in higher production. The cooling manifold can be installed horizontally and vertically.

The cooling manifold also ensures better safety on the floor. Long cooling hozes in and around the machine can be avoided. Shorter cooling hozes also means less chance on malfunctions which on it’s turn has a positive effect on the couplings in the mold.

D-M-E of Canada Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.dme.net; 1-800-387-6600

Compact hot runner system operates without seals

Mold Hotrunner Solutions introduces Rheo-Pro iVG, designed to be the most compact back-to-back valve gate hot runner system on the market.

The new iVG operates entirely without seals. Its design opens up new possibilities for high-cavity stack molds, swivel molds, and multimaterial injection molds.

The compact design of Rheo-Pro iVG’s nozzles makes it possible to build “short stacks,” or stack molds with a tip-to-tip length of only 285 mm and a pitch or gate-to-gate distance of 63.5 mm. For molders, this means the ability to produce more parts in smaller machines with lower clamp tonnage.

Mold Hotrunner Solutions Inc. (Georgetown, Ont.); www.mhsinc.ca; 905-873-1954

Electric motor drive opens up new possibilities in mold construction

The use of electric motors in injection molding construction offers users and designers innovative possibilities for solving tasks that would be very difficult to carry out with mechanical or hydraulic applications. It enables many of the typical mould movements to be performed quickly, efficiently and reproducibly.

With this in mind, Hasco has introduced a new range of electric motor drives. Starting with the direct drive unit for the demolding of threaded parts and the control of needle valve units, applications in the two-component mold segment can be carried out. The turning of rotary table molds and the drive of ejector plates where restrictions exist on the machine are easy to implement with electric motors. Slide insert movements, ejection, core pullers and undercuts can be carried out quickly and reliably.

Also, the possibility of having several movements running in parallel without being dependent on any mechanical mold movement means that cycle times can be drastically reduced, especially in unscrewing core applications.

Constant actual/target comparison for the engines allows uncomplicated process control of all the installed motors. For all applications in the fields of medical technology and the food industry, these clean, fast and efficient motors are ideal. 

Hasco Canada Inc. (Toronto); www.hasco.com; 800-387-9609

Valve gates for caps and closures

The Sprint VG all electric valve gate from Mold-Masters is a caps and closure solution designed to offer the fastest color changes possible, the lowest energy consumption available, and the highest part quality attainable all within a design created to minimize maintenance, maximize sustainable yield while reducing the total cost of associated ownership.

The E-Drive system ensures exact pin position, on the fly adjustment of the pin position and equal movement of all valve pins via the servo driven synchro plate system to ensure the perfect balance is achieved between speed and quality.

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

Mold monitor does more than count cycles

Progressive Components has unveiled the Cve Monitor, an addition to its CounterView line.

The CVe  is designed to monitor more than just mold cycles completed, gathering a variety of specific data, such as cycle time over the life of the tool and cycle time over the last 25,000 cycles. It also provides the percentage of activity versus downtime, downtime date ranges, and increments where mold maintenance was performed.

Users can view the data either directly off the CVe or by downloading the data via mini USB port in order to drive comprehensive reporting.

The new CVe fits into the same pocket as Progressive’s CounterView100/200 series, making it easy to retrofit it onto tooling already in production. ¿¿

Progressive Components (Wauconda, Ill.); www.procomps.com; 847-487-1000

  Quality Components (Windsor, Ont.); www.quality-comp.com; 519-974-9946

Valve pin speed control gives control

New from Incoe Corporation, the SoftGate hot runner valve pin speed control uses controlled opening of the valve gate nozzles to offer superior reliability for surface quality in sequential injection molding.

SoftGate is said to be particularly well suited for large parts that demand high-quality cosmetic appearance, although the technology can be applied in a wide range of applications.   

The process is also cost effective, and can be retrofitted to existing systems.

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