At this year's international trade fair FAKUMA in Friedrichshafen (18 to 22 October 2011) Netstal-Maschinen AG, the Swiss manufacturer of plastic injection moulding machines, exhibits in Hall B3 on stand 3107. Various highly interesting applications from the fields of closures, packaging and medical mouldings will be shown on a total of three exhibits.
Closures: Demonstration of how to save material and improve the process
Netstal moulds a closure of sophisticated design on an ELION 2800 featuring the latest hybrid drive technology. The beverage closures of type PCO 1881 are moulded with a cycle of 3.5 seconds using a 72-impression mould made by Z-Mold and optical quality control of Intravis. The hybrid ELION 2800 is equipped with Netstal's new aXos control, the enhanced operating panel and numerous new features.
The presentation is Netstal's answer to the customers' ever stronger call for material savings, higher process efficiency and lower production costs. With the significant reduction of the weight of the closures Netstal shows how the use of powerful moulding machines paired with efficient processes leads to a more economical production with a.o. a saving of several thousand tons of raw material per year across the entire market. The demonstration clearly reflects Netstal's high process know-how. Since the introduction of the beverage closure PCO 1881 in 2008 the weight of the product has been reduced from 2.45 grams to 2.3g for CSD (Carbonated Soft Drinks) and as little as 1.8g for still waters.
Medical mouldings: Reduction of the energy consumption on an ELION 800
Messrs Hekuma GmbH, a leading producer of high-performance automation systems, show a medical application on the Netstal ELION 800 which is typical for this range of machines. Using a 48-cavity mould made by the Swiss specialist Tanner, needle guides of polypropylene for syringes are made at a cycle of 8.5 seconds. Appliances of the German company Motan ensure reliable feeding of the raw material.
The all-electrical ELION is outstandingly suitable for use in the clean room because it features e.g. encapsulated and water-cooled electric motors which guarantee an operation virtually without emissions. An additional plus for the processor is the machine's low energy consumption. The recuperation principle allows to feed braking energy back to the current circuit for supply to other consumers on the machine. Applied efficiently, up to 70 % of the energy can be saved compared with conventional drive systems.
Packaging: Innovative plastic composite solution
Netstal and the mouldmaker Glaroform AG of Switzerland, in a joint effort with the German company Ilsemann Automation, worked on replacing existing packaging products with barrier properties by high-grade reclosable plastic composite solutions which lend themselves to an economical and ecological production. An attractive substitution in the form of a multi-layer barrier compound is the result.
On the exhibition stand of Ilsemann, Netstal demonstrates an example of the recently developed application from the field of „functional plastic packaging“, moulded on the ELION 500. The moulded article is a container featuring a barrier film backmoulded from two sides with a layer of plastic. The innovative aspect of this specific structure called multi-layer barrier compound is that the barrier film is protected from outside damage on the one hand and that it doesn't come into contact with the foodstuffs to be packed on the other. A further, not insignificant advantage is that the packaging can also be combined with IML (In-Mould-Labelling). The same process is also suitable for the pertaining lid.
More info:
www.netstal.com