DUSSELDORF, GERMANY - Mannesmann Demag Kunststofftechnik kicked off its campaign to sell Van Dorn Demag toggle machines, the HTG line, to the glo-bal market at K'95, and introduced a new model of small injection press. The latter model bears the designation Ergotech, except in the United States, where it will be called ET pro.
Mannesmann Demag Kunststofftechnik's parent, Mannesmann Demag AG, bought Van Dorn Plastic Machinery Co., then the second-largest U.S.-owned maker of injection presses, in 1993.
The HTG (with the G standing for global) machines will be marketed in the Far East and South America.
European sales of the HTG press will begin with the United Kingdom, said William G. Pryor, president of Van Dorn Demag. The Strongsville, Ohio, company in turn markets Demag machines in the United States.
Mannesmann Demag, like most German machine makers, wants to become stronger in Asia, now dominated by Japanese suppliers, said Wolfgang von Shroeter, executive managing director of Mannesmann Demag Inststoff-technik, headquartered in Schwaig, Germany.
``Van Dorn Demag machines are very competitive against the Japanese,'' he said during a news conference Oct. 7 at K'95.
Pryor said the HTG machines are designed for general-purpose molding. The machines have metric fasteners and components and, for the European market, Demag's NC4 controller. He claims a new injection unit, which uses common components from both companies, offers flexibility for offering standard, high-pressure and extra-high-pressure molding, typically found on presses made in Europe.
North American processors still will be able to choose between the NC4 and Van Dorn Demag's Pathfinder controller. HTGs come in clamping forces from 170-660 tons.
Mannesmann Demag showed a new Ergotech machine, a small hydraulic press with clamping forces of 271/2-381/2 tons. The press was molding polystyrene coins at the show. A larger Ergotech was molding liquid silicone rubber O-rings.
In other K show news, Mannesmann Demag:
Claimed a 370-ton Ergotech was molding compact-disc jewel boxes in less than six seconds on a two-by-four-cavity stack mold. Von Shroeter said the company has sold 3,000 Ergo-tech machines since introducing the line at K'92.
Showed a 124-ton hydraulic Ergotech press unscrewing threaded parts with a hydraulicly driven motor fitted to the platen.
