The following briefs were gathered by Plastics News senior reporter Bill Bregar at the Fakuma trade show, held Oct. 14-18 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Arburg showcases large, small presses
Arburg GmbH & Co. of Lossburg, Germany, introduced something small and something large for Fakuma visitors.
Arburg rolled out the small Allrounder 170 U injection presses, with clamping forces of 133/4-161/2 tons. The ``U'' stands for Universal. The small presses follow its Allrounder 170 CMD micromolders. The Universal series has a modular design for the clamping force, size of injection unit and screw diameter. The fully hydraulic presses can inject shot weights of a few hundredths of a gram.
At Fakuma, Arburg molded tiny gears on a 161/2-ton Allrounder U press. The show machine featured an optional pivoting clamping unit.
For something bigger, Arburg duplicated its NPE 2003 demonstration of molding a two-component suitcase, bearing the Arburg logo, using its largest-size press, with 440 tons of clamping force.
In other news, Arburg introduced its Allrounder 520 A, which completes the electric Alldrive (A) series with a press size of 176 tons. Customers can choose electric or hydraulic drives for several machine movements.
TMMZ controller mounts magnetically
Mold-Masters Ltd. of Georgetown, Ontario, introduced a version of its TMMZ multizone hot-runner temperature controller that can be mounted on an injection press platen, near the machine's control panel.
Called the TMMZ-MDM, for Machine Direct Mount, the controller uses a remote, magnet-mounted display. The compact, lightweight unit measures only 11 inches by 18 inches by 4 inches and weighs less than 18 pounds - while covering 24 temperature zones.
Mold-Masters has a manufacturing site in Baden Baden, Germany.
