Ferromatik Milacron GmbH brought two “firsts” for its F-Series injection press to the Fakuma trade show, demonstrating multicomponent molding and spinning-cube technology.
The company in Malterdingen, Germany, is part of Milacron LLC.
An F 270 Cube, a hybrid press with a clamping force of 270 metric tons, sported a turning, eight-by-eight-cavity cube mold made by Foboha GmbH. The press was running a two-piece polypropylene closure. The upper piece contains a small drink-powder chamber, which is shut after the two parts are assembled. When the twist top is opened, the chamber is unsealed, dropping the powder into the bottle. Ferromatik Milacron officials said the closure could be used to mix isotonic drinks or medications before consumption.
The traversing injection unit is mounted on the moving platen. On each parting line, eight pairs of parts are molded, alternatively in red and blue colors.
The mold pivots 90 degrees, and the two parts are automatically assembled on the operator and non-operator sides of the press — while simultaneously the next set of parts is injected.
In multicomponent molding, Ferromatik Milacron molded a two-color egg carton, called the chickPack, developed by German inventor Udo Bodmer. At Fakuma, a 160-tonne F-Series press with both a main and a vertical injection unit molded both polypropylene parts of a container for six eggs, in two different colors, and did in-mold labeling. The top and bottom of the container are joined by hinges. (See related story above.)
Also at the show in Germany, the company showed the second generation of its all-electric Elektron press, featuring a new design and control panel.
The 50-tonne press molded single-piece pacifiers, normally made of two parts. Ferromatik Milacron has redesigned the Elektron, in white, to suggest cleanliness, with a horizontal gray band around the machine. A new control panel improves cost and performance, the firm said, and has a 15-inch touch screen surrounded by buttons clearly marked by the function.
In people news, Ferromatik Milacron announced that Sven Engelmann is the new head of applications and systems. Following his studies in plastics technology, Engelmann worked as an applications engineer for a thermoforming company and headed plastics technology for a maker of packaging machinery.
