OMV's latest machine revolves toward speed

Düsseldorf, Germany — Got a need for speed?

Hurry over to OMV Machinery srl (Hall 4/C56) and check out the RM77 — as in revolving mold — automatic, in-mold trimming thermoforming machine.

The Verona, Italy-based company claims it is the fastest in the world with the highest output by far, particularly when it comes to making polyolefin products like polypropylene cups, because of the advantage it has in cooling time.

“I know this because we know our competition,” CEO Antonio Staffoni said. “Just go around and see the cycle times everybody claims. I'm sure about this because I got them from two different mold makers. It wasn't just something I invented.”

A patented rotating mold system — as opposed to a tilting system like competitors use — gives the 51-cavity niche machine dubbed “Revolver” a big edge, Staffoni said.

“For a fair comparison, we picked one particular product — a simple cup for the standard water fountain in Europe,” he explained. “We run this at 54 cycles per minute. We make 165,000 cups her hour. In terms of cycle per minute, it is by far the fastest. The fastest the others get for this product would be 37 or 38 cycles. So, we are far above that.”

While a competitor at K 2016 is showing a machine that also has a very high output, Staffoni said it is slower because it has a bigger mold.

“Our claim is fastest on the draw,” he said. “We've changed the game in a way. All the other machines in the market work with a tilting mold. They form and then the mold tilts and then their ejectors put out the cups and their cage collects it and so on.

“We are forming on the top bars and delivering on the bottom bars,” he added. “You basically have two phases: The time the mold is closed and the time when it is open for the cups to eject. Then you start again.”

The Revolver was developed in house with a mold assembly that includes one moveable upper positive part and two lower rotating negative tools. The lower rotating platen features a high-power torque motor.

“We can go faster and keep the mold smaller,” Staffoni said. “That cuts the total cycle time by 25 to 30 percent. That's why we're faster, and that's for any resin.”

With PP, the Revolver has another benefit related to the cooling time, he said. PP needs a lot of energy to heat up so it is soft for the thermoformer, and it needs a lot of energy to cool so it doesn't shrink or have a defective diameter or rim.

“In our case, because the cup stays in the mold until being ejected, we have additional cooling time,” Staffoni said, pointing to black hoses that cool the product in the mold.

“When you have a thick cup or a cup that needs to be welded, then this outperforms the competition by a factor of two,” he added. “And, I'm serious about it. The market is always asking for faster, faster, but they don't want to compromise quality. This is the best new solution.”

The Revolver is suitable for customers with high outputs and can process a variety of materials, such as polystyrene, PLA and PET for tapered cups and tubs that are round and square.

“It's a niche market, but this is a world market,” Staffoni said.

Founded in 1963, OMV is part of the Swiss industrial group Wifag-Polytype Holdings Ltd.

This story was updated to fix an error about the speed of competing thermoforming equipment.