Jomar Corp. has incorporated a custom-designed, servo-driven hydraulic system that it developed with Bosch Rexroth Corp. into its three largest injection blow molding machines.
Egg Harbor Township, N.J.-based Jomar will launch the IntelliDrive 175 with a clamp force of 175 tons at NPE 2018 and also show off its year-old IntelliDrive 135 with a clamp force of 135 tons.
"These servo-hydraulic machines only consume the amount of energy required for the process," Sales Manager Ron Gabriele said in an email about the IntelliDrive technology.
Jomar (Booth S12077) will discontinue its standard hydraulic Model 175, Gabriele added, but still make the standard version of the smaller Model 135 for a couple more years because it is popular in the United States, where electricity costs less compared to other countries.
"The bigger the machine, the bigger the motor, so when we convert the really big machines to servo-hydraulics and make an IntelliDrive version, the energy saving are tremendous," Gabriele said.
Jomar's customers serve the pharmaceutical, health care, personal care, food, beverage and household products markets and include Gerber, Crayola, Merck, P&G, Unilver and Avon.
The company's latest machine series, which also includes the IntelliDrive 85S that debuted at K 2016, features servo-driven hydraulics that Jomar says reduces energy consumption by up to 50 percent compared to standard hydraulic machines, depending on the container specification and material process.
Jomar turned to Bosch Rexroth (Booth S18113) at NPE 2015 and the companies collaborated on a radial-piston type motor to generate the torque required for the vertical plastifier without any special gear box. Gabriele said the replacement cost of the motor is a fraction of the cost of a servo motor while energy usage is close if not better.
The average running-power consumption is 35.7 kilowatts per hour for the IntelliDrive 135 and 48.1 kw/h for the IntelliDrive 175, Jomar says, but the energy use rate could be higher or lower depending on the resin, bottle size and cycle time.
In addition to reducing utility costs, the series has a reinforced main platen to reduce the possibility of deflection and a closed-loop system to control clamp speed and position.
Jomar says the IntelliDrive series of machines costs only 10-15 percent more than standard hydraulics and replacement parts will be priced comparably to their all-hydraulic counterparts.
The series has been well-received by customers, Gabriele said.
"We've given them a compelling reason to replace their old but functional machines," he said. "We're making the parts cheaper with all the utility cost savings and then we're actually making more parts with the faster cycle times. I believe IntelliDrive sales will overtake standard machine sales within the next 2 or 3 years."
The machines are selling in Europe, where electricity is expensive; in North America, where some customers are in the midst of replacement programs or need a faster cycle time; and anywhere new plants are opening.
"They seek the power cost savings and want the latest technology," Gabriele said.
