Engel Austria GmbH says it will launch an extremely compact, high-output injection molding machine in October that provides low unit costs even in a cleanroom environment.
The all-electric “e-mac” series was developed from scratch with a focus on improving dynamics, according to a news release from the Schwertberg-based company.
Engel is planning a digital launch for the machine after Fakuma 2020 was canceled. The trade event was set for Oct. 13-17 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, but was pushed back to Oct. 12-16, 2021, because of COVID-19 concerns.
Without going into details, Engel said it will demonstrate the e-mac machine series in October by producing polypropylene pipette tips, which it says is a challenging application with quality depending on the precision of the injection process.
“At the same time, the long cores in the mold require absolutely precise movements of the mold mounting platens during opening and closing,” an Engel press release says.
To reduce the footprint of the machine, Engel says it optimized the toggle lever geometry and the e-mac 265/180 it will present during the product launch is 450 millimeters (17.7 inches) shorter than the previous 180-ton version while the opening stroke wasn’t reduced.
“Among the all-electric machines on the market, the new generation of e-mac are the most compact worldwide in their respective performance segment across the entire series,” Engel also says.
To produce the PP pipette tips, Engel will use a 64-cavity precision mold produced by Tanner Formenbau AG in Feuerthalen, Switzerland. The cycle time is six seconds, which Engel says is “the range in which the e-mac machines fully play to their strengths.”
The e-mac is often the most economical solution in the field of all-electric injection molding machines for precision applications with cycle times of more than four seconds, according to Engel.
In addition to medical technology, the e-mac is used for packaging, teletronics and technical molding.
The machine is available in three performance classes and upon customer request, Engel supplies the production cells tailored to the application
During the demonstration, a production cell featuring an Engel Viper 20 linear robot will remove the 64 pipette tips from the mold and transfer them to an integrated compact cell for cavity-sorted depositing. The cell will be equipped with weight control and flow control systems to readjust the melt volume for each individual shot for consistent quality and to automatically adjusts temperature differences in the cooling water manifold circuit.
In addition, all movements of the Engel e-mac — including the nozzle movement and ejection — are performed by servo-electric drives. However, a servo-hydraulic unit can be integrated into the machine frame without requiring additional space.