Schwertberg, Austria — Engel Group is launching a new microinjection unit, designed to produce extremely small components from liquid silicone rubber aimed at what it sees as a growing market in the medical and electronics industries.
The technology will be featured at the machinery maker's virtual "Live E-Xperience" event Oct. 13-16, an online technology conference timed to replace its presence at the now-canceled Fakuma 2020 trade show.
During the event, Schwertberg-based Engel will show the all-electric and tie-barless Engel e-motion 50/30 TL injection molding machine, producing a part developed with ACH Solution GmbH Hefner Molds of Fischlham, Austria.
For the market launch, a 32-cavity valve gate cold runner mold will be used to produce connecting elements used in ophthalmic diagnostic instruments. The filigree parts measure 1.7 millimeters in length and 0.9 mm in diameter and weigh just 0.0013 grams.
The press is equipped with an LSR metering pump by ACH, which also supplied a camera system for quality control.
Engel said both medical and consumer electronics suppliers are the target for the machine because both require very small electronic precision parts. And it expects demand to build from the auto industry as well.
"Due to the trends towards electromobility and autonomous driving, the automotive industry will also require a larger number of micro parts made of LSR in the future," the company said in a news release. "Engel will also be using the new micro-injection unit to implement multi-component processes, for example, to inject sealing elements with very small shot volumes directly onto a base body."