Britain hosts big showcase for machinery and software.

If you didn't make it to Birmingham, England in November, our editors scoured the show floor for new hardware and software for injection, extrusion, blow molding, and thermoforming. Interplas 96 was one of the biggest international plastics shows of last year. The crowd of 34,000 examined the latest technology displayed by 1400 exhibitors from 40 countries.

Among the product introductions of most interest to U.S. processors were small injection presses, blown film systems, in-line thermoformers, and CAD/CAM, CAE, and CIM software.

INJECTION MOLDING 

Small presses loomed large among the hardware developments at the show. The rest of the news was in software for tool design and analysis and for machine monitoring.

SMALL MACHINES BY THE HANDFUL

Arburg showed three new additions to its S Series of modular machines with 32-bit controllers. The 15-ton 220S is the first S machine with a "universal," or swiveling-clamp. Also new is the 50-ton modal 320S. The existing 270S was shown with a new sprue picker that fits under the machine hood over the rear of the clamp. The picker is mechanically driven by damp motion.

Butler Designs of the U.K. (newly represented here by Meadoworks Inc.) has new configurations of its tiny presses. Buffer now offers a version of its 9-ton LSR machine with vertical injection and clamping. The company's 9-ton insert molder can have a new 20-in., four-station rotary table.

Another British maker of small presses, MCP Equipment (distributed by TomKen Tool & Engineering) introduced the 5-ton Sprite 7/50 with two-stage injection. It has 7-g shot capacity and accommodates molds up to 3.7 x 3.1 in.

Boston Matthews extended its machine range up to 50 tons (it's previous top size was 35). Controls are available in solid-state and microprocessor open-loop or closed-loop versions.

Engel demonstrated a new injection unit for LSR on a 50-ton machine. After feeding the material's two components into a dynamic mixer, the unit uses a mechanically limited piston to inject. The result is "100% shot-weight consistency," says Peter Neumann, Engel's managing director in Austria.

ENTRY-LEVEL CIM

CIM vendors at Interplas introduced an affordable package for first-time users and enhancements to their full-fledged systems. An entry-level system for real-time process monitoring is the latest from Nicollet Process Engineering. This "Machine Cycle Counting and Reporting System" features a graphical display of the plant-floor layout and functions like job scheduling, cycle tracking, uptime/downtime logs, and report generation. Price (including wiring) is $2000 per machine plus $20,000 for the software and other networking costs. Like the company's high-end products, this system runs on a Windows 95 or NT platform.

Release 2.6 of Mattec's "Millennium" process-monitoring system offers a new database file structure for easier data access and finite-capacity scheduling, which reportedly provides more "real-world" accuracy than traditional models. A new aid to process analysis is the ability to overlay graphs of any of the parameters monitored on the previous 50 shots.

Engel exhibited the latest version of its PC-based process monitor. The EMS (Engel Monitoring System) runs under Windows 95 and handles SPC, SQC, and production planning. It also lets users download machine settings. Set-up of the CIM network, which accommodates an unlimited number of Engel machines, is accomplished by means of a graphical drag-and-drop screen. EMS replaces the earlier, "less open" EngelNet CIM product, says managing director Neumann.

CAD/CAM/CAE FOR PLASTICS

Moldflow demonstrated the commercial version of its new Intelligent Process Control system on a Battenfeld 55-ton press. Moldflow's new SmartMold-Die Set software automatically determines optimum processing conditions by using defect data on the first parts molded to refine starting setpoints determined by a prior mold-filling analysis. (The system was also demonstrated recently at the IPF show in Japan - see PT, Dec. '96, p. 43).

Common mold-design tasks are automated by D-M-E's new "Ultimate" design software. It runs as an extension to AutoCAD, as do two other D-M-E mold-design programs: "Standard," which is a low-cost symbol library, and "Expert," which contains D-M-E mold kits, plates, and other components in four views.

Delcam International rolled out the latest version of its DUCT 3-D CAD/CAM software which includes new photo-realistic rendering capabilities and an interface that allows models to be exported in the VRML format used to display graphics on the World Wide Web. The DUCTmold tool-design module has two new shading options - one for undercuts or low-draft-angle regions and the other for fillets and curved surfaces of less than a specified radius. An advanced version of the DUCTmachinist CAM module offers the ability to quickly divide imported solid models into core and cavity surfaces.

EXTRUSION

The news at Interplas for blown-film processors includes new entries in auto-profile air rings, gauging devices, and controls. For cast film and coating, there's a multi-position roll stack. And a new gear-pump controller serves a wide range of extrusion needs.

THE LATEST FOR FILM

You can cut blown-film gauge variation in half by means of a new auto-gauging system based on an automatic, dual-lip air ring and two capacitance sensors that measure the complete bubble circumference. So says Brampton Engineering of its new 3 Sigma Auto Gauge Air Ring system, which was just recently commercialized although the concept was broached at NPE '94. Four of the units are in production on dies of 6 to 24 in. diam.

This modified version of Brampton's Uniflo dual-lip air ring automatically controls air flow at dozens of points around its circumference (96 points on a 20-in.-diam. ring). Manual lip adjustments are also possible.

ITALYCS-II is an updated version of Brampton's Integrated Temperature And Line Yield Control System for blown film, sheet, pipe, profiles, and extrusion coating. The controller uses the graphic interface of Windows NT to simplify programming and control of the formerly DOS-based system. It can control up to 10 extruders.

Tacky stretch or cling films and high-clarity films of 0.4 to 20 mils won't be marred by a new non-contacting capacitance gauge from Sussex Gauging, a British supplier represented here by Oakland Instrument Corp. The FT Air Cushion Head generates a cushion of air between the film and the head. The air cushion is self-regulated so that its pressure matches that inside the bubble. The single-sided sensor is normally mounted in a fixed position in the collapsing frame.

For cast film and extrusion coating, Berstorff showed off a new adjustable three-roll stack that can be used as calendering or chill rolls. The Combi-Polishing Calender Unit can be set up vertically to cool films of high melt strength or horizontally for materials with low melt strength and/or need for high surface quality. It can also run diagonally for coating woven fabrics. The roll configuration reportedly can be changed to reduce condensation and can be used as a chill roll without any conversion.

And for general extrusion, the new Maax 20 controller from Maag Pump Systems controls an extruder, gear pump, and an automatic screen changer. Able to control up to 18 temperature zones, the Maax 20 supersedes the company's six-zone Maax 10. A new touchpad simplifies entry of control settings, which can then be stored on a diskette.

BLOW MOLDING

The BW 1500 DEC, a new compact blow molder from B&W of Germany, div. of Johnson Controls, has an "extremely small footprint," the company reports. The machine provides automatic trimming and oriented container delivery. Its 6-ton tiebarless clamp accepts molds with up to four cavities and measuring up to 11.7 x 15.6 in. The unit was shown with an 80-mm main extruder and vertical 18-mm satellite extruder to coextrude a sight stripe. Machine movements are run by proportional hydraulics. The Moog controller combines machine and temperature control with 100-point parison programming.

THERMOFORMING

Four new or redesigned in-line forming machines and one new trim press sum up the thermoforming developments at Interplas. Perhaps the most unusual is a machine without platens that's said to provide extra draw depth.

HIGH-SPEED IN-LINE MODELS

The redesigned model 28NT thermoformer from Irwin Research is now available in conventional and "platen-less" versions. Absence of platens doubles the available depth of draw to 5 in. Minor tooling modifications are required, but they need not add any cost to new tools.

The machine is designed for forming thin PS foam or solid sheet. It has a 40 x 28 in. forming area. In the platen-less version, the mold is held by four jointed arms whose movement is controlled by an electric servo motor and rotating cam. Jointed arms holding plug assists are actuated by another servo motor and cam. Also new on the 28NT is a Windows 95-based control system called Ballerina.

Irwin also unveiled a trim press that utilizes a new servo-driven canopy in-feed system that is synchronized with the forming machine. Irwin is offering the redesigned 28NT and new trim press together for $425,000.

Adolph Illig Maschinenbau of Germany came out with a larger companion for its servo-driven model RDK54 cut-in-place pressure former. The new RDK80 uses steel-rule dies and is designed for quick tool changes. It is primarily for OPS and OPP sheet 12-50 mils thick and has a 29.25 x 19.5 in. forming area. Maximum cycle rate is 32/min. New touchscreen controls let the operator monitor the entire process.

For short-run jobs, Paul Kiefel GmbH unveiled the Series V form, cut, and stack vacuum formers. The two models are the KL 52 V (20.3 x 15.6 in. forming area) and KL 75 V (29.25 x 21.1 in.). Top operating speed is 35 cycles/min. Both have servo-motor drive of the sheet transport and hydropneumatic drive of forming and cutting stations.

The adjustable table allows forming to take place up to 5.85 in. above or below the sheet line. The upper heater bank and preblow box are also adjustable. Both machines use an integrated steel-rule trim press (55 or 77 tons) and stacking station and are designed for quick changeover.

RELATED ARTICLE: New Controls For Hot Runners & Mold Cooling

The English firm REPS (represented in the U.S. by Injection Molding Industries) had several temperature-control developments on hand. The company showed off its first hot-runner controller, which has 100 zones (40 heating and 60 cooling). It reportedly can handle both low- and high-voltage hot-runner systems, and it offers both phase-angle and zero-crossover control.

Also on hand were a more compact panel-mount version of the firm's Cyclical Temperature Controller for mold cooling. A brand-new multi-zone version called the "Total Temperature Control" system offers up to 60 mold-temperature-control zones.

RELATED ARTICLE: Automatic Box Making From Twin-Wall Sheet

A new automatic packaging machine from Italy die cuts, folds, and welds hollow-profile PP or HDPE twin-wall sheet into cartons. The Carton-plast HP/SPW/1200/R is said to be the first fully automatic machine of its type. It comes from Omam s.p.a. and is sold here by Reedy International.

The machine handles sheet widths up to about 4 ft, lengths up to around 6 ft, and gauges of 2-10 mm. Material is fed automatically from the pallet to the machine. Die cutting and welding are done at a single station. The machine has a stacking station at the end.