New tiebarless, electric, and high-speed presses.

A brand-new line of small tiebarless hydraulic machines is new from Engel Canada, Guelph, Ont. Its Engel Victory Focus series (photo) ranges from 28 to 130 tons, and additional models up to 440 tons are planned. They boast reduced machine footprint and weight; lower-mass, swing-out injection units; platens redesigned for lower weight and less deflection; and increased platen daylight and opening stroke. Other features include variable-volume pumps and Engers new EC 200 controller with touchscreen graphical interface. A new graphic programming aid called "Flex Cycle" guides an operator through the machine sequencing process, and a "teach in" process simplifies robot programming. (The operator guides the robot end-of-arm tooling manually along the expected paths of travel.)

Engel also enhanced its E-Motion Combi series of all-electric multi-component machines (110 to 310 tons) with a new piggyback version that makes it easier to integrate automation, as well as a "premium" high-performance version. The premium version boosts injection speeds up to 450 mm/sec at 40,628 psi and adds electric servo drives for the rotary table, core pull, and hot-runner valve gates.

Engel also extended its Speed line of high-speed hydraulic toggle presses aimed at packaging. It introduced the Model 180 with 200-ton clamp and a wide-platen version of its Model 280 (310 tons), now a standard option. At the show, it molded HDPE bottle caps in a 64-cavity tool on a 5-sec cycle. A Model 380 (420 tons) will be launched in April. The entire line eventually will range from 150 to 720 tons.

Engel also improved its Engel Duo Advanced series of large two-platen presses with new clamps that boast 15% higher rigidity and lower weight, plus a new tiebar locking mechanism that cuts dry-cycle times by 5% to 10%. The current range from 720 to 1900 tons will be extended to 4400 tons with four new models in 2007 and 2008. Tel: [phone] * PT Direct: 819LR