ENGEL at the NPE2018 with reinforced industry expertise

With a total shot weight of only 1.93 grams, completely filling eight cavities with filigree structures places very high demands on the mold as well as on the precision and consistency of the injection molding machine. ENGEL has two answers for this: First, the all-electric, high-performance e-motion injection molding machine, and secondly, inject 4.0. Under the inject 4.0 umbrella, ENGEL is bundling software products for the digitalization and networking of production processes, for example the intelligent assistance systems of the iQ product family, which detect fluctuation in the environmental conditions and raw material, and automatically compensates for these before rejects occur. In the CC300 control of the e-motion, visitors can observe how iQ weight control analyzes the pressure curve over the screw position during injection and adapts the switchover-point as well as the injection speed profile and the holding pressure to the current conditions. Simultaneously, iQ clamp control determines and automatically sets the optimum clamping force for the process taking into account the level of mold breathing. As the third system on the team, iQ flow control regulates the temperature differences in the mold's individual circuits and the performance of the pumps in the temperature control devices, ensuring constant temperature conditions while reducing power consumption. "With the intelligent assistance systems, the injection molding machine is continuously self-optimizing", explains Kelm. "This allows all levels of machine operators to achieve optimal results."

Teletronics: Consistent process integration boosts competitive ability

In the teletronics industry, the subject of process integration often revolves around plastic/metal hybrid composite components. With the production of thermal switch housings at the NPE, ENGEL proves that it can also forge tailored solutions for this challenge. From the punching of the contacts to the inspection and labeling of ready-to-use electronic components, all work steps are fully automatic. The raw material for the brass carrier plates is fed directly from a reel and prepunched including a thread. The thread is servo-electrically tapped before the carrier plates – still on the line – are overmolded with glass-filled nylon on an ENGEL insert 60V/35 vertical injection molding machine. Quality control happens within the production process. In addition to the camera inspection, high-voltage testing is integrated into the tool, thus already guaranteeing a one hundred percent short-circuit inspection during production. In order to ensure seamless traceability, the good quality parts are labeled by laser before the sprue and carrier tabs are removed and the components are separated from the belt. Eight ready to install parts leave the production cell every 20 seconds.

This production solution, developed by ENGEL in cooperation with its partner MMS Modular Molding Systems (Austria), guarantees the lowest possible cost per unit while also achieving a high degree of flexibility. Thanks to the modular design of the MMS systems, additional processing units can be integrated, for example, for resistance testing or laser welding, riveting, assembly or cleaning of the parts. "Regardless of the number of modules, the entire process can be monitored and regulated via the CC300 control of the insert machine", says Stefan Aberl, director automation at ENGEL North America. "This substantially reduces complexity and significantly simplifies the operation of the entire process."