StackTeck Systems Ltd., a global manufacturer of multi-cavity, high-volume production molds, has successfully optimized the design of a TRIM™ 5-gallon pail to pass UN standards.
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IML automation system for pails |
The incorporation of TRIM™ technology in the molding of pails represents another step in offering sustainable solutions to the consumer markets that are looking for part weight reductions while being fully compliant with UN test standards for drop tests and compression.
The optimized TRIM™ pails are 8% lighter than a benchmarked industry standard 5-gallon pail, while meeting UN standards 7.4 (drop test) and 7.5 (compression test). With filling analysis software, we were able to optimize the pail for injection pressure and tonnage increase.
According to Jeff Ngai, StackTeck’s Engineering Director: “We did structural filling analysis to ensure top load strength and survival of drop tests. From the simulations that we ran, we identified that there is a big reduction in the strength and performance of the part when we had thinned out portions closer to the bottom corner of the pail. We then evolved the design to remove the TRIM patterns from the lower portion of the part while maintaining the light weight in the remaining areas of the pail which did not affect structural strength. This is a great milestone for us to have achieved in times like this when there is a substantial demand for more sustainable packaging solutions.”
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TRIM™ IML pail samples, stackteck IML pail automatio |
According to StackTeck’s President and CEO, Vince Travaglini, “We can now offer our customers a complete solution for pails, whether they are looking for standard industrial pail molds, a lighter sustainable pail alternative, IML robots for pails, or complete turnkey pail systems. We are delighted to say that we can fully support them with all of our expertise and serviceability right here in North America.”
StackTeck has built a demonstration pail mold with 2 cores, so the mold can switch back and forth between the optimized TRIMTM design and a conventional version of the same pail with a uniform 0.090” wall thickness. According to Jordan Robertson, VP Business Development and Marketing, “The demonstration pail mold was configured to show the differences in pail strength between conventional and TRIM pails. We also incorporated features to enhance mold cooling using our KoolTrack mold designs and special alloys, to demonstrate a cycle time difference. For the wall thicknesses in the conventional pail, we know it typically runs at 16-18 seconds cycle time, and when we put the KoolTrack components in the mold we were able to run good parts at 13 seconds.”
