At the Plastimagen in Mexico from November 7 to 10, 2023, WITTMANN BATTENFELD will present to visitors state-of-the-art injection molding machines, process technology, automation and auxiliary equipment based on interesting applications.
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Micro retaining ring for medical miniature tubes with a part weight of 2 mg |
Mexico is one of the WITTMANN Group’s major export markets. As the region’s largest plastics trade fair, the Plastimagen, is an important platform for WITTMANN to showcase its latest technologies jointly with its local subsidiary WITTMANN BATTENFELD México S.A. de C.V.
In the machinery sector, models from both the servo-hydraulic and all-electric series will be exhibited. All of these models stand out by their extremely high level of precision, repeatability and energy efficiency.
On an all-electric machine from the MicroPower series, a MicroPower 15/10 specially designed for high-precision injection molding of micro parts, a medical clip with a part weight of 0.003 g will be produced from POM supplied by Ticona using a 4-cavity mold from Microsystems, UK. The parts will be removed by a WITTMANN W8VS2 robot specially developed for highly dynamic, precise removal of micro parts, and subsequently passed on to a camera integrated in the production unit and the machine’s control system in order to check the parts quality. Next, the parts will be deposited in a storage module separately for each cavity.
The second all-electric machine at the WITTMANN BATTENFELD booth will be an EcoPower 110/750 with a WITTMANN W918 robot plus conveyance, dosing, drying and temperature control technology from WITTMANN.
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SmartPower 120/350 LSR |
WITTMANN BATTENFELD will demonstrate its expertise in liquid silicone processing on a servo-hydraulic SmartPower 120/350 LIM. With this machine, four different closing caps for beverage cans and bottles will be produced from liquid silicone in a single injection-molding process, using a 4-cavity mold from Nexus, Austria. The open design of the SmartPower’s injection unit enables easy integration of the LSR metering unit. Die Nexus X200 metering unit comes with a new Servomix dosing system and is connected with the machine’s B8 control system via Euromap 82.3 OPC-UA integration. In the mold, latest cold-runner technology with FLOWSET needle shut-off regulation is used. The parts are removed by a WITTMANN W918 robot and packaged by a flow wrapping machine.
A further exhibit to be presented by WITTMANN BATTENFELD at the Plastimagen will be a machine from its MacroPower series, a MacroPower 550/5100 with a WITTMANN WX143 robot and an extensive range of auxiliaries, all from WITTMANN.
Automation and auxiliary equipment
In addition to the fully equipped work cells, a wide range of robots and auxiliary appliances will also be shown at the Plastimagen.
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WITTMANN robot WX143 |
In a separate area reserved for robot systems, WITTMANN BATTENFELD México will demonstrate its automation capabilities. A Primus 48T robot will represent the range of pick & place appliances. The model on display is used primarily on injection molding machines with clamping forces of up to about 900 t.
Furthermore, linear robots from the WX series will be exhibited. The models WX142 and WX143 will demonstrate the implementation of an interlinked process. Using its linear axes with the addition of a Servo B axis rotatable by 270°, the WX143 will take thread inserts from a conveyor bowl and place these on a transfer station. As soon as the first robot has released the transfer station, the second appliance, a WX142 fitted with a servo C axis rotatable by 180°, will pick up the 4 inserts and place them into a mold half. Next, the positioning of the parts inside the mold will be checked by a camera and the result fed back to the robot system. Every automation cycle ends with the removal of the parts and their return to the conveyor bowl. The entire concept and technical implementation of this process has been developed inhouse by the automation department of WITTMANN BATTENFELD México. The grippers were designed and produced inhouse as well.
In the area of temperature control technology, WITTMANN BATTENFELD México will showcase appliances from the Tempro basic C and the Tempro plus D series, as well as an ENR 030 air-cooled cooling device. The temperature controllers from the Tempro plus D series recommend themselves by their extremely easy operation and extensive standard equipment package.
Moreover, series 101 flow controllers will be presented, together with a Flowcon plus and a WFC120. By means of a fine adjustment valve and a wear-free flow measurement device, these appliances keep both the flow rate and the temperature reproducibly constant over the entire production period.
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Tempro plus D temperature controller |
The range of WITTMANN dryers on display at the booth will include a Drymax primus dry air dryer, an Aton basic segmented wheel dryer, a Card 70 compressed air dryer and a Vacujet S. The dry air dryers from the Drymax series come equipped with two desiccant cartridges, thus delivering a continuous flow of process air and a constant level of drying air quality. The drying wheel of the Aton basic segmented wheel dryer consists of multiple chambers with a loose fill of desiccant granulate. This not only enables efficient use of energy, but also makes it possible to exchange the desiccant at low cost, without having to invest in a complete new segmented wheel every time.
The materials handling sector will be represented by a JIT loader, a Feedmax basic, a Feedmax plus and a Feedmax S3 net. The Feedmax basic und Feedmax plus models are suitable for transporting small to medium-sized quantities of material. The stand-alone Feedmax S3 net loader is the optimal conveyor for flexible feeding of small material quantities up to 80 kg/h in continuous operation.
Dosing technology will be covered by the gravimetric appliances Gravimax 34 and Gravimax primus 14, as well as the volumetric blender model Dosimax MC Balance. The gravimetric blenders from WITTMANN are easy to operate and stand out by their high-precision material valves as well as their removable stainless steel hopper with a corner view window, a removable weighing container and a highly efficient spiral mixer. A C20 dust extractor will be shown in addition to the dosing appliances.
From the extensive portfolio of WITTMANN granulators, a screenless S-Max 2 plus granulator and a G-Max 33 granulator will be exhibited at the Plastimagen. The S-Max models are slow-running granulators for inline recycling of sprue from hard and brittle engineering plastics. G-Max grinders are compact beside-the-press granulators designed for grinding soft to medium-hard engineering plastics.
In the area of centralized material supply, WITTMANN BATTENFELD México will demonstrate the M7 network control system. This system comes with an LS-B30T line server, a GM blower and filtering station, as well as a - RFID-controlled Codemax coupling station. The range of equipment will be completed by a Drymax 300 battery dryer and a Silmax 600 drying hopper, equipped with an automatic, motor-driven SmartFlow air control valve as standard.
