Smart Molding International 2-2021

14 newsfeed smart_molding international 2/2021 TactoTek, the Finland- ba s ed company t ha t develops and licenses in-mold structural elec - tronics (IMSE™) technol - ogy, announced today their achievements to - wards more sustainable electronics manufacturing. An independent lifecycle analysis (LCA) by Finnish research institute, VTT, re - vealed that an electronics part manufactured using IMSE technology results in 35% lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than a comparable conven - tional electronics design. In addition, because IMSE combines both mechani - cal structure and electronic function in a single part, an IMSE part typically uses 50-75% less plastics than a conventional assembly. The European Union and national legislative require - ments globally are driving a shift to more sustainable manufacturing across many industries. Moreover, OEMs and manufacturers in many markets are outpacing regu - lation in their sustainability and recycling efforts. IMSE supports more sustainable operations without compro - mising the electronic func - tionality consumers want. “Environmental respon - sibility is a TactoTek core value, both for our own operations and the IMSE technology that we develop and license to global mass manufacturers,” stated TactoTek CEO, Jussi Harvela. “IMSE technology enables OEMs to realize their design objectives cost effectively while significantly reducing the environmental impact of electronics throughout their complete lifecycle.” In addition to reducing the use of plastics and GHG generated during manufac - turing, IMSE technology uti - lizes clean, additive process - ing methods. For example, circuitry and electronics are created with printing pro - cesses, rather than toxic chemical etching. TactoTek is also working with recycling leaders to verify the best recycling methods for IMSE parts and to ensure that they are widely available. “With IMSE there are fewer parts to design, source, manufacture, trans - port and assemble relative to conventional electronics assemblies,” noted Marko Suo-Anttila, SVP Engineer - ing and Operations. “With IMSE we provide our li - censees with a solution that provides new design freedom while reducing GHG emissions, using less plastic and eliminating toxic waste streams. This is just the beginning – we are also verifying a new generation of bio-based plastics and other sustainable materials for IMSE use.” TactoTek www.tactotek.com Stork IMM has improved their very reliable toggle system further by execut - ing them with clamped toggle pins. Standard for the electrically driven clamping unit, optionally for the hydraulic execution in range from 2500 kN to 11000 kN. What are toggle pins? The toggle pins are the cylindrical pins in the toggle system of the ma - chine that function as a pivoting point. To be able to rotate, minimal play is required between pin and bushing. Lubrication between pin and bushing creates a lubricating film to prevent wear. What are “clamped” toggle pins? In order to be able to mount the toggle pins, a certain amount of play be - tween the pin and the fixed part of the hinge is required. In our former construction the pin was secured with a key. However, micro move - ments were possible due to the minimal play. Clamping the toggle pin instead of securing it with a key also secures the pin and fur - thermore reduces the play to zero. This has a number of great advantages • The play in the toggle where the pin does not turn becomes zero. If the play is zero, then no wear can occur. The lifespan of the toggle lever system will ex - tend consider - ably. • Play will o n l y o c c u r in one place, namely, where the pin turns in the bushing. The play per pivot point is therefore halved. There are several pivot points in the toggle system, thus significantly reducing the total play. This allows for a more accurate positioning of the movable clamping plate when open - ing at high speeds, this is especially important with IML and the improvement ensures a more quiet move - ment. • The clamping of the pins leads to a stiffer sup - port of the pin, which in turn means that the bearing surface becomes larger, the surface pressure becomes lower and therefore the wear will become less. Stork IMM www.storkimm.com IMSE™ technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 35%, plastics use up to 75% Longer lifespan due to clamped toggle pins