Smart Molding International 2-2022

20 machinery smart_molding international 2/2022 The manufacture of sustainable re- usable cups made of foamed PP was demonstrated by a hydraulic Allrounder 470 S, equipped with a MuCell® pack- age. The highlight of this application from Bockatech: the material is en- riched with gas both chemically and physically, and foams directly in the opened mould after injection. This saves on material and cycle time. The microcellular structures ensure a weight reduction of up to 50 per cent and also have an insulating effect. The foamed wall thickness is 2.0 instead of the compact 0.7 millimetres. The matching gripper for the handling Multilift Select robotic systemwasman- ufactured additively by a Freeformer beforehand. The gripping function with air guidance was integrated into the component, without any additional pneumatic drives or valves. A hybrid Allrounder 920 H processed a PP compound with up to 70 per cent sunflower husks as filler and reinforc- ing material into beverage crates, while an hydraulic Allrounder 320 C Golden Edition produced perforated discs through paper injection mould- ing, with which straw insulation can be attached to mud walls. Machine communicates with mould A new solution for the communi- cation between mould and machine was presented by Arburg alongside its partner Hack, using a hybrid "Packag- ing" Allrounder 630 H in clean room design, which produces transparent blood tubes from shatterproof PET. The "Moldlife Sense" computer sys- tem was integrated into the 32-cavity mould. This monitors the complete life cycle and enables monitoring. The data is passed directly to the machine con- trol system via an OPC UA interface. In this way, for example, malfunctions as well as performance-dependent main- tenance intervals for the mould can be displayed. LSR dosing unit integrated in machine controller Digitalisation also offers practical benefits in LSR processing: via OPC UA and the Euromap interface 82.3, dosing systems can be integrated into the Allrounder control system. At the Technology Days 2022, three LSR ex- hibits had such an OPC UA connection: three Allrounders were equipped with LSR dosing units from Elmet, Nexus and Reinhardt Technik, and manufactured light conductors for the automotive in- dustry, "Needle Free Valves" for infusion therapy, as well as foamed toe pads. Part tracing without markings Arburg demonstrated together with the start-up, Detagto, and an hydraulic Allrounder 470A, a newsolution for trac- ing moulded parts without markings by means of "invisible tracing". The process is reliable, tamper-proof, and requires little effort: a small camera station in or at the machine, a small server outside or in the Cloud, as well as a second cam- era station for recognition are sufficient. The image data of the photographed surface, that, like a finger-print, appears minimally different for each component, is converted into a storable character string, and transferred to a database. In this way, each component can be unmis- takably identified later. Exciting turnkey systems At the Technology Days, several ex- citing production cells that Arburg is currently implementing with custom- ers were also on show. A highlight was a production cell with a rotary table machine in which two robots interact with the mould in a coordinated man-