Smart Molding International 3-2021

additive manufacturing 26 smart_molding international 3/2021 T he special feature of the mould is the innovative 32-cavity HASCO Streamrunner. The additively manufactured hot runner manifold offers mouldmakers and injection moulders unprecedented freedom in design and opens the door to new de - sign possibilities in mouldmaking. The 100% leak-free manifold offers partic - ularly gentle passage of the melt and makes for considerably lower shear in the material, resulting in better quality mouldings. The flow-optimised design speeds up colour changes and material too. Through the use of the additive manufacturing process, very compact designs can be produced with a nozzle pitch down to 18 mm and minimum manifold height of 26 mm. With the new test mould, the hot runner specialists at HASCOHot Runner now have additional possibilities to obtain further knowledge in the appli - cation of additively manufactured hot runner manifolds, especially in the high-cavity segment. The first series of tests have confirmed all the advan - tages in the balancing of the Streamrunner. A filling study showed from the very begin - ning a very uniform opening behaviour of all 32 nozzles and synchronous filling of the individual cavities. In the com - ing months, further trials will be carried out with a wide va - riety of different thermoplas - tics. Furthermore, special tests are also planned in the field of colour change as well as individ - ual maximum load tests. In addition to the Streamrunner, numerous standard quality mould components are used in the token mould. Heat sensors additionally in - tegrated in the system show a highly uniform temperature profile and con - firm the previously carried out thermal simulations. The new tool locks Z730/… secure the mould from unintended opening, whereby the smaller variation of the lock secures the ejector plate. The cycle counter A57300/… integrated from left counts every shot. The over - all moulding tool is coordinated pre - cisely through corresponding pressure plates. Numerous DLC-coated compo - nents ensure accurate and low-wear guiding and centring. Apart from the above-mentioned tests, other innovative product ideas for the extended use of the Streamrunner will be tested very soon with the new injection moulding tool. These product ideas are already at the preparation stage. HASCO www.hasco.com For the further development of the Streamrunner and also for customer demonstration purposes, HASCO Hot Runner has developed a new and innovative 32 cavity injection mould tool. The mould, that will produce shopping trolley tokens, will be trialled in the in-house injection moulding technical centre. HASCO mould with additively manufactured hot runner system HASCO Hot Runner is a business unit of HASCO which specialises in the production of innovative hot runner technology. The unit’s 70 competent employees develop customised product solutions that are specially tailored to individual customer ap - plications and produce them with very short processing times. Picture: HASCO