Smart Molding International 4-2022

38 smart_molding international 4/2022 molds and tooling Thin-walled 150ml IML Yogurt cup: the evolution towards a fully recyclable packaging At NETSTAL booth in Hall 15, the ELIOS 4500 Injection Molding Machine was producing a thin-walled 150ml IML yogurt cup (6.4 g) from a certified renewable PP polymer by SABIC®, highlighting the importance of human and environmental health. The material is based on tall oil, a waste product from paper production. The powerful and energy efficient NETSTAL injection molding machine compensated for the slightly thicker label in the injection molding process with a correspondingly thinner wall thickness of the cup. Wall thickness of the 5.4 g cup without label measured only 0.32 mm. This high-performance application ran with a fast 3.9 s cycle time. The new Xp nozzle Series from Oerlikon HRSflow, specifically engineered for thin wall packaging, ensured a reliable process and an increased productivity at the lowest cost per unit. The result was a low thickness component (0.4 mm) injected with ambitious cycle times and decorated with a new generation label: the NextCycle IML™ fromMCC Verstraete. The NextCycle IML labels allow that a fully decorated PP IML package can be recycled without any impact of the label on the RPP material. These labels also featured digital watermarks from the Holy Grail 2.0 initiative. The project had been developed in cooperation with Netstal, IML S o l u t i on s , MCC Verstraete, Sabic, Oerlikon HRSflow. Eco-friendly fruit box: maximum precision combined with sustainability Ha i t i an s howc a s ed t he injection molding of an eco- friendly fruit box which marks a key step in Oerlikon HRSflow’s approach to Circular Economy. The selected hot runner configuration was specifically designed to process APS PE compound with recycled TETRA PAK® carton package Alu Foil. The 4 drop FLEXflow servo-driven valve gate system, running on a Haitian Jupiter Series (JU4500III), ensured the production of a flawless part with the complete filling of all the ribs and walls and high process repeatability. For an optimal gate vestige quality, Oerlikon HRSflow’s new patent pending TTC cooling bushing avoids pin’s sticking issues even with fast cycle times. Project partners are Haitian, Mundimold, Tetra Pak®, APS, Oerlikon HRSflow. Sustainable tool case: complex shapes made masterfully Arburg presented at its stand in Hall 13 the injection molding of a complex tool case requiring the use of 4 hot runner systems from Oerlikon HRSflow. Intricate applications of Oerlikon HRSflow hot runner systems produced in cooperation with project partners in the fields of polymer materials, mold making and machine manufacturing, were presented at the last K Show. The live molding demonstrations were available at the partners’ booths. Oerlikon HRSflow hot runner systems in action: live molding demo at K2022 All pictures: Oerlikon HRSflow