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Arburg has a total of nine exhibits at NPE2018. One of the most eye-catching is its newest and largest machine, the Allrounder 1120H (730 U.S. tons) molding a PP folding step stool, molded in an eight-cavity family mold and snapped together in an adjoining cell with a six-axis robot. Among the others:

 •  An electric Allrounder 570A is producing wrist straps in LSR with two colors and durometers (70 and 30 Shore A), and assembling a complete watch in a robotic cell.

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 •  A dual-durometer LSR/LSR (70 and 30 Shore A) membrane for valves used in medical and automotive applications is molded on an Allrounder 270A with a 0.1-oz micro-injection unit incorporating a 0.3-in. screw to produce one 0.0018-oz component, which is then overmolded using a servo-electric injector from Kipe Molds, Placentia, Calif. The injector system is integrated into the 1 + 1 cavity mold and Selogica control system.

 •  A packaging version of the Allrounder 570H designed specifically for thin-wall molding, produces four IML tubs from PP in a cycle time around 1.9 sec. The finished parts weigh 0.12 oz and have walls 0.0126 in. thick.

 •  In another cell, an electric Allrounder 470 A molds two cups of medical-grade PP, each weighing just over 0.05 oz, in a cycle of 2.9 sec.

 •  For automotive, long-glass reinforced airbag housings are molded with “fiber direct compounding” (FDC), whereby continuous glass rovings are fed into the injection barrel downstream of the feed opening. A side feeder with integrated cutter and a special screw and barrel permit customizing the fiber length and concentration. A weight monitor displays the consistency of shot weight.

 •  Insert encapsulation is being shown on a vertical rotary-table machine. Metal inserts are fed to a plasma pretreatment station before overmolding with nylon 66.

 •  In what has become a trademark exhibit for Arburg at major shows, Industry 4.0 networking capability is demonstrated via individualized manufacturing—in this case, of ´óÏó´«Ã½-card holders. They are injection molded and then barcode labeled them by laser marking, followed by custom decorating with Arburg’s Freeformer 3D printer.