Injection Compression Molding as Alternative to Thermoforming
Arburg will show its all-electric Allrounder 720 A press utilizing injection compression molding to create thin-wall IML cups from PP.
Arburg will display an Allrounder 720 A machine injection compression molding thin-walled inmold-labeled (IML) cups from polypropylene at Fakuma 2023. Directly driven, the 2900 kN press with size 1300 injection unit can achieve injection speeds of up to 400 mm/sec to mold the cups with a wall thickness of just .37 mm and a flow-length-to-wall-thickness ratio of 380:1. Made from a four-cavity tool from Brink, the cups weigh 10.8g and are produced in a 3.95-second cycle time. A side-entry robot from brink removed finished parts and inserts labels.
Arburg says combining the all-electric drives of its press with the injection compression molding process reduces the overall energy footprint by 20% while allowing part weight to be cut from 13 to 10.8g. Arburg says the energy savings come from the fact that injection compression allows it reduce the injection pressure required, as well as the mold temperature, dropping those from 68F to 54F.
Arburg will present high-speed thin-wall injection molding of IML containers in PP as an alternative to thermoforming at Fakuma 2023.
Photo Credit: Arburg
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