Maplan: A “quantum leap” in elastomer moulding efficiency and quality

For the first time Maplan will exhibit at K injection moulding machines for the processing of thermoplastic elastomers. They offer injection pressures up to 2,900 bar. The machines are extremely compact, and therefore only require a minimum floor space. The machine exhibited at the K stand is equipped with an automation solution that does not require control electronics, as this task is taken care of by the novel user-friendly PC5000 touch control unit of the machine. Without programming, up to ten axes are controlled with simple parameterisation.

Maplan MTF150P/40C for the production of TPE parts

The company says that it has achieved a significant reduction in the consumption of energy of its machinery together with outstanding improvement in ergonomics and labour protection. About one third of the energy consumption of rubber injection moulding machines is required for the hydraulic drive. Maplan's Cool Drive II drive unit based on constant volume pumps powered by servo-electric motors allows adjustment of the pump activity and with it the motor speed to the actual power requirement. Due to the process-inherent cyclic standstill of hydraulic loads this results in drive-related energy savings up to 70 %, a value confirmed by actual measurement. This comes with a significantly reduced application of energy to the hydraulic fluid, which requires less frequent oil changes and omits the necessity for oil coolers. This in turn leads to a reduced water consumption and results in further minimisation of the total energy requirement.

A beneficial side-effect is noise reduction. During working motions, the greater running smoothness of the pump results in a noise reduction of up to 10 dB. During the hydraulic cycle intermissions, pressure generation does not make any noise at all. Consequently, an overall reduction of the noise level of up to 50 % is achieved. Another customer benefit of CoolDrive II is due to the higher dynamics of the servo technology that results in a 10 % increase of machine performance, which leads to another significant unit cost reduction.

Another 20 % of the overall energy consumption of the machines is caused by the temperature control units for the injection unit and the tools. Their power drain was also reduced by up to 80 %. This was made possible by the intelligent, demand-driven control of the coolant circulation. As for the drive, Maplan designed an actively adaptive solution for this purpose and that has been filed for patenting. Along with the energy savings, the ITC units have also lead to considerable noise reduction and in a greatly improved quality of the flow rate control, resulting in an optimised temperature distribution