Engel awards for intelligent solutions

Engel awards for intelligent solutions

The annual Engel HL Awards, set up to honour injection moulders for innovation, were awarded to three European companies for their efficient application of Engel's tiebarless machines last year.
The first prize went to Italian automotive parts supplier, Ranger Plast SpA. The company had devised an automatic system for demoulding a large bumper spoiler (moulded in PP and 20% glass fibre on a 500t machine) and transferring it to a 20t Engel machine for overmoulding with TPE.
The second prize was won by Burnett Polymer Engineering of UK. Using a fully automatic production cell (two dual-component, 250t machines linked by a linear robot), Burnett manufactures screwdrivers comprising a metal insert plus a handle moulded with four layers of plastic, each with a different function.
German-based King Plastic was awarded the third prize for its fully automatic production of a support for an electrical system controller on a 500t machine. This complicated part necessitates not only intricate mould geometry but also a very large platen area and unrestricted access to the mould, which is possible only with a tiebarless machine.