Arburg premiere at DKT 2012

Between 2 and 5 July of this year, the German Rubber Conference (DKT) in Nuremberg will once again bring together experts in the field of elastomer processing. In addition to a concerted exchange of ideas, new developments in processing technology will be the main focus. Arburg will present several such innovations to trade visitors at its exhibition stand No. 207 in Hall 12. In accordance with the company maxim “Arburg for efficient injection moulding”, the emphasis will be on production efficiency. For this purpose, an electric Allrounder operating with the new servo-electrically driven twin-screw Injester and featuring a special silicone equipment package with a newly-designed cylinder module for single-component silicone will be demonstrated. The result is a cost-effective combination of simple, reliable material processing with short setup and downtimes.

With the servo-electrically driven twin-screw Injester, an extremely broad range of high-viscosity and paste-like compounds can be processed. This also includes solid silicone (HTC), which, like liquid silicone, places high demands on material preparation. In order to ensure a high level of process reliability and part quality during HTV processing, the material must be supplied continuously, free of bubbles and at a constant pressure. With its newly-developed twin-screw Injester, Arburg consequently uses two servo-electrically driven screws to continuously feed the material at a pressure-regulated, even and gentle rate to the injection unit. Refilling is also possible with ease during the running process.

Thanks to the liquid temperature control, the continuously programmable servo drive and pressure-regulated material feed, the twin-screw Injester can be used for a wide range of applications: sensitive materials can be cooled and high-viscosity materials can be heated to improve processability. In the case of single-component silicone, the material used is often not standard, but produced on an individual basis according to the product requirements. As well as representing a challenge in processing terms, this also results in frequent material changes.

One advantage of the twin-screw Injester is that it is very quick and easy to clean. The significantly shorter setup and downtimes, in conjunction with the high process reliability, ultimately lead to a high level of cost-efficiency in production during day-to-day use.

The DKT exhibit is an electric Allrounder 570 A with a clamping force of 1,500 kN and a size 400 injection unit. This forms part of the unique silicone equipment package from the modular Arburg range and features a special screw geometry, cylinder temperature control and nozzle technology. Furthermore, it has 12 adaptive and optimally expandable mould heating circuits for either vacuum, air blast, brush or demoulding devices, water-flow monitoring as well as various expansions for the Selogica control system, e.g. for temperature-dependent post cooling or for mould closing at a specified temperature.
This equipment package, which is precisely adapted to the processing of solid silicones, makes the Allrounder in conjunction with the twin-screw Injester into a compact and cost-effective injection moulding solution for processing HTCs.

Source: Arburg