Engel will be setting more smart-factory milestones at K 2019, from 16th to 23rd October. Designed to optimise the plasticising process, the intelligent assistance system iQ melt control will be celebrating its premiere at Düsseldorf in Germany.
“In real-world situations, plasticising is often faster than what the cycle requires,” reports Günther Klammer, head of the Plasticising Systems division at Engel Austria. “This can have an effect on the screw’s service life and the product’s quality.” Improved melt homogeneity, on the other hand, increases process reliability. To ensure that this outcome is delivered automatically, the new assistance system iQ melt control determines the optimum plasticising time for the application at hand. Instead of plasticising at the maximum possible speed, the system makes full use of the part’s in-mould cooling time for plasticising. For this to happen, the machine operator only needs to enter the screw type and the material to be processed. Next, along with the optimum plasticising time, they receive recommendations for optimising the temperature and back pressure.
At its stand at K, Engel will be demonstrating that the better the process parameters are set for one another, the quieter the screw is in operation. The benefits for the processor are a longer service life for the screw and a melt quality that is consistently high. This then results in parts of improved quality and higher efficiency levels.
Leveraging the machine's full potential
Intelligent assistance is an essential characteristic of a smart factory. The assistance systems determine, recommend and even automatically set the optimum production parameters while production operations continue. This enables an injection moulding machine's full potential to be leveraged. Thanks to the highly modular structure of its inject 4.0 range, Engel is also making it very easy for plastics processors to benefit from the opportunities presented by digitalisation. Even individual solutions such as the iQ products promise considerable benefits. And it is thanks to these same solutions that the first steps towards the smart factory are being taken on many shop floors.
