Fanuc at Fakuma 2011

According to Wolfgang Haak, applications engineer at Fanuc, the amount of energy produced in this way “… depends on the machine, but it amounts to around 10 percent of power saved on average, on top of the 40-60 percent lower energy consumption of electric machines as opposed to hydraulic ones. Today, we must not forget the subject of CO2 emissions: the greater the energy requirements of a manufacturing plant, the higher are the CO2 emissions. With our Roboshot machines, less energy is required from the national power grid, which means lower emissions and the protection of our environment”.

Moving on to the control system used by the Roboshot imms, Wolfgang Haak points to the actual energy displayed in KWh on the control system screen. He added: “The customer doesn’t have to make a specific input to measure the energy use of the machine. The FANUC system is the most effective transparency tool for customers with regard to their energy balance.”

The behaviour of melt in the cylinder is detected and shown on the screen – a feature only on the Roboshot. Several unique selling points are now available to stabilize the moulding operation – i.e. to eliminate short shots and/or over packing, and to minimize weight deviations. The first feature is the Backflow Monitor which shows the backflow of material at the time of injection on a screen. Stability of the injection, the closing characteristics of the check ring as well as its status are also indicated. The second feature is the Precise Metering Control (PMC2&3). This improves the consistency of dosing and minimizes weight deviations of the parts to be moulded. PMC2&3 automatically balances the pressure at the front and the rear of the check ring. It is also very effective with regard to elimination of stringing and silver streaking.

Here Wolfgang Haak states that “possible wear conditions of the check ring can be seen without dismantling the barrel/screw unit.” Fanuc points out that this means that hardly any time is required for maintenance of Fanuc Roboshot machines, saving both time and money.

Fanuc devotes a separate live demonstration to mould protection which is a standard function on Roboshot machines: a Fanuc LR Mate 200iC robot inserts a paper drinking cup into the closing mould of a 50-ton IMM and achieves the machine-stop – at the crucial moment – before either the mould or the cup is damaged.

The AI (Artificial Intelligence) mould protection and AI ejector function of the Roboshot series of IMMs are very practical and effective in both assisting in and safeguarding the longevity of the mould. The AI mould protection function stops the platen motion instantaneously as soon as it detects foreign parts or obstacles remaining in the mould – thus preventing damage to the mould. It also averts damage to the slide core when the mould is opened. Furthermore, the AI ejector function is very effective in preventing damage to the ejector when it moves forward or backward.