On May 26, 2011 injection molding machine manufacturer Ferromatik Milacron will welcome visitors to the company’s Open House. The two most recent additions to the new modular F-Series will be presented at the event. The first model in the series, the F 160, introduced at K 2010 in Dusseldorf, is now being joined by the F 80 and F 350. Along with the F-Series, the Ferromatik Milacron Open House will showcase five other machines featuring advanced technologies such as In-Mold-Labeling, In-Mold-Foiling, the Monosandwich process, and twin cube molds.
Auxiliary equipment manufacturers also will be exhibiting their own product portfolios. Presentations by industry experts and guided tours of the facility complete the program. At the end of the day, guests will be invited to enjoy the evening at the After Work Party.
“The Open House marks the start for sales of the new F-Series,” said Robert Trube, Director Sales & Marketing at Ferromatik Milacron. “Once all of the models have been introduced, the complete series will include ten sizes ranging from 500 to 6,500 kN,” he added. The F-Series will gradually replace the current lines of all-electric, hydraulic, and hybrid machines. The new machines are targeted at the packaging, consumer goods, and medical technology industries.
The F-Series platform is designed to allow for any number of module configurations so that every machine is, in effect, customized. “This means that the user can focus on whatever aspects are most important for their applications: performance, energy consumption, dynamics, or precision – as well as any combination of electric or hydraulic drives,” said Dr. Thorsten Thümen, Director Research & Development at Ferromatik Milacron. “The result is that each user can assemble the most economical machine for their needs,” he added.
At the Open House an F 80, currently the smallest model in the new F-Series with a clamping force of 800 kN, equipped with a General Performance (GP) size 40 injection unit will demonstrate the production of needle protectors on a 64-cavity mold by Schöttli with a cycle time of 5.8 seconds. This F 80 is configured as a hybrid machine with electric drives for clamping, ejection, and plasticizing.
The F 160, a 1,600 kN machine configured as an all-electric model, will be presented in a complete production cell. Using a GP size 50 injection unit, and a 4-cavity mold from Formteknik, the F 160 will produce containers using In-Mold-Labeling technology with polypropylene labels and a cycle time of 5.9 seconds. A robot from Wemo places the labels in the mold and removes the containers, while a second robot stacks the finished parts. The complete cell has already been sold and will be sent to Braplast in Sweden immediately after the Open House.
The largest model currently available in the F-Series will be demonstrated as a high-performance hybrid, with electric drives for clamping and plasticizing. The F 350, with a clamping force of 3,500 kN, has a High Performance (HP) size 80 injection unit and will show production of cartridges on an 8-cavity mold by Hofstetter. The cycle time is 10.9 seconds.
