Thin-walled, heavy-duty housings
Other typical fields of application for the FLEXflow hot runner technology are lightweight yet stable injection-molded plastic housings. At Fakuma 2018, HRSflow will be showing examples from the fields of electrics and electronics as well as general industry.A project that has been developed together with the heating and cooling specialist Roctool, KraussMaffei and the toolmaker Flex is a cover, only 1.5 mm thick, for a 14" laptop. It is produced using a high-glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate (up to 50% by weight) injected in cascade molding, combining a FLEXflow five-nozzle hot runner system with Roctool’s induction heating and cooling technology. The above technologies ensure highest standards in terms of functionality and appearance. In a single shot, this results in a visible surface with high-gloss and matt areas with a cost-efficient cycle time of around 50 seconds.
A second example of an innovative housing shown at Fakuma is a toolbox made of microcellular foam, which is characterized by its low weight. Its production is based on the FoamPro foaming process from development partner Yizumi, and a FLEXflow triple-nozzle hot runner system from HRSflow with back-injection. The finished part is characterized by a high-quality, finely structured surface.
System integration insight
In order to make the FLEXflow utilisation smarter and the machine operator's workplace easier, HRSflow has taken a first step in the direction of system integration, which will ultimately lead to full integration of the FLEXflow technology into the world of Industry 4.0. Since June 2018, it has been possible to visualize, via VNC (Virtual Net Computing), the display of the control unit of the hot runner system on the touchscreen of the associated injection molding machine and thus be completely autonomous in terms of settings and functionalities. As a result, the use of a second screen can be dispensed with, optimizing the workplace ergonomically and offering a smarter user interface.The FLEXflow family: simple, safe and clean
The integrated servo-electric needle drive - the common feature of FLEXflow and FLEXflow One - opens up a variety of options for setting process parameters. Thus, the individual needles of a hot runner system can be independently controlled with respect to their position (stroke), speed and acceleration. This allows users to control the pressures and flow rates during the entire tool filling process in a particularly precise, simple and flexible manner, thus optimizing the quality of their injection molded parts. The results are improved Class A surfaces and minimized warpage, and the technology also ensures low maintenance and user friendliness.Quelle: HRSflow
