At the Fakuma in Friedrichshafen, Wittmann Battenfeld showed a machine from the servo-hydraulic SmartPower series equipped with an electric injection unit for the first time to an international audience. This machine variant, represented by a SmartPower B8X 120/350H/130S multi-component model, offers an even higher level of performance and efficiency than the conventional SmartPower machines, which are already very powerful and resource-friendly.
In this way, Wittmann Battenfeld will give its customers a choice between a servo-hydraulic and a servo-electric injection unit for SmartPower machines, which will be available for the entire series of servo-hydraulic SmartPower models ranging from 380 kN to 4000 kN in clamping force.
The injection aggregate originally developed for the all-electric EcoPower machine can now also be selected as a high-performance option for the SmartPower. This technology has already been installed in thousands of machines worldwide and is well established in the market. Comparative tests have shown that the electric injection unit developed by Wittmann Battenfeld stands out in its performance class by high dynamism combined with maximum control accuracy and energy efficiency. This has been achieved with a beltless direct drive specially developed by Wittmann Battenfeld, a solution which, due to consistent further improvement of the system, still ranks as a benchmark for dynamism and high-precision control.
By using servo-electric injection units, the machine combines the advantages of the servo-hydraulic SmartPower, such as a flexible and generous mold space, with those of the all-electric EcoPower in terms of a highly dynamic control function with maximal shot-to-shot repeatability.
This solution offers customers a number of special benefits.
For example, the machine’s energy efficiency can be improved still further by using a servo-electric injection unit. It should also be emphad that even better results can be achieved through the higher dynamism and precision of the injection unit with direct drive, in combination with the well-known Wittmann HiQ assistance systems.
Options such as active injection, servo-dosing or high-speed injection, which previously required an energy-intensive hydraulic accumulator, will now be handled by the servo-electric injection unit. In this variant, parallel dosing with a positive effect on cycle time and consequently on unit costs will be included in the delivery without any extra cost for the customer.
The Wittmann Expert packages, too, such as Expert-StepForce, Expert-Coining or Expert-Venting, function even more accurately and sometimes deliver better results in borderline situations, when combined with a servo-hydraulic clamping unit and a servo-electric injection unit, than they would achieve in other system configurations.
SmartPower Combimould at the Fakuma
At the Fakuma, the production of a bottle opener made of PC and TPE was demonstrated on a SmartPower B8X 120/350H/130S with an electric injection unit, using a mold supplied by FKT Formenbau und Kunststofftechnik, Germany. The SmartPower B8X 120/350H/130S came as a compact Insider solution with a W918 robot from Wittmann and a conveyor belt integrated in the cell. The robot inserted the metal parts presented to it by a magazine plus the decorative foil into the mold, where they were over-molded with polycarbonate. The base body was subsequently moved by a rotary unit to the second station and there over-molded with TPE to give it a better grip. Finally, the finished parts were deposited on the conveyor belt of the Insider cell.
