WITTMANN BATTENFELD with full Power at the Plast in Milan

IranPolymer From May 29 to June 1, WITTMANN BATTENFELD will present to interested trade visitors latest injection molding technology as well as automation and peripherals at the Plast in Milan in hall 22, booth B121/122.

 

Over the last three years, Italy has developed into one of the most important markets for the WITTMANN Group in Europe. This is why the Plast 2018 in Milan is also an important platform for the company to showcase innovative machinery and processes.

 

In the area of injection molding machines, WITTMANN BATTENFELD will exhibit at this year’s Plast one example of each machine series from its PowerSeries range in combination with interesting technologies and processes. All machines on display will be equipped with the new UNILOG B8 control system running under the Windows^® 10 IoT operating system which, compared to its predecessor version, offers a large number of additional functions and even more operating comfort. The WITTMANN solution for Industry 4.0, known by the name of WITTMANN 4.0, and its special features will also be demonstrated to visitors on impressive examples.

 

To demonstrate its multi-component technology, WITTMANN BATTENFELD will present an application with liquid silicone. On a SmartPower 120/525H/130L COMBIMOULD, a 2-component medical part will be produced, in which one component is a thermoplastic material, the other liquid silicone. The parts will be manufactured with a 4+4-cavity mold supplied by the Italian company Silital (Oldrati group), produced by Linea Stampi Srl. The parts will be removed and deposited on a conveyor belt by a W921 robot from WITTMANN equipped with the new R9 control system.

 

The second application presented at the Plast will demonstrate the AIRMOULD^® internal gas pressure process developed by WITTMANN BATTENFELD.

On an EcoPower 160/750 equipped with an insider cell, a coat hanger will be manufactured with a single-cavity mold from Haidlmair, Austria, using the WITTMANN BATTENFELD AIRMOULD^® internal gas pressure process. The AIRMOULD^® interface is also integrated in the UNILOG B8 control system. The combined compressor and nitrogen generator unit used has been developed and manufactured by WITTMANN BATTENFELD. The parts will be removed and deposited on the conveyor belt integrated in the production cell by a W918 robot from WITTMANN with the new R9 robot control system.

 

Smart Production with individualization and traceability according to the Industry 4.0 concept will be demonstrated on a fully automated and integrated large machine from the MacroPower series. On a MacroPower 500/3400 an attractive TPE shopping bag will be produced with a mold supplied by Haidlmair, Austria, which can be provided with a personalized imprint. At a terminal, all visitors can enter their names. To collect the bag with the personalized imprint, each visitor receives a printed voucher with a QR code, which can then be read in at the delivery station. After the QR code has been scanned in, the next bag produced will be separated and transferred to a station where it is laser-printed. After the fair, the production data of the “personalized bag” can still be retrieved by scanning the QR code for another fortnight. Handling of the bags will be effected by a WITTMANN W843 pro robot equipped with the R8 control system.

 

To illustrate the integration of robots and peripheral appliances into the UNILOG B8 machine control system, an interactive display board will also be exhibited at the Plast, which will allow visitors to test the advantages of WITTMANN 4.0 themselves.

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Fig. 1: Medical 2-component part made of thermoplastics and liquid silicone

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Fig. 2:  Combined compressor and nitrogen generator unit for the  AIRMOULD^® internal gas pressure process

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Fig. 3:  Mold for the production of personalized shopping bags on a MacroPower 500

 

 

 

Automation and peripheral appliances from WITTMANN

 

Apart from the robots and peripherals incorporated in the injection molding machines, WITTMANN BATTENFELD will also present a wide range of peripheral appliances as stand-alone solutions.

 

The Plast 2018 also serves as an important platform to present the large number of new WITTMANN robot models. In addition to the robots integrated in the production cells, the following new appliances will be showcased for the Italian market: the small PRIMUS 14 model with an unbeatable price/performance ratio, specially designed for the automation of small machines, the bestseller W918 with 6 kg load capacity and the new R9 control system; the robot models WX143 with 15 kg load capacity and the large WX163 with 45 kg load capacity will also be on display at the booth.

 

All robots with R9 control systems are equipped with servo-driven A/C and/or B/C axes. The R9 control system features some new visualization options, an integrated “digital twin” for easy and safe testing of sequences, a display panel, now enlarged to 10.1” with multi-touch attributes, and special step keys for machine setting. The R9 teachbox still offers the well-known programming help functions such as TextEditor, QuickEdit and the wizard for automatic programming. This ensures full backward compatibility with existing older control systems from WITTMANN.

 

The peripherals to be shown at the Plast Milan include the temperature controller models TEMPRO basic C and TEMPRO plus D. On an interactive display, the functionality of the frequency-controlled temperature controllers TEMPRO plus D SpeedDrive with the intelligent FLOWCON plus flow controller will also be illustrated. The interaction and automatic adjustment of the flow quantity and the motor speed of the pump will be clearly demonstrated, whenever there are any changes in the cooling channels or the operator alters the set temperature level.

 

Moreover, the DRYMAX primus E dryers will be shown at the Plast, each equipped  with two desiccant cartridges, which deliver a continuous supply of process air and consistent drying air quality for perfect drying of plastic granulate, as well as a GRAVIMAX G14 gravimetric blender, with high-precision, wear-resistant stainless steel valves used for metering, and a DOSIMAX MC Basic volumetric blender. Furthermore, material loaders from the FEEDMAX plus G and FEEDMAX B series with teachbox will be on display. The range will be rounded off by a CODEMAX coupling station for error-free material distribution to the processing machines and an M7.3 demo control system for the central material transport system.

 

Finally, two models from the granulator range of the WITTMANN Group will also be presented, that is, a MINOR 2 screenless beside-the press granulator and a G-Max 12 grinder. The G-max granulators run efficiently with low energy consumption and modest space requirements. They come with a sound-insulated cutting chamber, which minimizes their noise emission.

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Fig. 4: WITTMANN W918 robot with the new CNC9 pro control system

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Fig. 5: GRAVIMAX 14 gravimetric blender

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Fig. 6: G-Max 12 grinder

 

 

 

The WITTMANN Group

 

The WITTMANN Group is a worldwide leader in the manufacturing of injection molding machines, robots and peripheral equipment for the plastics industry. Headquartered in Vienna/Austria, the WITTMANN Group consists of two main divisions, WITTMANN BATTENFELD and WITTMANN, which operate 8 production facilities in 5 countries, including more than 33 direct subsidiary offices located in all major plastics markets around the world.

 

WITTMANN BATTENFELD focuses on independent market growth in the manufacturing of state-of-the art injection molding machines and process technology, providing a modern and comprehensive range of machinery in a modular design that meets the actual and future requirements of the plastic injection molding market.

 

WITTMANN’s product range includes robots and automation systems, material handling systems, dryers, gravimetric and volumetric blenders, granulators, mold temperature controllers and chillers. With this comprehensive range of peripheral equipment, WITTMANN can provide plastics processors with solutions that cover all production requirements, ranging from autonomous work cells to integrated plant-wide systems.

 

The syndication of the WITTMANN Group has led to connectivity between all product lines, providing the advantage plastics processors have been looking for in terms of a seamless integration of injection molding machines, automation and auxiliary equipment – all occurring at a progressive rate.

 

In Italy, the WITTMANN group is represented with its own sales subsidiary WITTMANN BATTENFELD Italia.