Spotlight on elastomer injection moulding

About 450 people attended the fourth Maplan Days of Technology on May 31 and June 1, 2017, at the new company premises in Kottingbrunn (Austria).

The first day of the symposium focused on the presentation of the status and perspectives of the Austrian machinery manufacturer. Furthermore, the 2-day lecture program provided a broad overview of the current topics of elastomer injection moulding.

As a place for this, Maplan offered an in-house little fair, organized in parallel with the lecture event and in cooperation with numerous technology partners, with their own desk - AS-Zerspanungstechnik, Awetis, Blattaria, CAS, Eisenhuth, Franciacorta Stampi, Gamma Stampi, Gibitre Instruments, Gummiwerke Kraiburg, Hahn Automation, Karousel, Mesgo, Mewo, Montan University of Leoben, Nexus, ORP Stampi, Peta, PTE, Robotix, Römheld Rivi, Semperit, Sepro, Sigmasoft, T.System, TIG, UTP Vision, VDMA, Wacker Chemie, WEA Systec, and Woco.  

The event also provided the opportunity to know the new Maplan headquarters and machinery production, inaugurated on September 1, 2016. A guided tour permitted to familiarize with the details of the new company’s production concept.

And, last but not least, an evening event with dinner, on May 31, was organized inside the beautiful Belvedere palace and museum, in Vienna.

“Ergonomic” machines now also with "wide platens”

At the Maplan "ergonomic" machines, characterized by a vertical clamping unit and a vertical top injecting FIFO-plasticizing unit, the term "ergonomic" stands for a technical solution to minimize the operating height, which has been patented 13 years ago. For this purpose, the central pressure cushion column of the clamping unit has divided into two functional units, of which one part is laterally driven out of the clamping unit at each mould opening. This means that the lower machine plate can always be lowered into the ergonomically favourable operating position.

Further to the trend towards increasing cavity numbers and the resulting tool dimensions, but also to provide more access space for automation devices or media connections, Maplan now offers the MTF 460 ergonomic model in an additional version with enlarged machine plates. That “wide platen”-version provides a maximum heating platen surface of 890x950 mm, compared to 710x800 mm for the standard version of the MTF 460ergonomic.

The "ergonomic"-machines are available in the clamping force range from 4600 to 9000 kN, with all the equipment options of the standard vertical machines. In addition, they can optionally also be equipped with a direct-acting, hydraulic central ejector without having to make any concessions to the operating height or the ejector stroke.

Product offering for 2K rubber injection moulding expanded

Based on the growing demand for two-component rubber mouldings, the Austrian machinery manufacturer has been expanding its range of double-station injection moulding machines for around 10 years. The product range extends from combinations with vertical and horizontal injection units to special solutions with two side injection units or two parallel top-injection units. The latter assumes an unrivalled position in the comparison of competition. It provides two-component capability at almost the same dimensions as a standard one-component machine. The aggregate-combinations are available in a wide range of injection volumes.

For the sequence control of the 2-component process, the new machine control Maplan C6000.web offers an intuitively programmable process sequence. As with single-component machines, the “Cure” software for heating-time optimization is also available as an option for two-component injection moulding.

New vertical machines for the TPE-processing

Since the exhibition DKT 2015, Maplan has been offering injection units for processing thermoplastic materials, developed and manufactured in-house, in combination with vertical C-frame machines. As the new machine series is targeting the market segment of TPE-mouldings and the TPE-profile connection the machine type range was continually expanded. Hence the Maplan TPE injection units are also available for the application in two-component injection moulding machines.

All clamping units have an ergonomically favourable operating height of only 900 mm above floor level. The injection unit is attached to the movable tool clamping plate and moved with it relative to the fixed clamp platen.

The screw rotation is directly driven by means of a servo electric motor. The injection movement is hydraulically operated. That hybrid concept reduces the energy consumption, the noise emission and thus fits into the specific Maplan “Cooldrive” concept of the entire machine.

A practical and unrivalled detail of the TPE injection unit is its lateral pivotability. This allows a simple exchange of the screw for a rapid material or colour change without having to remove the plasticizing cylinder by means of a lifting gear.

In the machine conception, the focus was on a maximally compact "one-piece" configuration, i.e. the machine is mounted together with hydraulics and electrics/electronics on a common base frame, which eases both manipulation during transport and positioning at the site. The compact footprint also minimizes the required floor space. It is less than 2 square meters for all TPE C-frame machines.

Quality machines for China

To meet the Chinese growing demand for quality machines, Maplan is launching the first branch for elastomer injection moulding machines outside Austria in the third quarter of 2017 at the Wujin/Changzhou site in the PRC. To this end, an independent subsidiary was established in early 2017 under the name “Maplan (Changzhou) Rubber Machinery”. The company is headed by Deven Lokagariwar, a machine engineer with many years of experience in the rubber industry.

In Wujin, machines for the Chinese market will be produced on a production area of 3,300 square meters. Through a similar plant layout, as in the new Austrian headquarters, it offers potential for up to 200 machines per year. All employees have a proven long-term experience in mechanical engineering. The machines built for the Chinese market will meet the European factory specifications with respect to the range of options and the available special equipment. The production will be launched with vertical machines with 250 and 400 t clamping force. The first four machines are currently under construction.

About Maplan and next Days of Technology

Founded in 1970, Maplan currently employs 200 employees (around 250 people worldwide), producing over 300 elastomer injection moulding machines per year in the clamping force range of 15 to 1,200 tons and an injection volume of 10 to 30,000 cc. The export share is 99 per cent. In addition to its production location in Austria, the company is represented with service and sales branches in more than 60 countries worldwide.

Next Maplan Days of Technology will be organize in 2020 for the fiftieth Anniversary of the company and the management expects at least 600 participants and an event much bigger than in 2017.