Eight injection molded parts in one go
Rapid demolding of injection molded parts using an 8-fold gripper with Thermalon® vacuum cups
Time is money: In manufacturing, fast cycle times often provide a decisive cost advantage over competitors. To enable rapid demolding of injection-molded parts, we therefore opted for an 8-finger gripper with Thermalon® vacuum cups for one of our customers.
Customers in the automotive, heating, solar, and window industries, as well as the electronics sector, benefit from an efficient process chain that spans from planning to production. Our client’s portfolio includes the development, design, simulation, prototyping, and production of injection molds weighing up to 19 tons. Fifteen state-of-the-art injection molding machines with clamping forces ranging from 50 to 1,500 tons produce parts made of thermoplastics.
The challenge in this project was to simultaneously remove and set down eight battery covers from a single injection mold. To achieve high output with the injection molding machine, very fast cycle times were required. Removing injection-molded parts using vacuum cups is a difficult process step.
In discussions with the customer, we determined that
“The requirements profile is ideal for our Thermalon® vacuum cups. This material mixture, which has been specially optimized for the plastics industry, is heat-resistant up to 160 °C and low-marking.”
We developed an 8-fold customized gripper with Thermalon® bellows vacuum cups that weighs less than 2.5 kg. This is a minor first, as only 4-fold tools had been used previously. With a cycle time of just 19.2 seconds from injection molding to part removal, up to 1 million parts can be produced per year. The pure removal time is 2 seconds.
“It was an absolute pleasure to work with FIPA, who responded quickly to our inquiry, worked diligently to ensure that this project ran smoothly, and was managed in a timely fashion,” said Niklas Franke, who is responsible for application technology at Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG. “The result was a highly effective, and cost-sensitive solution that successfully met our application technology requirements.”
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