Battenfeld launches new ‘MicroPower’ injection moulding machines
Wittmann Battenfeld, headquartered in Kottingbrunn, Austria, has been a leader in micro injection moulding machines since the introduction of its Microsystem 50 in 1998. The company has now completely redeveloped a new micro injection moulding machine within the MicroPower brand.
Fig. 1 Front view of the MicroPower 15 injection moulding machine
The company claims that MicroPower machines outperform their predecessors as well as competing systems by offering a high degree of cost-efficiency, precision, flexibility and energy-efficiency. The two all-electric models of the series with 5t and 15t clamping force lend themselves to a considerably extended field of application. On each of the machines, a latest-generation injection unit with a shot volume of 1 or 3 cm³ can be used.
The company also indicates that MicroPower’s processing ability is not restricted to micro parts, and that thanks to the increase in clamping force and shot volume, the machine can produce “larger” parts or accommodate moulds with a larger number of cavities.
The highly functional basic model of MicroPower serves as the basis for a highly accurate, extremely fast all-electric injection moulding machine. The moulded parts can either just drop down through the ejection chute or be removed by a handling device. The generous free space around the clamping unit offers enough room even for bulky tooling.
In order to offer customers a significant additional benefit, the machine concept has been laid out to accommodate possible downstream manufacturing steps by easy connection of additional modules with various functions. This includes, for example, fully automatic quality monitoring or packaging of parts, either individually or in bulk. Even complex parts, such as insert-moulded or multi-component parts, can thus be manufactured without any problems and at low cost, state Battenfeld.
Fig. 2 Cross-section of the MicroPower injection unit
In the area of automation, a special robot for handling small parts has been developed. The Vertikal-SCARA W8VS2 robot, driven by three servo motors, is able to remove and further process micro parts with high dynamics and accuracy. Here, special attention has been paid to complex tasks such as insert and insert-moulding technologies.
The UNILOG B6 control system, facilitating the operation of injection moulding machines together with all integrated peripheral equipment, is now available for all fully electric machine series, from the smallest to the largest model. Operation and control of the injection moulding machine and all integrated peripheral equipment can be learned very quickly and intuitively.
The injection unit of the MicroPower is capable of injecting thermally homogeneous melt with minimal flow lengths. The injection aggregate allows processing of all materials suitable for injection moulding up to a volume of 3 cm³ and feeding of all commonly used standard granulate sizes.
Apart from the unique high quality of moulded components, the main benefit of MicroPower is its cost-efficiency. Thanks to shorter cycle times as well as lower material and energy consumption, cost savings of about 30 to 50 % can be realised compared to conventional machines.
