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Electric Plastic Injection Molding Machine - Part 1I have the good fortune to work for a company that believes at least partially, in keeping our technology current in order stay competitive in our market. One of those things is investing in electric injection molding machine technology. This is not new technology any more as electric machines have now been around for quite a number of years, but as with any new technology, there have been numerous iterations of improvements and change since the time of their arrival on the scene for use in the injection molding market. Some of the earlier pioneers in the electric injection molding machine market are still the leaders in their field, such as Cincinnati, Toshiba, UBE, and Nigata, just to name a few, all of which sport all electric injection molding machines as part of their current repertoire. In the beginning, electric injection molding machines were limited to fairly small machine applications but as the servo technology required to drive them has improved, so has the size of the electric injection molding machine increased. All electric injection molding machines in the 50 – 500 ton range are still the most common sizes being purchased, but all electric machines in the 1000 ton plus range are also becoming more common place. One of the earlier options for a larger machine were a “hybrid option”, which involved the use of an electric injection unit and a hydraulic clamp unit. This was an option to start reaching into the 1500 ton plus range of injection molding machines. The thought behind this particular setup was and is that you get the control and repeatability of the electric injection unit, but give up the clamp and ejector preciseness that an all electric injection molding machine can and does provide. These machines still provide a big advantage over the “all hydraulic” machines in that the repeatability of the molding end of the machine (the injection unit) is drastically improved and is available in at least machine sizes of 1500 to 3000 ton by certain manufactures. I’m sure there are more, but two that I’m aware of that produce a “hybrid” are Cincinnati and Toshiba. One of the early and common failures of the electric injection molding machine lies within the servo motor capabilities themselves. Early on and partially due to the technology of the day, the machines produces were very prone to servo failures. The first all electric injection molding machines were built with servo’s that were too small the handle the large continuous loads that slower injection rates and higher pressures required. For manufacturers running the less viscous resins with faster fill times, this wasn’t much of an issue but for the higher viscosity resins in combination with slower fill times it was. Servo’s would commonly see peak amperages or over heat and alarm, causing the machines to drop cycle and have to be reset regularly.
Written by: WM8C, February 21st, 2007. Not for use without written permission
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