I fond farewell to downstream finishing
In-mould decoration for automotive industry
Textile-decorated parts can now be manufactured
in one production stage without further downstream finishing. In cooperation
with the mould-maker Summerer Technik- und Vertriebs GmbH, Battenfeld has
recently launched its IMCmore technology, which is claimed to be an “all-in-one“
system, combining in-mould decorating, two-component injection moulding and
textile trimming in one comprehensive production step.
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| In-mould decorated B-column | Complete line with laser robot |
This in-mould decoration technique is said to be particularly
suitable for interior column and door claddings, car boot linings and cable
conduit covers. According to the company, it allows product developers to
meet some of the key criteria of the auto industry – that components
should be attractive, functional and customised. This process will offer significant
cost savings since excess decorative material can be trimmed directly inside
the mould, thus eliminating one of the production stages. With no down-stream
finishing required, the production cycle can be shortened. The production
cell has a small footprint and minimises waste of textile and plastic material.
In-mould decorated B-column
Here is the example of an in-mould decorated B-column which requires no downstream
finishing. First, the textile material is fed in from the roll via a special
conveyor belt and cut to length by a laser cutting unit. Then the material
is placed into the mould by a Unirob R 15 10-(9+9)-45 robot. A special device
inside the mould clamps the material into place during mould closure, ensuring
exact reproducibility of its position. Next, the material is in-mould decorated
with PP on an HM 3500/1900 + 130L B4, a hydraulic multi-colour machine with
an L injection unit. Finally, a sealing lip made of TPE is moulded on. Any
protruding decoration material is trimmed directly inside the mould by a special
cutting mechanism. Textile trimming is completed inside the mould while the
mould remains closed and under clamping pressure. The result is an in-mould
decorated B-column with moulded-on sealing lip, ready to install without any
further downstream finishing.
Flexible textile cutting
As well as mould technology, another essential feature of this production
cell is its flexibility in textile cutting, with optimised exploitation of
the material’s full width, by using a laser system automated with a robot.
With its specialised gripper system the robot picks up the textile cuttings
from the cutting table, passing them to the insertion gripper via an intermediary
station. It also disposes of textile trimmings and sprue from the soft component,
separating these from the finished parts.
The combination of a textile feeding belt with a laser robot has been specially
developed for flexible textile feeding with a minimum of waste. The cut lengths
fed from the roll and the positioning of material cutting carried out by the
robot can be freely programmed. There are some optional extras available,
for instance a belt cleaning device to prevent soiling of the sensitive material
surfaces, and a fault detector with automatic reject disposal.
The laser robot is capable of additional customised punching or trimming of
the finished textile-decorated components. Almost every type of plastic material
can be processed, as well as all kinds of textiles, with excellent cutting
quality and high processing speed. The robot’s high speed ensures optimised
exploitation of the line capacity even with a two-cavity mould.
The Robocut A 300 is a high-performance appliance consisting of an ABB IRB4400
robot and a laser axle. The integration of the laser tube and the HF power
supply into the robot protects the HF cable from mechanical damage, and the
diode laser, which is also integrated, facilitates focussing of the beam.
Through variable settings of the laser power from 100 W to 600 W the performance
can be optimised to suit each task, thus providing reliable and cost-efficient
solutions to all cutting applications. For example 100 W is sufficient for
cutting the textile material, while punching or trimming finished components
requires 300 W.
More speed, precision, forces and yet smaller
In a number of machine components of the HM series Battenfeld made some improvements
like larger clamping cylinders, which increases their closing and opening
forces. A re-circulating system has been fitted to accelerate closing and
opening speeds. A new moving platen support, mechanical pre-positioning and
an innovative damped locking mechanism have improved the machine’s precision
and speed. Mould heights and opening strokes have also been increased. Moreover,
through the installation of a modified mould height adjustment mechanism,
the machine’s footprint has been reduced by a maximum of 10% compared
with previous models, depending on the size of the machine. By using injection
units similar to those of the TM series injection speed and injection pressure
have both been increased. HM’s equipped with all of these new features
are currently available in the clamping force range from 2100 to 4500 kN.
In order to achieve the necessary low cavity pressure, in-mould decoration
often involves cascade injection moulding, that is sequential mould filling
via several hot runner nozzles, and injection compression moulding. The HM
series can meet these special requirements by using advanced DFEE servo-hydraulics
as well as controlling the injection pressure, holding pressure and back pressure
via the Unilog B4 control system. The HM hydraulic clamping system works with
a reproducible compression stroke which can operate with high precision at
any required speed.
www.battenfeld.de
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| HM-series in action (photos: Battenfeld) |