Machine manufacturer Boy will be represented at the upcoming trade show with a total of 13 machines: six injection moulding machines at its booth and seven others at the booths of partner companies. The focus will be on the sustainable use of plastics, including the processing of material with a high recycled content. The company is demonstrating the processing of bio-based and sustainable materials in some of its prepared applications.
Also on show: the company’s new sprue separator. While efficient processes and short lead times are vital in plastics processing operations, sprue removal often remains a bottleneck. Removing sprues often means the loss of valuable time. With increasing automation, sprue pickers are often used to remove the sprue directly from the injection mould with gripping pliers. But this process step also costs cycle time – about 1.25 seconds each time, since the new cycle can only start once the picker has moved out of the mould area. In order to further advance automation and increase productivity, the Köln-based plastics specialist igus has developed a compact sprue separator suitable for BOY XS and BOY XS E injection moulding machines. With this automation solution, articles and sprues are separated from each other directly at the machine - without extending the cycle time.The sprue separator is positioned under the ejection chute. From there, the injection-moulded parts fall onto a separator which is a rotating disc. An integrated camera detects the sprues on the separator and a gantry robot picks them up with a gripper. If the sprue and the article still have to be separated from each other, the article is separated by a device and falls into a box, while the sprues are ejected separately. Meanwhile, the injection moulding machines can continue production without any restrictions.
In another interesting exhibit, Boy is also demonstrating a BOY 35 E that is supplied directly by a DC network. Calling the energy transformation ‘one of the global challenges which every company can contribute to’, Boy is showing how a PV system can provide the direct, renewable energy needed to power a press. Using direct DC networks without transformation to AC-power offers many advantages for injection moulders, the company claims, including lower losses due to conversion; reduction in wire cross-sections and the number of wires; reactive power-free operation of the machines; elimination of interference filters; and better utilisation of braking energy.