PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2010

PREFORM PRODUCTION 38 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 10/10 www.petpla.net good parts consistently in a mould is not as easy as it was several years ago. Lighter weights have allowed for faster cycles, but this has also increased the difficulty of moulding a quality part. Quality factors such as ovality, witness lines and gate quality are now more important than ever. The iPET approach: less means more Over the years, the engineering design of preform moulding efficiency has not changed significantly. The same philosophy of more water, more cavitation and more energy, all to make more parts per hour, dominated design criteria. The iPET technology, which was introduced by the company Mold-Masters in 2009, takes another approach. iPET has focused its atten- tion on engineering a mould that combines stack and hot runner design in order to obtain cycle and process advantages during preform produc- tion. Or in the company’s own words: less means more. iCool technology: the “conformal cooling” The patented technology called iCool, allows iPET moulds to cool more evenly and more efficiently. The use of “conformal cooling” technol- ogy allows preform moulds to run significantly faster in existing injection moulding machines while improv- ing the look of splitlines and ovality. According to the company, moulds with iCool technology require less than half the coolant flow compared to typical preform moulds and do not require mould cooling down to 7ºC. Conformal cooling provides much more uniform stack cooling and reduces the formation of cold and hot spots typically seen in areas of the preform mould that are difficult to cool using convention drilled lines. In addi- tion turbulent flow can be engineered into the inserts at much lower flow rates than generally is seen in these types of moulds. iCool cooling concept vs. con- ventional concept Melt channel comparison