PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2015

MOULD MAKING 11 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 12/15 www.petpla.net “We manufacture the basic shape and do everything except hardening and coating – that is done externally, by a specialist contractor,” he continued. “These components are made from Premium material. We machine it round, put holes in it, send it out for specialist heat treatment, and then we wire EDM it in half. We grind out the thread to microns, with a ‘’propri- etary’’ coated wheel on a 100,000rpm spindle. These machines – the cutter and the “proprietary’’ coated wheel grinder – are two of the most impor- tant machines in the company.” The component is cut in half in order that it can open and allow the preform or fully blown package to be removed. R&D/Leverage also makes its own hot runner called Genesisi, which Tolley is particularly proud of. “We have seven patents on our hot runner, which is recognised in the industry as being probably the best-balanced, he said. “Because it’s linear, the material that comes into the mould wants to fill up the middle cavities first and the sides last, so you get imbalances. We have introduced a patented process and incorporated some adjustments that ensure a 90% balance – most of our competitors can get only circa 60% - and we can get even higher, by introducing fins into the melt flow. Achieving such high bal- ance levels makes everything further down the line easier to do.” Design All design is carried out on com- puter, primarily in 3D using Pro E, and manufactured with Edgecam. Before a design gets to the shop floor, it is checked to ensure that it can be machined and that there are no conflicts. It is then downloaded to the machine and put into production. When a part is finished it undergoes very close inspection. Tolley showed us an old-style shadow graph, which has been superseded by a CMM, coordi- nate measuring machine. There is also a latest-generation vision inspection camera and is extremely accurate. Moulding “We are planning to spend more money in the inspection area in the PSL but we are already pretty well R+D/Leverage Europe’s new Product Solutions Laboratory in Ashfield, Nottingham- shire, England. F.l.t.r.: Alan Tolley, MD of R+D/Leverage Europe, entertains PETplanet Insider’s Elisabeth M. Köpke and Ruari McCallion with an explanation of the company’s vali- dation process during a tour of the factory. Inside R+D/Leverage Europe’s Product solutions Laboratory.