PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2020

MOULD MAKING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 09/20 www.petpla.net 22 OH Xtract – Maintenance interval cut from five hours to one Removing dust where it arises Otto Hofstetter AG is offering a new, integrated dust-evacuation solution. OH Xtract is a unique system that removes the PET dust particles directly in the hot runner, so that their spreading in both mould and machine is clearly reduced. The result is a four times longer maintenance interval, i.e. a considerable increase in production time. The prime objective of the engineers and designers of Otto Hofstetter AG is to achieve the maximum possible effi- ciency in manufactured moulds. It is not unusual to find many production plants of Otto Hofstetter AG customers around the world working at performance levels of more than 95%. The company’s R&D team has made yet another innovation available. OH Xtract is a specific dust evacuation for moulds used in the production of PET preforms. It is integrated directly in the mould and can be individually controlled by a timer, which makes resource-saving use possible. OH Xtract developed by the engi- neers of Otto Hofstetter AG acts where the dust particles are generated: in the hot runner. Thanks to extra vent bores in the head plate and an ingenious suc- tion system, the dust can be removed or minimised before it accumulates inside the hot runner. As a side effect, the dust does not spread to other parts of the mould or machine. This positive effect has been confirmed in comprehensive tests in full capacity production. Almost four times less maintenance The integrated dust evacuation of Otto Hofstetter AG means that a much higher number of cycles can be per- formed before the equipment needs cleaning. The concrete figures show how efficiently the system works. In the test run, production had to be interrupted for hot runner mainte- nance only after 10 million shots. This means that OH Xtract allowed produc- tion to run for 144 hours longer before a production stop for maintenance was required. On a 96-cavity mould with a 6s cycle time, this would result in 8,294,400 more preforms being produced during the same period. Savings The new development from Switzerland also allows for significant savings to be made. If multiplying the 144 hours that would be required for maintenance work by the industry standard costs of EUR 800 per hour of system downtime, the potential savings created by OH Xtract within the first 10 million cycles amount to EUR 115,200, as the company demonstrates. www.otto-hofstetter.swiss MOULD MAKING Maintenance interval with OH Xtract after 10 million cycles Maintenance interval without OH Xtract after 2 million cycles Dimensional and thickness measurements for plastic containers and preforms. • Repeatable • Accurate • Precise • Fast GAWiS D +1.724.482.2163 AGRINTL.COM SEE GAWIS4D IN ACTION