36 Event review PETplanet Insider Vol. 25 No. 11/24 www.petpla.net New hot runner systems, controllers and more Mold-Masters, a well-known supplier of hot runners, controllers, auxiliary injection, and co-injection systems, showcased its latest products at Fakuma 2024. These included hot runner systems, temperature and motion controllers, an auxiliary injection unit, a gate seal, and sustainable processing solutions. The new hot runner systems include the Fusion Series G3 and the EcoOne-Series. The Fusion Series G3 hot runner system comes pre-assembled and features new enhancements to optimise mould design, simplify installation, minimise downtime, and enhance overall performance. These include system installation at room temperature; reduced nozzle bore cut-outs; compound nozzles; a heated nozzle flange; compact quick release actuators; and waterless actuators featuring passive actuator cooling technology. The system on display also featured the company’s Servo Electric Valve Gate (SeVG+) system which is claimed to provide superior process control for demanding applications. It is a servo driven actuation system that provides control and precision over individual valve pin opening and closing profiles. The SeVG+ servo motor offers a compact 114mm height that minimises stack height and simplifies mould designs. The EcoOne-Series 1-16 drop hot runner system is claimed to be an economical, standardised solution suitable for processing commodity resins for simple, cost-sensitive applications. Hot runner temperature controller and mould motion controller Also on display was the new TempMaster M4 hot runner temperature controller and the M-Ax mould motion controller. The TempMaster M4 features Mold-Masters’ new HR-Connect technology, which eliminates conventional mould thermocouple and power cables and replaces them with a single cable connecting the mould to the control head unit. Featuring a new Mold Direct Mount design, the TempMaster M4 sets a new standard for temperature controller design, says Mold-Masters. The next-generation M-Ax mould motion controller features a simplified user interface with special features, including pre-programmed mode functions and energy and torque monitoring. Energy monitoring al lows moulders to measure and track the energy consumption of their motion controls, while torque monitoring can be used for a variety of purposes as determined by the user. Auxiliary injection unit Additional products featured at the show included the company’s E-Multi product line of auxiliary injection units, which now includes the E-Multi mini. A compact, lightweight unit designed for small shot weights, the E-Multi mini is affixed to the mould and can be mounted in nearly any orientation. It also has a pivoting hopper that can move from left to right to accommodate challenging installation positions and is available with a wireless display tablet interface. Gate seal The Sprint Apex gate seal minimises flow lines, improving environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR) of CSD caps by up to 40% to support light weighting. It is also designed to enhance part quality, improve colour change by up to 65% and minimise maintenance costs by eliminating the insulation cap associated with other industry standard gate seal designs. Monitoring solution Mold-Masters SmartMold mould monitoring industry 4.0 solution now has more system connection options. There is a 4G cellular option which makes connecting to SmartMold’s cloud servers simpler and keeps the manufacturing plants network separate. In addition, the company offers a local configuration set-up where data is driven directly into the facilities own ERP and MES systems. In this local configuration the cloud servers are avoided entirely, and data does not leave the facility. Co-injection multi-layer systems The company’s various processing solutions for bio-resins and recycled materials, was also on display at the booth. For example, Mold-Masters’ co-injection multi-layer systems maximise the use of recycled content. The technology allows moulders to incorporate recycled content up to 50% of total part weight as the core layer positioned between two layers of virgin resin to maintain the aesthetic look of virgin resin. The co-injection technology is compatible with small to large packaging products and a range of other applications. Mold-Masters offers both complete system solutions and a retrofit package to convert conventional single shot injection machines to co-injection. Single stage hot runner system For the specific needs of single-stage PET bottle manufacturers looking to modernise production, Mold-Masters presented theAxiom TG hot runner system. Designed as an economical, direct replacement for outdated hot runner systems, Axiom TG integrates Mold-Masters’ proven iFlow manifold technology, along with a new nozzle design and industry-standard gate seal construction. The iFlow technology ensures homogeneous melt delivery, improving bottle consistency by minimising temperature variations and reducing defects like wall thickness inconsistencies. Additionally, Axiom TG’s new thermallycontrolled nozzle design is claimed to provide precise, repeatable processing with individual temperature control and easy on-site maintenance, broadening the system’s processing window and reliability. This system is compatible with leading injection moulding machines and can be retrofitted. www.moldmasters.com Single stage hot runner system Axiom Co-injected solutions on display
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