Spanish automotive parts maker Maier has signed a partnership deal with the Indian industrial firm UM Group creating a joint production company in India.
Under the agreement, the Basque Country plastics processor, part of one of the globe’s biggest cooperative groups Corporación Mondragon, will create a jointly owned business Alpha Maier with its new partner.
The joint venture is to invest more than 5m to supply decorated plastic assemblies and parts to the automotive sector in India. Already, the enterprise has projects to start supplying Maruti Suzuki, one of the biggest car builders in the sub continent, according to Maier.
Alpha Maier aims to win further supply contracts from other global vehicle manufacturers such as General Motors, Honda, Peugeot-Citroen and Nissan with whom Maier does business in Europe.
This year, the new venture intends to create around 90 jobs and expects to achieve sales worth more than 4m. Alpha Maier intends to consolidate its position as a reference supplier in the Indian market which is set to grow rapidly in the coming years, said Maier.
Maier’s project is the second such Asian alliance announced by a subsidiary cooperative of the Mondragon group in the past six months. Last Autumn, Citautxo which designs and makes plastic and rubber car parts and assemblies agreed to take a 50% stake in the Pune business of Indian pipe and hose producer Taurus Flexibles Pvt. Ltd. of Jharkhand
The automotive division of UM Group, which is a diversified industrial business, makes a range of products such as car rear-view mirrors, horns and instruments with printed circuit boards. The Indian group also serves other sectors such as energy and equipment for electricity distribution.
Maier, an injection moulder and mould maker, is based in Ajangiz in the Basque Country and already operates five production plants. These include units in northern Spain in Gernika; in Iraizotz-Ultzama in the Navarre region; Maier Ferroplast near Vigo; at Attwood in the English West Midlands and in Prostejov in the Czech Republic. Maier has other strategic alliances in Turkey and Japan.
Its products include interior and exterior components such as front grilles, wheel covers, dashboard fascias, handles and trim. It also makes parts for domestic appliances.
Maier also has a technology centre in Ajangiz, Spain where it specialises in developing plastics technologies for the automotive sector. In 2011 Maier expected to achieve a turnover of 210m in 2011.
The annual group sales of all Corporación Mondragon’s industrial and retail businesses amounts to more than 13.82bn. Eighty five per cent of its 83,000 employees worldwide are worker-members of the democratically run industrial cooperative group.
2012年1月18日星期三
2011年10月27日星期四
Patterns and Moulds Ltd exhibits at The Composites Engineering Show 2011
On the Patterns & Moulds stand visitors will be able to see CNC machined patterns and mould parts finished to varying levels, and learn about projects the company has recently completed for customers in the composites, marine and automotive industries.
Patterns & Moulds uses the Solidworks and Mastercam CAD/CAM design software. The company, located in Leicestershire, UK, has expertise in the production techniques needed to accurately fabricate a wide range of modelling and tooling products, from CNC machined tooled timber, MDF, modelling and tooling boards, through to polyester and epoxy-based seamless modelling pastes.
All glass reinforced plastic (GRP) moulds are manufactured in house and come with either timber or steel support frames which are fully bonded into the body of the moulds for added strength and rigidity. All split GRP moulds have a joggle joint feature to perfectly re-align mould sections back together.
“We are an independent, family owned business with a dedicated and incredibly loyal, long serving skilled workforce," says managing director George Lucas.
"We provide an end-to-end service for all mould-making needs. The team prides itself on being flexible, reliable and consistently supplying customers a quality product on time and to budget. To stay abreast of latest developments and techniques, we investment year on year in staff training and our facilities to ensure we maintain modern, up to date equipment and techniques.”
Patterns & Moulds uses the Solidworks and Mastercam CAD/CAM design software. The company, located in Leicestershire, UK, has expertise in the production techniques needed to accurately fabricate a wide range of modelling and tooling products, from CNC machined tooled timber, MDF, modelling and tooling boards, through to polyester and epoxy-based seamless modelling pastes.
All glass reinforced plastic (GRP) moulds are manufactured in house and come with either timber or steel support frames which are fully bonded into the body of the moulds for added strength and rigidity. All split GRP moulds have a joggle joint feature to perfectly re-align mould sections back together.
“We are an independent, family owned business with a dedicated and incredibly loyal, long serving skilled workforce," says managing director George Lucas.
"We provide an end-to-end service for all mould-making needs. The team prides itself on being flexible, reliable and consistently supplying customers a quality product on time and to budget. To stay abreast of latest developments and techniques, we investment year on year in staff training and our facilities to ensure we maintain modern, up to date equipment and techniques.”
2011年10月24日星期一
Chemical in food packaging may be linked to behavioural problems in girls
A chemical found in food and drink packaging, called bisphenol A (BPA), may be linked to behavioural problems in girls, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.
The researchers studied 244 pregnant women living in the USA. Urine samples were collected from the women twice during pregnancy at 16 weeks and 26 weeks, and then again 24 hours after the women had given birth. Further urine samples were also collected from the children at one, two and three years of age. When the children were aged three, the parents completed two questionnaires about their child’s behaviour.
Researchers found that pregnant women who had high levels of BPA in their urine were more likely to have daughters who were more anxious, prone to depression or hyperactive than those who had low levels of BPA. No such link was found among women who gave birth to boys.
BPA is a chemical commonly found in the lining of tin cans, plastic bottles and other food or drink packaging. The researchers suggest that BPA may affect how hormones and other chemicals in the brain work.
Dr Layla McCay, Assistant Medical Director, Bupa, commented: “It’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions from a small study such as this. There is still much research that needs to be done to determine if this chemical really has any effect on children’s behavioural development.
“This study only looked at a small number of mainly Caucasian pregnant women from Ohio in the USA. We therefore don’t know whether these results can be generalised to other populations. It’s also important to note that these behavioural problems were not clinically diagnosed by doctors – parents simply completed two questionnaires about their child’s behaviour.
“Considering that we don’t know if there is, in fact, a cause and effect in this study, the results are not clear enough to recommend any particular changes to how we package food or how this might affect women’s diet during pregnancy. What we do know is that maintaining a healthy diet during pregnancy is a great way to help keep mother and baby well.”
This study didn’t take into account many of the other factors relating to lifestyle that could have affected the results. The researchers also didn’t follow up the children as they got older, when many of these behavioural effects may not have been so obvious.
The researchers studied 244 pregnant women living in the USA. Urine samples were collected from the women twice during pregnancy at 16 weeks and 26 weeks, and then again 24 hours after the women had given birth. Further urine samples were also collected from the children at one, two and three years of age. When the children were aged three, the parents completed two questionnaires about their child’s behaviour.
Researchers found that pregnant women who had high levels of BPA in their urine were more likely to have daughters who were more anxious, prone to depression or hyperactive than those who had low levels of BPA. No such link was found among women who gave birth to boys.
BPA is a chemical commonly found in the lining of tin cans, plastic bottles and other food or drink packaging. The researchers suggest that BPA may affect how hormones and other chemicals in the brain work.
Dr Layla McCay, Assistant Medical Director, Bupa, commented: “It’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions from a small study such as this. There is still much research that needs to be done to determine if this chemical really has any effect on children’s behavioural development.
“This study only looked at a small number of mainly Caucasian pregnant women from Ohio in the USA. We therefore don’t know whether these results can be generalised to other populations. It’s also important to note that these behavioural problems were not clinically diagnosed by doctors – parents simply completed two questionnaires about their child’s behaviour.
“Considering that we don’t know if there is, in fact, a cause and effect in this study, the results are not clear enough to recommend any particular changes to how we package food or how this might affect women’s diet during pregnancy. What we do know is that maintaining a healthy diet during pregnancy is a great way to help keep mother and baby well.”
This study didn’t take into account many of the other factors relating to lifestyle that could have affected the results. The researchers also didn’t follow up the children as they got older, when many of these behavioural effects may not have been so obvious.
2011年10月20日星期四
LANXESS invests in fibre reinforced thermoplastics
“In view of the trend towards lightweight electric cars and lightweight, fuel-saving motor vehicles, we are concentrating intensively on nylon composite sheet hybrid technology based on polyamide," explains Hartwig Meier, head of Product and Applications Development in the Semi-Crystalline Products business unit at LANXESS.
This technology is based on thin sheets of fibre reinforced plastic that can be pressed into shapes, just like thin metal plates. When these are combined with ribbing and struts made of polyamide, the resulting material can be used to make components whose strength is similar to that of hybrid parts made of metal and plastic, but which are even lighter.
"Compared to pure metal, or metal/plastic hybrid designs, this technology offers great potential for saving on component weight,” Meier confirms.
LANXESS's expertise builds in part on the plastic/metal hybrid technology used to fabricate, for example, front ends, brake pedals and pedal brackets. The company reports that hybrid components are usually 20-30% lighter than their pure steel counterparts while offering the same performance. Even more weight can be eliminated if the sheet metal is replaced by lightweight polyamide (PA) nylon composite sheet reinforced with continuous fibres. This cuts component weight by another 10% over aluminium hybrid designs.
“We see great potential for nylon composite sheet hybrid technology in the production of door sills, B pillars and seat cross-members,” Meier says.
LANXESS says it can now simulate all the process steps in nylon composite sheet hybrid technology.
“Now we can not only calculate locally varying fibre alignments in a moulded nylon composite sheet, we can also determine when multiple folds will form during shaping, how the semi-finished product is best positioned in the mould and the limit conditions for thermoforming,” Meier explains.
This technology is based on thin sheets of fibre reinforced plastic that can be pressed into shapes, just like thin metal plates. When these are combined with ribbing and struts made of polyamide, the resulting material can be used to make components whose strength is similar to that of hybrid parts made of metal and plastic, but which are even lighter.
"Compared to pure metal, or metal/plastic hybrid designs, this technology offers great potential for saving on component weight,” Meier confirms.
LANXESS's expertise builds in part on the plastic/metal hybrid technology used to fabricate, for example, front ends, brake pedals and pedal brackets. The company reports that hybrid components are usually 20-30% lighter than their pure steel counterparts while offering the same performance. Even more weight can be eliminated if the sheet metal is replaced by lightweight polyamide (PA) nylon composite sheet reinforced with continuous fibres. This cuts component weight by another 10% over aluminium hybrid designs.
“We see great potential for nylon composite sheet hybrid technology in the production of door sills, B pillars and seat cross-members,” Meier says.
LANXESS says it can now simulate all the process steps in nylon composite sheet hybrid technology.
“Now we can not only calculate locally varying fibre alignments in a moulded nylon composite sheet, we can also determine when multiple folds will form during shaping, how the semi-finished product is best positioned in the mould and the limit conditions for thermoforming,” Meier explains.
2011年10月12日星期三
Acrylic eyes for little Zain is a blessing says mother
Rola Al Dalo discovered just two days after giving birth to her daughter why her baby never opened her eyes.
"She would keep them closed all the time and I couldn't understand why," said Ms Al Dalo, from the Palestinian Territories.
It was not until little Zain finally opened her eyelids that her mother realised her daughter had been born without visible eyes.
Zain has microphthalmia, a rare genetic birth defect where a child is born with underdeveloped eyeballs.
Now 20 months old, she has undergone 13 procedures in Gaza and Jerusalem, nine of which were surgeries.
Zain was fitted with plastic eyes in the Palestinian Territories, but there were no facilities available to develop eyes that looked real.
During summer last year, Ms Al Dalo contacted the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), and Zain was one of five children chosen to have treatment in the UAE.
Last week, mother and daughter made their way to Dubai. And yesterday, just before World Sight Day today, Zain was at Moorfields Eye Hospital being fitted for acrylic eyes.
"The plastic eyes that she was fitted with [in the Palestinian Territories] were too small," said Dr Andrea Sciscio, Zain's doctor and a consultant oculoplastic surgeon at Moorfields. "So we needed to take a mould of her eye sockets to ensure that her new pair of eyes are an appropriate size."
Lana Suleiman also made the trip from the territories for treatment. After the little girl was born, her mother, Iman Suleiman, looked into her eyes and noticed something curious.
"One eye was green and the other was blue," Ms Suleiman said. "They just didn't look natural."
After consulting a doctor in Gaza, she was told Lana had glaucoma, which was triggered by high blood pressure, and had low vision.
This year Lana, 2, received a corneal transplant. The surgery improved the vision in her right eye and there were plans to repeat the procedure on her left.
But a complication occurred.
"A virus erupted in her right eye and the infection was progressing so quickly that the doctors could not handle it," Ms Suleiman said. "Suddenly our priority shifted from treating the left eye to saving her right."
Within weeks, Lana lost all colour, pigmentation and vision in her right eye. Ms Suleiman appealed to the PCRF for assistance. The decision was made to place an opaque contact lens painted to resemble a natural eye on Lana's right eye.
Yesterday, doctors made moulds of Zain's sockets and the surface of Lana's eye.
"The process is cold and unpleasant but not painful," said Dr Paul Geelen, an ocularist at the hospital. "The paste for the impression is applied with a syringe. This usually frightens the children, which is why we used a quick anaesthetic."
Both prosthetics must be replaced as the girls age. The doctors will provide the girls with a series of lenses and acrylics that can be used as they grow.
Despite their vision problems, the girls remain playful and in good spirits.
After waking from the anaesthesia, Lana quietly lay on her mother's lap. Zain smiled and waved goodbye to the doctors.
"It truly is a blessing," Ms Suleiman said. "All I want is to see my daughter happy and healthy, and everything else will fall into place."
"She would keep them closed all the time and I couldn't understand why," said Ms Al Dalo, from the Palestinian Territories.
It was not until little Zain finally opened her eyelids that her mother realised her daughter had been born without visible eyes.
Zain has microphthalmia, a rare genetic birth defect where a child is born with underdeveloped eyeballs.
Now 20 months old, she has undergone 13 procedures in Gaza and Jerusalem, nine of which were surgeries.
Zain was fitted with plastic eyes in the Palestinian Territories, but there were no facilities available to develop eyes that looked real.
During summer last year, Ms Al Dalo contacted the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), and Zain was one of five children chosen to have treatment in the UAE.
Last week, mother and daughter made their way to Dubai. And yesterday, just before World Sight Day today, Zain was at Moorfields Eye Hospital being fitted for acrylic eyes.
"The plastic eyes that she was fitted with [in the Palestinian Territories] were too small," said Dr Andrea Sciscio, Zain's doctor and a consultant oculoplastic surgeon at Moorfields. "So we needed to take a mould of her eye sockets to ensure that her new pair of eyes are an appropriate size."
Lana Suleiman also made the trip from the territories for treatment. After the little girl was born, her mother, Iman Suleiman, looked into her eyes and noticed something curious.
"One eye was green and the other was blue," Ms Suleiman said. "They just didn't look natural."
After consulting a doctor in Gaza, she was told Lana had glaucoma, which was triggered by high blood pressure, and had low vision.
This year Lana, 2, received a corneal transplant. The surgery improved the vision in her right eye and there were plans to repeat the procedure on her left.
But a complication occurred.
"A virus erupted in her right eye and the infection was progressing so quickly that the doctors could not handle it," Ms Suleiman said. "Suddenly our priority shifted from treating the left eye to saving her right."
Within weeks, Lana lost all colour, pigmentation and vision in her right eye. Ms Suleiman appealed to the PCRF for assistance. The decision was made to place an opaque contact lens painted to resemble a natural eye on Lana's right eye.
Yesterday, doctors made moulds of Zain's sockets and the surface of Lana's eye.
"The process is cold and unpleasant but not painful," said Dr Paul Geelen, an ocularist at the hospital. "The paste for the impression is applied with a syringe. This usually frightens the children, which is why we used a quick anaesthetic."
Both prosthetics must be replaced as the girls age. The doctors will provide the girls with a series of lenses and acrylics that can be used as they grow.
Despite their vision problems, the girls remain playful and in good spirits.
After waking from the anaesthesia, Lana quietly lay on her mother's lap. Zain smiled and waved goodbye to the doctors.
"It truly is a blessing," Ms Suleiman said. "All I want is to see my daughter happy and healthy, and everything else will fall into place."
2011年9月8日星期四
3D printing machines
Imagine the day when you no longer purchase a chair in a shop or via a traditional online retailer but instead buy the design for the chair, created on a computer software package, via the internet. You would be able to customise this digital blueprint however you chose and then email the file to a local rapid-manufacturing store where the finished item would be produced, ready for collection. This futuristic scenario describes the potential of 3D printing, a form of the cutting-edge technology known as Additive Manufacturing.
'We are at a tipping point in history where profound and radical changes in how we make things will revolutionise our lives,’ the New York gallerist Murray Moss says. Moss is curating a show at the V&A which explores this technology. 'All the objects I’ve selected are key early examples of 3D printing,’ he explains. 'These are not “futuristic” objects but everyday items – lamps, chairs, tables, shoes, hats – produced today but signalling tomorrow’s processes.’ It is the first time any of these works has been exhibited in Britain and, in most cases, anywhere in the world.
So what is 3D printing and how does it work? The process is part of a group of rapid-manufacturing technologies that translate digital designs into objects that are 'printed off’, three-dimensionally, by a machine. In the same way that a domestic inkjet printer hovers over a sheet of paper placing ink on the page, the 3D printer adds layer upon layer of epoxy to build objects from the base up. Products are created with all the inside and outside parts complete. There is no assembly required.
'This technology has huge potential,’ the British designer Michael Eden says. His latest 3D-printed vessels will be shown by Adrian Sassoon at the Pavilion of Art & Design show in October. 'We’re on the brink of a new industrial revolution.’
One advantage of the process is its flexibility. Conventional mass manufacturing uses moulds to make identical components, and any deviation – in size or shape, for example – requires a new mould. This is an expensive process. But because 3D printing requires no mould, it costs no more to produce 100 different objects than it does to make 100 identical ones. This means that products can be generated for a mass audience, but customised for, or by, each user.
For designers, it is nothing short of revolutionary. The London-based studio BarberOsgerby uses 3D printing to make prototypes. 'It’s cost-effective, a tenth the cost of conventional tooling, and very fast,’ Jay Osgerby says. 'It’s a great way to visualise complex forms like our Olympic Torch design, whose 8,000 perforations would have been difficult to replicate during model-making.’
Eden says, 'It allows me to make objects that couldn’t be made in any other way. It removes the constraints of manufacturing because conventional tooling is irrelevant. You have complete freedom in terms of form and don’t have to consider how the design will be made.’ As the technology develops, it is likely to transform design, production, distribution and consumption in radical ways. If local, print-on-demand stores become commonplace, then the need for transportation and warehousing is eliminated, with knock-on effects for jobs and the environment.
Materialise also has an online division, i.Materialise, which offers a 3D printing service to anyone with a suitable design. But anyone interested in buying a personal 3D printer might contact Amsterdam-based Freedom of Creation, a product design company which earlier this year gave live 3D printing demonstrations at Wallpaper magazine’s Handmade 2 exhibition during the Milan Furniture Fair. Its 3D printers (£795 to £2,320) will print simple plastic objects such as trays, toys or jewellery up to about 275 x 27 x 210mm.
Home owners anticipating the day they can print furniture should heed Moss’s caveat, though. 'The machines used to make the objects in the V&A show are very complicated, hugely expensive, state-of-the-art equipment,’ he says. 'Mathias Bengtsson’s Cell chair, which we commissioned for the exhibition, took two weeks to produce in the machine and, according to Materialise, is the most advanced furniture piece printed to date.’
Still, the technology is sparking wonderfully innovative ideas. A 3D printer developed by Exeter University researchers uses chocolate instead of resin; Markus Kayser’s Solar Sinter project employing a 3D printing process that combines natural energy (sunlight) and raw materials (sand) with hi-tech production technology to produce glass objects, was displayed a few months ago at the Royal College of Art 2011 graduate show.
'We are at a tipping point in history where profound and radical changes in how we make things will revolutionise our lives,’ the New York gallerist Murray Moss says. Moss is curating a show at the V&A which explores this technology. 'All the objects I’ve selected are key early examples of 3D printing,’ he explains. 'These are not “futuristic” objects but everyday items – lamps, chairs, tables, shoes, hats – produced today but signalling tomorrow’s processes.’ It is the first time any of these works has been exhibited in Britain and, in most cases, anywhere in the world.
So what is 3D printing and how does it work? The process is part of a group of rapid-manufacturing technologies that translate digital designs into objects that are 'printed off’, three-dimensionally, by a machine. In the same way that a domestic inkjet printer hovers over a sheet of paper placing ink on the page, the 3D printer adds layer upon layer of epoxy to build objects from the base up. Products are created with all the inside and outside parts complete. There is no assembly required.
'This technology has huge potential,’ the British designer Michael Eden says. His latest 3D-printed vessels will be shown by Adrian Sassoon at the Pavilion of Art & Design show in October. 'We’re on the brink of a new industrial revolution.’
One advantage of the process is its flexibility. Conventional mass manufacturing uses moulds to make identical components, and any deviation – in size or shape, for example – requires a new mould. This is an expensive process. But because 3D printing requires no mould, it costs no more to produce 100 different objects than it does to make 100 identical ones. This means that products can be generated for a mass audience, but customised for, or by, each user.
For designers, it is nothing short of revolutionary. The London-based studio BarberOsgerby uses 3D printing to make prototypes. 'It’s cost-effective, a tenth the cost of conventional tooling, and very fast,’ Jay Osgerby says. 'It’s a great way to visualise complex forms like our Olympic Torch design, whose 8,000 perforations would have been difficult to replicate during model-making.’
Eden says, 'It allows me to make objects that couldn’t be made in any other way. It removes the constraints of manufacturing because conventional tooling is irrelevant. You have complete freedom in terms of form and don’t have to consider how the design will be made.’ As the technology develops, it is likely to transform design, production, distribution and consumption in radical ways. If local, print-on-demand stores become commonplace, then the need for transportation and warehousing is eliminated, with knock-on effects for jobs and the environment.
Materialise also has an online division, i.Materialise, which offers a 3D printing service to anyone with a suitable design. But anyone interested in buying a personal 3D printer might contact Amsterdam-based Freedom of Creation, a product design company which earlier this year gave live 3D printing demonstrations at Wallpaper magazine’s Handmade 2 exhibition during the Milan Furniture Fair. Its 3D printers (£795 to £2,320) will print simple plastic objects such as trays, toys or jewellery up to about 275 x 27 x 210mm.
Home owners anticipating the day they can print furniture should heed Moss’s caveat, though. 'The machines used to make the objects in the V&A show are very complicated, hugely expensive, state-of-the-art equipment,’ he says. 'Mathias Bengtsson’s Cell chair, which we commissioned for the exhibition, took two weeks to produce in the machine and, according to Materialise, is the most advanced furniture piece printed to date.’
Still, the technology is sparking wonderfully innovative ideas. A 3D printer developed by Exeter University researchers uses chocolate instead of resin; Markus Kayser’s Solar Sinter project employing a 3D printing process that combines natural energy (sunlight) and raw materials (sand) with hi-tech production technology to produce glass objects, was displayed a few months ago at the Royal College of Art 2011 graduate show.
2011年8月10日星期三
Agami makes song and dance about Roll N Blow
French firm Agami is promoting a "world exclusive", its Roll N Blow tubular thermoforming process. The technology uses extruded plastic sheet cut into strips that are rolled around a vertical pipe to form tubular lengths that are then welded longitudinally. Bottles are formed by heating the tubes and blowing them into a mould at pressure below 6 bar and temperature below 150ºC.
Agami says its process is suitable for single or multilayer bottles in plastics such as polystyrene, polypropylene, PLA and PET.
A four-track machine, shown at Interpack, offers production speeds of up to 7,000 bottles per hour, but equipment can be designed for speeds of 5,000 to 20,000 bottles/h.
The 100 to 500ml Roll N Blow bottles can be used for water, desserts, fruit juice and fresh dairy product contents. Yoghurt bottles offer particularly high potential. There are hygiene control benefits due to the small footprint of the Roll N Blow process equipment and its thermoforming temperature of 150ºC.
This process offers cost savings of between 30 and 50% for 100ml bottles compared with conventional extrusion blow moulding and preform-based injection stretch blow moulding.
The lower weight also results in reduced material cost, and transport, storage and handling logistics costs are reduced. Agami says one truckload of plastic sheet reels for the Roll N Blow process is equivalent to 25 trucks needed to supply empty bottles or five trucks to supply preforms. The company adds that electricity consumption is two to three times lower than with preform-based injection stretch blow moulding.
Having worked previously at packaging producer Tetra Pak and form-fill-seal line producer Arcil, Agami's CEO Stylianos Eleftheriou started the Roll N Blow project in 2007.
The equipment uses Rockwell Automation components for motion and automation. Six-axis motion is used to cut, form and create the bottles. Allen-Bradley servomotors are coupled with Kinetix servo drives and controlled by a CompactLogix PAC (programmable automation controller). Operator interaction and machine control takes place via an Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 1250 HMI control panel.
Agami says its process is suitable for single or multilayer bottles in plastics such as polystyrene, polypropylene, PLA and PET.
A four-track machine, shown at Interpack, offers production speeds of up to 7,000 bottles per hour, but equipment can be designed for speeds of 5,000 to 20,000 bottles/h.
The 100 to 500ml Roll N Blow bottles can be used for water, desserts, fruit juice and fresh dairy product contents. Yoghurt bottles offer particularly high potential. There are hygiene control benefits due to the small footprint of the Roll N Blow process equipment and its thermoforming temperature of 150ºC.
This process offers cost savings of between 30 and 50% for 100ml bottles compared with conventional extrusion blow moulding and preform-based injection stretch blow moulding.
The lower weight also results in reduced material cost, and transport, storage and handling logistics costs are reduced. Agami says one truckload of plastic sheet reels for the Roll N Blow process is equivalent to 25 trucks needed to supply empty bottles or five trucks to supply preforms. The company adds that electricity consumption is two to three times lower than with preform-based injection stretch blow moulding.
Having worked previously at packaging producer Tetra Pak and form-fill-seal line producer Arcil, Agami's CEO Stylianos Eleftheriou started the Roll N Blow project in 2007.
The equipment uses Rockwell Automation components for motion and automation. Six-axis motion is used to cut, form and create the bottles. Allen-Bradley servomotors are coupled with Kinetix servo drives and controlled by a CompactLogix PAC (programmable automation controller). Operator interaction and machine control takes place via an Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus 1250 HMI control panel.
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