Wittmann Innovation Continues to Drive Materials Handling
If constant product innovation is the key to moulder satisfaction, then the Wittmann Group is leading the way with its newly expanded materials handling and temperature control production facilities.
Last autumn’s Fakuma 2021 exhibition provided further ‘proof of the pudding’ with new products launched in the area of material drying and in new temperature controller units.
Wittmann Battenfeld UK Joint Managing Director Daniel Williams said: “This constant innovation from the group provides great benefits to our customers via our one-stop-shop in the UK and Ireland.
“Our SmartPower machines, for example, continue to win new fans, and we are increasingly adding key Wittmann materials handling technology into the mix. Equipment such as Gravimax, Feedmax, Tempro, and CARD is also gathering traction and new users with every passing year.”
Wittmann’s materials handling development facility – situated in Wolkersdorf, Lower Austria, since 2015 – has been responsible for developing the latest material dryer technology for the market.
The new compressed air dryers from the CARD series have been an integral part of the Wittmann product portfolio since 2020, and that range is now extended by two new additions – the CARD primus 10 and the CARD primus 20.
CARD primus appliances are offered as packaged materials handling solutions, each including a VacuJet material loader with delivery hose and suction lance as well as the actual compressed air dryer. Both of these versions were launched at the Fakuma 2021 show, and both come with drying silos of either 10 or 20L capacity and are suitable for temperatures of up to 200°C.
The desired drying temperature can be set via a touch screen operating panel on both appliances. At the end of the pre-drying phase, a signal is issued to release an automatic production start-up. The material drying data can be exported via a USB port or via OPC-UA.
Wittmann’s climate chamber facility at Wolkersdorf ensures that all dryers are exposed to extreme conditions helping to guarantee the build engineering and product longevity. The chamber offers a room completely insulated from the outside world and equipped with an ultra-modern air conditioning system. This can simulate an extremely wide range of ambient climatic conditions and to test entire drying systems.
Wittmann’s mould temperature controllers have been a vital part of plastics processing over the past 30 years; Wittmann has steadily designed and applied energy and cost-saving innovation to this technology. The injection moulding sector is wide and varied, and Wittmann recognises that different temperature controllers need to be designed for different kinds of injection moulding.
For example, the development of the new TEMPRO basic L120 – also launched at Fakuma 2021 – was prompted by a market need for the fast heating of large moulds while simultaneously providing a high cooling performance – thus optimising the cycle time for large parts.
As a result, the cooling function of the new TEMPRO basic L120 has taken the form of an extremely effective direct cooling system for the mould water. The new temperature controller now offers a maximum heating capacity of 36kW. This value ensures an optimal heating time for the mould from both the technical and the economical point of view.
The heat accumulated in the hot steel of the mould plus the additional heat input from the melt caused by the injection moulding process must then be extracted again from the mould circuit as fast as possible via the cooling channels. This is the only way to establish a homogeneous heat transfer inside the mould, which benefits the entire process.
Tracy Cadman, Wittmann Battenfeld UK Joint Managing Director, added: “Every piece of our materials handling systems portfolio has been designed with user needs in mind – either to save time, cost and energy but also to simplify all possible production factors.
“Our materials handling equipment is some of the most cost-competitive available today. We had a taste of some innovations last autumn, and we expect much more to be unveiled at the K exhibition in Düsseldorf, October 19-26, 2022.”
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