Sandretto UK and Ireland supply Injection Moulding Machines, robots and ancillary equipment for use in manufacturing horticultural products. This includes products such as flower pots.
Click on our story below to read more about how our clients make use of Sandretto products:
Plantpak
Mach: a "Record" Performance
When choosing an injection moulding machine, especially high speed machines, cycle time, energy consumption and safety do represent profitability elements. The results obtained with the new generation of injection moulding machines - the Mach machines from Sandretto-Metalmeccanica - carried away a Dutch moulder to a point that he defined the Mach line a "special series”.
When Plantpak - an important Dutch moulder of garden items - was seeking a new, high speed injection moulding machine for moulding flower-pots, one of the aspects of primary importance was the machine cycle time which was to be better, even though slightly, than current 5.8 seconds and with 3 sec. cooling time.
This performance was achieved through a Mach 200/860 which, tested at Sandretto's factory of Collegno, in the presence of the customer, was able to mould 4-litre, 21 cm diameter, 90 g polypropylene pots with 5.1 sec cycle time and equal cooling time. Better results were even reached with 4.1 sec cycle time and 2 sec. cooling time.
“Enrapturing results” says Bennie Jansen – Project Manager of Plantpak – also supported by significant energy consumption which, compared to the previous Mach Series, has been cut to a half: 0.62 kWh/kg.
“But even more surprising” states Jansen “is the optimum safety of the mould clamp, which was difficult to reach with high speed machines used for this application up to now”.
“ When I saw it in operation, I couldn't do anything but congratulate Sandretto-Metalmeccanica technologists for this machine”
They were able to demonstrate how traditional solutions adopted for the safety of mould clamp, which limit pressure to the piston, are totally unsuited because of kinematics and inertia of the clamping system.
The study made by Sandretto-Metalmeccanica technical team does not only limit clamp pressure, it also continually watches the actual force exerted by the piston through a pressure transducer installed on each side of the piston itself. If this force exceeds the safety limit, the control system will instantly shut down the mould clamping stroke.
Reduced cycle times, energy consumption reduced to a half, safety of the mould clamp: three optimum reasons which make a Mach a "very special machine".
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