High-performance applications traditionally have been the domain of the packaging industry, but energy efficiency is also a trend in that sector. The new Engel (York, PA) e-speed 720 US injection molding machine, presented in North America for the first time at NPE2015 last week in Orlando, FL, brings those two worlds together. The new high-speed machine relies on the all-electric technology of the high-performance e-motion and e-cap series, uniting high injection speeds with maximum energy efficiency. 

The electric clamping unit of the 720-ton hybrid machine uses a new drive system. In order to avoid power peaks when short cycle times are combined with high clamping forces, a flywheel acts as an electrical power reserve. It stores braking energy from the platen movements and transfers this energy back to the motor when it is required for processes such as the re-acceleration of clamping movements. When storage capacity is reached, excess energy from the generator is fed back into the grid—not just converted into heat by braking resistance, which has been the case until now. This allows the Engel e-speed 720 US to run with a relatively low and constant connected load.

The inline injection unit's high injection dynamics and electric plasticizing drive enable injection speeds of up to 800 mm per second.

In addition, an especially long opening stroke allows the new high-speed machine to work with large stack molds. An Engel e-speed 720/90 US with a 4+4-cavity mold from StackTeck (Brampton, ON, Canada) produced 1.5-L containers at the show. Thanks to high-speed automation from CBW Automation (Fort Collins, CO), the containers are removed from the mold in a mere 0.5 seconds.