Engel North America (York, PA) will demonstrate micromolding of an LSR from Wacker Chemical Corp. USA (Adrian, MI) in Anaheim, CA at Plastec West (Jan. 29-31, 2008) using a newly designed molding system. Its core is an Engel Victory 80/30 tiebarless hybrid press equipped with an electrified injection unit that incorporates both an application-dedicated 12-mm LSR screw and a specially designed check disk. The four-cavity mold chosen to run the parts flash-free comes from Roembke Mfg. & Design (Ossian, IN). Open-nozzle medical valves with a total shot size of less than a half a gram will be produced.

The LSR meter-mix system from Fluid Automation (Wixom, MI) will be mounted directly on the molding machine's feedthroat. A beside-the-press six-axis robot from Kuka Robotics Corp. USA (Clinton Township, MI) will remove and automatically inspect the parts. And the molding machine itself will incorporate Engel's Basic Clean Room Package, which includes such features as stainless steel panels around the stationary platen and in the part drop-chute areas, and stainless guide rails for the safety gate.