IPF show: Ube debuts injection press for Asian auto molders; three-shot foam molding process

Ube Machinery Corp. (Ube, Japan) entered the all-electric arena in 1996 through joint development of the MD Series with Niigata Machine Techno (Niigata, Japan). At IPF Japan 2011, the machine builder introduced its first wholly original all-electric machines, the UF Series.

Cav-change process (top) injects rigid PP plus foamed and non-foamed PP elastomer to realize door trim out of the mold.

"Asian economies are emerging and we are strong in the automotive sector," says Akifumi Watanabe, Group Leader of the Central Japan Area Sales Group at Ube based in the Japanese automotive heartland of Nagoya. "In response to local needs, we have developed the UF Series employing an easy-to-use controller. For example, it is easy to check if various maintenance items have been carried out." The MD Series will continue to be offered for processors who are accustomed to these machines.

Machines in the UF Series include 680-, 800-, 1000-, 1300-, 1400-, 1800- and 3000-tonne presses. "The 1400-tonne machine is a wide platen unit for large horizontal products like door trim," says Watanabe. Ube had samples on display at IPF demonstrating what its new machine series was capable of. The company's Cav-change option, applicable to both new MD and UF Series and retrofittable to existing machines, employs a two cavity mold that rotates 180° between the platens and dual injection units, one injecting from the side.

The side injection unit can be employed to inject both non-foamed and foamed elastomer shots in sequence and this was shown at IPF via sample displays. The main shot is rigid PP, the second shot of a PP-based elastomer, and the final shot employs the same elastomer but this time, the mold core is pulled back to allow resin foaming.

Ube also displayed samples of transparent polycarbonate with an ABS resin frame where an injection-press process was employed to eliminate molded-in stress in the PC, which is injected in the second shot.-[email protected]