Spiffy pipe fittings at lower costs

During the Plast ’09 exhibition in Milan, Italy, in March, Austrian moldmaker ifw mould tec (Micheldorf) presented the next stage in the ongoing evolution of its systems for molding of inmold labeled pipe fittings, with gaskets also overmolded onto the fittings. For the latest iteration, the company has added a cam system for mechanical core pulling without hydraulic cylinders, and label integration from a magazine to help processors trim cycle times and costs.

The ifw inmold gasket technology facilitates molding of gaskets in the mold, onto fittings or other plug-in connection pieces, with only one movement of the mold. Adding the cam for core pulling likely will mean shorter cycle times, says Friedrich Kastner, the company’s managing director.

The company also has added another new option, this time to help reduce the cost associated with the inmold labeling of these fittings: rather than using a robot or additional drive, processors can opt to insert printed labels into the mold cavity from a magazine. Mechanical insertion of labels is done during the opening movement of the mold to reduce any negative influence on cycle times.

The moldmaker ran its new molding system on an Engel machine during Plast ’09. The company exhibited for the first time in North America at NPE last month. —[email protected]