In conventional shuttle tables for insert injection molding, tooling usually consists of a top A half and two bottom B halves. The operator can load inserts on one of the B halves of the mold while the press is molding the other. When the first is done, the second part shuttles in and is molded. The drawback to this method is that the machine must wait for the first part to cool in the clamp before it can mold the second part. The new Shuttlifft linear table is designed to eliminate time wasted waiting for the part to cool in the press. The servo-driven shuttle table, which is available with six or seven carriage tables, allows a part to cool outside of the tool without causing deformation.

Here?s how it works: The inserts are loaded on the carriages, which then move in a line towards the press. Once a carriage reaches the press, it lowers into the molding area and the plastic is shot around the insert. After the gate freezes off, the carriage lifts back up, and moves along in the line so the next part can be molded. That means parts can cool outside of the tool in their fixture plate while others are being molded. By the time the fifth carriage comes along to be molded, the first part will have had sufficient time to cool and be removed. So basically, just one top and one bottom part of the mold are being utilized; the other carriages just act as holding devices for the cooling parts. According to the manufacturer, the system is up to 300 percent more productive than conventional methods and can accurately mold up to 1800 parts/hour.

An infinite number of stations can fit between 60- and 72-inch tables. Features include controlled acceleration and deceleration, station-to-station speed of .03 second, accuracy of .001 inch, vertical lift on pallets, lighted work area, light curtain safety, and precision guided pallets via linear motion guides. The Shuttlifft is retrofitted onto a molding machine, which can also be supplied by the man-ufacturer, if desired. Pricing starts around $85,000.

Panzer Tool Works Inc.
Elk Grove Village, IL
Phone: (847) 640-1510
Fax: (847) 640-0916
http://www.panzerinc.com