Mar 2 2009
ILLIG, manufacturer of thermoforming machines, welcomed more than 100 participants from the whole European market on occasion of the company's Presentation Days, January 27 and 28, 2009. Presentations illustrating state-of-the-art automatic pressure forming machines of RDK series for combined forming/punching operation and RDKP series for separate forming and punching were completed by a total of seven machine demonstrations.
Solutions for various applications were demonstrated on current 3rd Generation Thermoformers, the range included hinged packs and menu trays through to sealing lids. The participants were particularly interested in the production line with the new RDK 90 automatic pressure forming machine where APET trays were manufactured using a 16-up tool at a speed of 55 cycles/min. The integrated new „ILLIG ThermoLine Control“ was demonstrated with this line. With this new ThermoLine Control it is possible to centrally monitor, optimize and control processes of all individual machines via the thermoformer's control.
With this new control generation the customer benefits from facilitated and faster tool and format changes with considerably increased productivity and availability of the thermoforming line at the same time. These are the goals constantly pursued in all further developments and innovations, as outlined by Karl Schäuble, Managing Director, during the opening of the event. ILLIG customers from German-speaking areas were invited to attend the first presentation day. The second day the presentation language was English thus meeting the requirements of international participants.
Frédéric Engel, Product Manager of RDK and RDKP machines, provided detailed insight into technological innovations based on the new RDK 90 automatic pressure forming machine, the now largest version of these automatic pressure forming machines, featuring up to 900 mm processable material width and 700 mm index length. The constant use of servo motor drives in 3rd Generation Thermoformers for all motion sequences is one of the basic requirements for the high cycle speeds achieved.
The servo drives work in an energy-saving way, precisely and fast, and thanks to high positioning and repetition accuracy they allow maximum overlapping of production steps which saves process time. Product quality and process reliability are maintained. The highly dynamic generation and reduction of forming pressure is one of the decisive factors for the high cycle speed of 55 cycles/minute achieved in the forming/punching operation with steel rule dies integrated in the RDK 90 forming tool. This high productivity is supported by optimized, intensive tool cooling. Two separate cooling circuits are available – on upper and lower table of the forming station – with display of flow rate, inlet and outlet temperature. Up to six individual circuits can be connected to the tool per cooling circuit.
RDK 90, also a modular concept, provides various options to configurate a high-performance thermoforming line suitable for the respective application. The options include roll pre-heater, hole punch press, separate steel rule punch press or various stacking stations through to integrated handling systems for follow-up treatment of products. In a presentation given at the ILLIG presentation days Rüdiger Sonntag, Key Technology Manager Plastics of KUKA Roboter GmbH, Augsburg, illustrated the multi-use options provided by industrial robots (sixaxis articulated arm robot) especially for processing high quantities.
Suitable for line operation – future-oriented control concept
The RDK 90 automatic pressure forming machine is designed for both, so-called off-line rollfed operation and in-line feed with pre-linked flat film extruder. The skeletal granulator available in the RDK 90 modular system was optimized in such a way that even un-punched parts up to 80 mm high and/or material thicknesses up to 1 mm can be drawn in and ground. This is helpful and required e.g. for start-up of the interlinked extruder-thermoformer production line up to the point where a steady and stable process sequencing is achieved.
All additional devices and lines required for the completion of the production line, from material roll stand through to additional cooling devices, are now equipped with Profibus interfaces for RDK 90 as standard. This creates the prerequisites for the new „ILLIG ThermoLine Control“ generation to centrally manage and operate all individual devices of the line via the thermoformer's control. Besides an increase in operator convenience, e.g. by central process optimization, data management or process visualization, even the nonproductive secondary times needed for format or tool changes can be considerably reduced. Moreover, error diagnosis and trouble shooting can be carried out much easier and faster. When a production line is integrated in the ILLIG NetService, the service engineers can look into all components of the line by internet from Heilbronn. Errors can be diagnosed and short term corrections can be made in case of malfunctions due to settings.
Based on the acceptance and positive response of the participants regarding these presentation days and past events of this kind ILLIG will continue to provide this type of information platform for users of thermoforming technology. Knowledge transfer and machine demonstrations using practical samples are main features.