Easy product changeover with platform molds

Quick and efficient responses to changing batch sizes are among the basic requirements for economical production processes of injection molding tools.

This is precisely what the new multi-component platform injection molding tools by ZAHORANSKY Formenbau, D-79108 Freiburg delivers.  They guarantee the quick product changeover by simply exchanging mold inserts in the master mold.  “The new multi-component mold system is the first choice for users who make changing products or who produce large delivery volumes with ultimate quality and economic efficiency.  With its versatility, the system is an important value-adding factor in production”, says Michael Schmidt, Managing Director of ZAHORANSKY Formenbau.

Each master mold is structured in individually centered blocks with four cavities per block.  The inserts are slide-mounted on the master mold in axial direction for different injection points to be realized.  The mold inserts are top-mounted and include a complete ejector package.  It allows for building new exchangeable inserts that match new products, without having to return the mold to ZAHORANSKY for adjustments.  When changing to a new product, production will be interrupted only briefly.

Entirely different parts can also be made in this way. A large number of platform molds operate in the Personal Care sector, where as many as eight different models of a product are made in a single mold.

Next to the easy product changeover, production capacity can also be readily adapted.  Identical cavity blocks both in the 4,8,12 and 16 fold designs allow the trouble-free enlargement or reduction in size of the mold.  This is accomplished by installing the mold inserts in master molds of different sizes.  Depending on the desired delivery volume, the moldings are produced in the most favorably sized infection molding machine.

The reposition handling mechanism in the mold is driven by a servo motor which ensures a highly dynamic molding system.  The first shot parts are held and transferred by means of custom tooling nests with vacuum units and then carried and inserted to the next station. In addition to rapid and efficient processes, the servo drive also allows for precise and flexible control of the reposition handling.  A ZAHORANSKY SPC controls both the reposition handling and the external removal handling, if fitted, independent from the injection molding machine control.