Due to the optimised design of the follower plates, just 40 ml of residues are left behind when the 20 litre drums have to be changed, resulting in material utilisation of up to 99.8%. With a design service life of 20 years or more for all its mechanical components, a modular structure and particular ease of servicing which keeps maintenance costs low, the TOP 700 is synonymous with cost-efficiency. Its low energy consumption of less than 50 Wh and minimal compressed air consumption also help to keep costs down.

The system works by allowing customers to choose which Pantone number they require or provide a sample part that can be scanned and colour matched, when a part design is ready. A material is then selected from the 13 available resin combinations, and PolyOne’s Pinpoint system is able to create a liquid formula that is dispensed and mixed before moving to the injection moulding press. The material is then fed through the doser and injection moulded. This results in customers receiving their custom colours much faster than traditional methods e.g. days compared to weeks.

“With development cycles shrinking to meet the market demand for increased customisation, this is yet another tool to help our customers accelerate product launches and streamline supply chains.”

TOP 700 provides the same high precision dosing of silicones and additives as Elmet’s flagship TOP 7000 Pro dosing system with its 200 or 20 litre drum size which was launched back in 2021.

Thorsten Häuser, development manager, explains: “We developed our TOP 700 dosing pump to meet customer demand for a space- and material-saving solution from ELMET. We’ve achieved this with a footprint of less than 0.5 m² (799 mm × 600 mm) and our new pump design. As a result, this new dosing system is particularly suitable not only for customers processing high-value, shear-sensitive or abrasive materials but also for R&D, prototyping and small-batch applications. The TOP 700 rounds out our product range while setting new standards in compact dosing technology.”

Joel Matthews, global product manager at Protolabs said: “These new colour matching capabilities are a huge leap for the manufacturing industry, one stacked with benefits for our customers who are developing highly tailored products.

Matthews continued: “All of these new capabilities are things that our customers have wanted for a while, so we’re excited to finally be able to offer it to them while still delivering finished parts at industry leading speeds.”

In order to further its position as a single source supplier from prototyping to production Protolabs has added new injection moulding capabilities. Therefore, along with custom colour matching it has launched multiple secondary processes and finishing options to support the full manufacturing process. These processes include things such as pad printing and laser engraving, threaded inserts, mould texturing for mould-tech finishes, and part assembly.

The device PolyOne Pinpoint Express Colour and Dosing System features 3M precision dispensing and dosing technologies, allowing Protolabs to develop custom colours on site. As a result this reduces the time it takes to mould short-run plastic parts in precise colours.

The TOP 700 can achieve delivery rates of over five litres/minute at a maximum pump pressure of 210 bar, so enabling short cycle times both when filling larger parts and with large numbers of small cavities. Additives and colours can be dispensed from 1, 4 and 20 litre containers. In order to achieve the dosing precision that is particularly vital for very small parts, the volumetric meter for colours has a resolution of below 0.1 μl/l. Depending on requirements, dosing can be carried out simultaneously or in a freely selectable mixing ratio.

Designed to be FDA- and EMA-compliant, the new TOP 700 dosing system is used for applications requiring the highest levels of cleanliness such as medical technology, personal care, foodstuffs and optics. Virtually abrasion-free pumping also prevents metal particle contamination of the LSR which would impair its functionality. There are also no limits to the consistency of the processed LSR under real-world conditions because Elmet’s new system can dose any commercially available product with the same precision thanks to its ability to handle viscosities of between 0.001 Pas and 2000 Pas (shear rate 10/s) or 16,000 Pas (1/s). Its optionally OPC UA- and Euromap 82.3-compliant control system can be seamlessly integrated into the injection moulding machine’s own control system.

Andy Homyk, senior engineer at medtech firm HemoSonics added: “Speed and flexibility, being able to deploy different manufacturing options, and a commitment to customer service are the main reasons we use Protolabs.”

To avoid operating errors, the drums can be changed fully automatically from the drum rim from three sides within two minutes. Intuitive operation of the system, the use of simple clamp connections, a guided drum change procedure and an integrated cooling system mean even relatively low-skilled personnel can operate it without any problem. Fully automatic venting as standard completes the system’s many and varied safety and convenience features.