When faced with a challenge from a processor requiring a shot weight of 110 kg, Chen Hsong turned to one of its large two-platen machines with a special modification. The solution was to configure a 6,500-tonne SM6500-TP injection molding machine with two parallel injection cylinders of 55 kg shot weight capacity each in a “Y” configuration.

Further, two injection cylinders deliver a high degree of processing flexibility to the molder lest it want to use the machine for another application in that minimum shot size per cylinder is just 15 kg. The option of using just one injection cylinder is possible.

Chen Hsong has also worked to reduce sound levels during machine operation. The latest machines operate at a sound level of is 80 dB versus 84 dB for the national standard in China.

"Alltrista is the first in the world to produce with 128 cavities and a cycle time of 1.9 seconds,” said Horst Kogler, head of Netstsal’s caps and closures business unit. “They produce more than 3.1 billion closures with two lines [annually]. More output per square meter of production area is currently not possible."

Chen Hsong two-platen machines are selling extremely well in the market of late. The company reports 126 on order for delivery through to March 2017, including 700-tonne, 2200-tonne, and 3600-tonne units.

"With the new CAP-Line concept, we are aligning our portfolio even more closely with our customers' applications,” he noted. “Closure manufacturers benefit from a customized system, while pre-configuration can speed up the consultation and quotation process so that delivery times for the machine are as short as possible."

Added Christopher Navratil, CTO of Alltrista's parent company: "We were determined to be the first manufacturer to run a system with 128 cavities in under two seconds. In Netstal, z-moulds, and Intravis, we have found the best system partners for this project. Each company is a leader in its field, and the combination is unbeatable. With our 128-cavity systems, we produce more efficiently than ever before, can deliver at any time, and inspire our customers. This has given us an enormous competitive advantage."

Geoff Giordano is a tech journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in all facets of publishing. He has reported extensively on the gamut of plastics manufacturing technologies and issues, including 3D printing materials and methods; injection, blow, micro and rotomolding; additives, colorants and nanomodifiers; blown and cast films; packaging; thermoforming; tooling; ancillary equipment; and the circular economy. Contact him at [email protected].

The mold, produced by Austria’s z-moulds, is as small and light as a 96-cavity mold and fits into the injection molding machine with a smaller column distance. Cycle time is reduced by the smaller design, which also requires moving less mass. Alltrista has cut the weight of its enclosures by 25%; with 3.1 billion closures produced annually, that means more than 2 million pounds less resin used – about the weight of 160 African Bush elephants, the company said.

“Customers who come to us nowadays are not asking for a machine with a specific clamping force. They are coming to us looking for a solution, be it in medical, automotive or other sectors,” Ringo Au, head of international sales for Chen Hsong. The company offers a variety of clamping unit and injection unit options for the SM-TP Series to cater to varying industry requirements: 14 clamping tonnages in all are available between 700 and 6500 tonnes and also 29 shot weights ranging between 1968 and 106,081 grams per cylinder (meaning the options are even more abundant when considering the Y-configuration permeations). The permeations for combining clamping and injection options are thus numerous.

Overall, Netstal’s CAP-Line also fits in a smaller overall space — 538 square feet — and uses about 12% less electricity than competing machines running 96-cavity molds, Kogler said.

A 128-cavity mold will produce 26-mm water closures in a cycle time of 1.9 seconds in a live experience at Netstal’s booth at NPE 2024.

Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

Netstal’s CAP-Line 4500 is identical to two production systems being used by Alltrista, a contract manufacturer based in Greer, SC. The line features an all-electric clamping unit with 4,500 kN of force and a dry cycle time of 1.4 seconds. An optimized barrier screw allows for a smaller injection unit with higher plasticizing performance and better homogenization, Netstal expained.

The company manufactures two-platen injection machines at its flagship 560,000-m2 campus in Shenzhen. Chen Hsong prides itself in manufacturing all components bar electronic ones in-house. casting of platens and machining of screws included. “In this way we can control what raw materials go into our machines,” says C.K. Chiang, executive director of manufacturing and technology in Chen Hsong.

Chen Hsong recently delivered the unit to Australian processor Trident Wastewater Services (Adelaide, SA) for molding large septic tanks from polypropylene in a single color. Shot volume is an incredible 152,094 cubic cm.

Another auto parts supplier is using two Chen Hsong two-platen machines, a SM1650 model and a SM1050 model, to mold seat backs for the Audi Q5 using a low-pressure injection technique. The machines use Chen Hsong’s extractable platen technology” to facilitate easy tooling changes.

Key performance attributes include a dry cycle time (according to the Euromap 6 standard) of 6.8 seconds for the 1900-tonne SM1900 injection machine, high concentricity of screw and barrel of 0.07 mm, and +0.1% injection precision by utilizing a specially-designed injection screw, and optimized hydraulic and control systems. Further, electric plastication employing a servo motor and gearbox  is offered as an option, which boasts 90% energy efficiency versus 77% for the efficiency of a hydraulic injection unit.

In the NPE demonstration, finished caps will travel through an Intravis vision-inspection system. The system executes 360-degree inspection of the closures to an accuracy of hundredths of a millimeter using nine high-resolution cameras.

Leading Chinese auto OEMs are among users of Chen Hsong machines that the machine builder is working with, including an auto parts molder in Chongqing that is using a 1650-tonne SM1650 machine with the D130 injection unit (screw diameter of 130 mm, which is the standard injection unit for this machine size) to mold an instrument panel, and an auto parts molder in Shanghai which is employing the same type of machine to mold a mat.