Canadian hotrunner specialist MHS looks to NPE with M3-D08 micro injection moulder for direct gating small parts
Canadian hotrunner specialist MHS will present a new injection process for high precision medical and electronic plastic parts at NPE.
MHS Mold Hotrunner Solutions, headquartered in Georgetown in Ontario, specialises in valve gate hot runner technology. At NPE 2018 in Orlando it will show an expanded product range for high precision injection moulding solutions with the launch of a generation of its M3 micro injection moulding machinery, an innovative production cell for direct gating small and micro-sized plastic parts. The moulding machine is aimed at an increasing number of manufacturers looking improve miniaturisation in medical and electronic devices.
The new M3, with the model M3-D08, is the only dedicated micro injection moulding machine capable of producing small, direct gated plastic parts on a large scale. The electro-pneumatic moulding cell delivers both high volume and low volume production capabilities to all industries that require extreme precision, quality, speed and flexibility.
The M3 offers all the advantages of direct valve gate hot runner technology. Eliminating cold runners improves part quality, speeds up cycle times and reduces waste in the form of scrap material. This results in substantial savings especially when moulding highly valuable plastics such as PEEK or bioabsorbables. With conventional cold runner micro moulding, it is common for the weight of the runner to be multiple times greater than the weight of the part produced. The M3 can direct gate parts as small as 0.001 grams with a fine gate diameter of 0.5 mm (.0197”).
The improved accuracy of the high pressure Isokor injection process improves the part quality and consistency of each part. The machine has a substantially lower melt residence time than conventional solutions and therefore protects against plastic degradation in the runners, one of the severest problems in micro moulding. Micro injection moulding is very different from conventional moulding - a moulder has to ‘baby’ material because only a minuscule amount of plastic moving through the system is being consumed with each cycle. In some cases, a single grain of granulate can produce 10 parts or more. The M3 solves that problem.
Harald Schmidt, President of MHS, said: “We believe that micro moulding plays a critical role in the future of plastics production and that now is the time for a big leap forward. Our goal is to take micro injection from a niche moulding technology to the mainstream. The M3 makes it easy for OEMs and moulders to get into the game. Injection moulding precision plastic parts has never been this easy, efficient or profitable. We want everyone to start thinking small. If It can be made with plastics, at this scale and speed, and direct gated, there are so many advantages and possibilities.”