At the Plast 2015 trade fair in Milan last week, Sandretto launched what it described as a range of “completely renewed” injection moulding machines, as well as announcing it is the latest traditional manufacturer to enter the 3D printing playground.
The new ‘Series Ten’ range of injection moulding machines, which are protected by two patents, have clamping forces between 30 and 500 tonnes, a new injection unit and a rigid base structure.
The electrical-hydraulic machine system is said to produce energy savings of 25 percent over traditional systems, as well as significant noise reduction.
Each of the machines in the series is equipped with Sandretto’s new ‘SEF 3000’ electronic control system, which it says is both intuitive and east to use thanks to a graphical interface that allows for easy navigation and learning, reducing human error.
Finally, the machines in the Series Ten range are equipped with a chamber temperature monitoring unit. This insertive-type system reduces chamber-heating times by as much as 40 percent with the same power, says Sandretto.
In addition, the firm introduced a new series of extrusion-based 3D printers, which, it said, are the result of a six-month project undertaken within the company aimed at “satisfying professional customers” and “taking over a place on the market of a rapidly evolving sector.”
Sandretto has invested in a specialised laboratory, now being set up in Latium, Italy, called ‘Skunk Works Lab’, where it says it is combining the best Italian and foreign skills in the 3D printing sector to develop the technology as part of a “very aggressive plan” it has drawn up for entering the sector.
The company says it intends to “dominate all the sector’s main technologies, from hot wire deposition for plastic materials to polymerising the resins loaded until sintering of the metal powders.”
Sandretto says it foresees that the use of additive manufacturing will become “an integral part of the processes of manufacturing both plastic and metal articles for structural purposes” within a few months, however, it does not believe the process will completely replace existing, traditional manufacturing methods.
“The era of additive manufacturing destined solely for prototypes or morphological evaluations of the design is drawing to a close and the 3D printers will tend more and more to move from the designer’s office to the manufacturing department,” the company said.
At the show the suggestion was that the smallest printers would be sold at a price of €2,000 each.