Wittmann White Horse
Paul Bobby, WHP Factory Manager conducts final checks before the start of automated production
UK-based technical moulder, White Horse Plastics (WHP), has quadrupled its production capacity for an intricate over-moulded part following the implementation of a new automated production cell.
The company, which specialises in the development and production of tight tolerance technical injection mouldings and sub-assemblies, collaborated with Wittmann Battenfeld and systems integrator, Adept Automation, to produce the cell, which is being used to produce an automotive bearing used as part of a four-stage door checker.
The automation work was centred on the need to align four off-inserts with micron-accurate location into the mould tool, involving sixteen moving cores and 32 shut through windows, an 18 second cycle time and next to no tolerance on the 2 x 3mm key-ways into the bearing. The PA66- MoS2 filled part was then to be over-moulded in a metal bearing sleeve before being shipped to the automotive customer.
A customised Wittmann Battenfeld injection moulding machine was specified and commissioned, together with a Wittmann 818 three-axis robot. The downstream process was assisted by the work of Adept Automation leading to an effective fulfilment of the project.
“This was a very challenging project, and took us through a number of process iterations,” explained Paul Bobby, WHP Factory Manager. “Because of the complexity of the new tooling we were presented with a major automation alignment challenge. The 3mm key way was the datum point for the whole assembly and allowed next to no dimensional tolerance.”
Bobby said that the company’s determination, along with the collaboration with the two industry partners allowed it to succeed in automating the work.
“The current state-of-the-art of plastics processing automation is now nothing short of incredible,” Bobby continued. “However fantastic the technology, however, automation requiring this level of investment still requires a positive business case in order to proceed.
“In this instance we were more than happy to identify the same and to work with our partners to achieve the production solution.”