Back

Reducing the maintance requirements for injection molding tools

Innovative tooling technologies decrease maintenance time while improving uptime

Bolton, Canada

Advertisement
Wisecap March 2024

Blocked cavities result in significant downtime and lost productivity

Paradigm shift

A comprehensive Voice of Customer analysis indicated that unplanned downtime due to blocked cavities was a widespread pain point. Blocked cavities seemed to afflict molders globally regardless of molding skill level and existing resin handling practices. Listening to the expressed needs of the operators at the plant floor level, Husky developed and designed our unique Front Mounted Cavities™ (FMC) for closure molds. This patent-pending design allows for individual mold cavities and gate inserts to be mounted to the front of the cavity plate. This design change introduces a significant paradigm shift in how operators approach the issue of blocked cavities during daily production. Now, all critical areas of a single nozzle location are accessible with a few small-scale screw turns. There is no longer any need to uninstall or latch-over the complete cavity plate, and disengage all nozzles to clean a single position. No more accumulated shut down of cavities because of blocked gates and permanent process adjustments to the remaining positions; no extensive cool down and heat up period for all nozzles, which carries the risk of damaging the nozzle-seal interface. With Front Mounted Cavities, the operator only needs to act where the issue occurs and can return the system back to production faster than ever before.  With this re-design of the cavity plate, Husky has introduced an all-new concept for closure molds. The approach of individually replaceable cavities is well-known in the industry from nearly two decades of PET molds from Husky. The design allows for conformal flow of cooling water in close proximity to the molding surface; right where it’s needed, with the exact amount required. All nozzle seals remain engaged during service, eliminating the risk of seal damage and presenting a significant decrease in nozzle cool down times. Additionally, the hot runner can remain in stand-by mode, thereby minimizing the amount of time required to get back to operating temperature. The time savings that FMC offers over the conventional tooling design is significant. The actual time savings realized depends upon a variety of factors, including but not limited to: tooling cavitation, the number of blocked gates, the number of blocked cavities allowed prior to shutting down to remove the blockage, and the proficiency of the operator(s) performing the work. Taking the above factors into consideration, the FMC design offers cavity unblocking time savings between 70-80% versus a conventional mold design.  Available as part of our recently-introduced HyCAP™4 beverage closure manufacturing system, the Front Mounted Cavities solution is designed for injection molding customers who experience blocked gates due to contamination in the resin and who are looking for the ability to clean the affected position, quickly and easily. Producers who process recycled material, factory re-grind or cross-contaminated virgin resin, or those who don’t want a pricey ultra-fine-grid filter unit on every molding machine should consider the new Husky Front Mounted Cavities design.  Operators who have to turn around a logo change without a crane or heavy tools will appreciate the ability to simply swap the inserts from the front of the mold.  All advanced features of the Front Mounted Cavities are incorporated into a single cavity plate that is compatible with all existing Husky 3.0 Closure Molds and Hot Runners.

Key Features:

Productivity:
  • Industry-leading cycle times with conformal cavity cooling
  • No shut down of individual blocked cavities
Ease of Maintenance:
  • Individually removable cavities without the need to un-install the entire cavity plate
  • Faster turnover of maintenance tasks with all nozzle seals permanently engaged
Closure Logo Change:
  • Gate insert removal and installation while the cavity plate is engaged to the hot runner
Compatibility:
  1. Full compatibility with all Husky HyCAP 3.0 Molds 
PETnology's Resource Guide
comPETence center

The comPETence center provides your organisation with a dynamic, cost effective way to promote your products and services.

Find out more

Cover
Our premium articles
comPETence
magazine

Find our premium articles, interviews, reports and more
in 3 issues in 2023.

Find out more
Current issue