Plastics & Rubber World - September/October 2019 - 20

thermoforming

›› Continued from page 19

have SIM cards installed in the units. This
allows company technicians, with approval from the machine owner, to dial in and
check the performance status.
"[Owners]still have to agree to that,
give us the access codes," Lornie explains.
"We can't see what's being made, we don't
take any proprietary information, just data
produced by the machine. Rather than flying someone in from Italy, it's a cost savings for everyone."

CyCle tiMe iMproveMents

Asked is there have been any new additions to thermoformers to help drive
down per-part costs, Robert Lornie says
that improved cycle times has been key to
raising related performance.
"It's critical that we get the cycle [time]
down and reduce that without affecting
the part. We recently fitted new cooling
systems to our machines. We think that
can drive a savings of about 15%. It's not
a huge amount, but you're not finding
lumps of time, only seconds."

Machines with larger beds deliver single parts, or can be set up to deliver two
components per cycle
He adds that another route to cutting
cycle times is to have the machine reset
individual systems after they have been
activated across the cycle, rather than
when the cycle is completed.
"The machines are thinking what's happening next, not what's happening now.
The machine is always preparing for the
next move. We have some percentage
valves in the machines, they are reset as
soon as their function is completed, as
they take about a second to reset."
Lornie says that he is getting more requests for integrated automation to support increased output, but that hardware
must be able to coordinate operation with
machine cycles.
Lornie: "We did a project for a company making pallets. It's a fully-automated process, the robot picks up the parts
and delivers them to a pre-heat station.
The robotics then picks the part after the
forming process."
Automation can be retrofitted to any
modern thermoformer. Lornie points out
this is relatively easy due to HMI capability
but, as with Industry 4.0, it's more efficient

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to have the robotics incorporated into
a bespoke cell. In one case, a customer
wanted to improve feedthrough of parts
by adding automation to an existing machine, but adapting the set up resulted in
an overall loss of floorspace.

Up and rUnning

While cycle times are important to getting
the most out of a given thermoforming
machine, seconds can be gained in other areas to improve overall uptime. While
there are generally three types of heating
elements, ceramic, quartz and halogen,
the latter known as Speedium.
Ceramic units can reliably run for extended periods, but changing the temperature can take 10 minutes. Quartz offers
more rapid temperature adjustment, but
Speedium heaters are reported to return
a 50% savings in heating time.
Tooling changeover times have also
been adapted to make them more rapid. "We've got fully automated systems
where you can press a button and watch
a tool come out of the front door," says
Lornie. "The change is completed and
when it's in position a sensor triggers a
light." At which point the machine initiates its startup procedure.
Lornie describes the setup. "When
you've got a big footprint, perhaps 2x2.5m,
you can split that area. By installing two
sets of tooling we can make products of
different sizes next to each other in the
same cycle. It's effectively a 50% reduction
in cycle time."
He says that a bespoke window plate
with two holes (size dictated by part) has to
be produced for each part combination. Using Triplo, the proprietary adjustable tooling
system made up of window plates and a telescopic clamping frame, production is not
limited by the tool or duration of a complex
setup. The machine adapts the clamp frame
and window plates automatically by adjusting to the width of the two moulds.
While this is not unique to Cannon
Shelley, Lornie says they have mastered
the process. With two platens in the
mould at one time, there's a positive impact on ROI times.
"A customer was already using an efficient machine, but using this method he
achieved a 50% increase in part output,
reaching even 75%. This drove down actual costs, including overtime and night shift
rates."
There are some limitations, related to
parts being made of the same material.
But once planning has been completed,
which includes improved pre-drying of
raw sheet, there are considerable advantages to the system.
Development of this and other solutions is generally carried out in Italy, supported with collaboration of units such as
Cannon Shelley. "Two formings together,
that was our idea," says Lornie. "In the
end, we're a product-solving company and
I don't think our competition can offer that
same level of service."

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Plastics & Rubber World - September/October 2019

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