Article from
ROEMHELD GmbH Friedrichshütte
GTMA Manufacutring Resource Center
By Admin
Vehicle components manufacturer ElringKlinger, headquartered in Dettingen an der Erms, Germany, includes high-performance, lightweight plastic products such as oil pans and cam covers in the product portfolio it supplies to the global automotive industry. Tobias Gerst, production engineer responsible for capital equipment procurement and process planning said, “Over the last few years we have grown steadily and are running out of space for our production equipment, so we are sometimes faced with very cramped conditions.”
The two machines, which are positioned at an angle of about 120 degrees to each other, require a mold change every eight to nine days. As there is no overhead crane in the factory, the machines cannot be loaded from above. Instead, until recently operators used one the sandard transport carts.Space is particularly limited where two automated injection molding machines are operated over three shifts. They are located in an enclosure and mold exchange can only be carried out by entering a comparatively narrow, low door.
Directly in front of one machine there is hardly any space for maneuvering a cart, however, so previously mold change was challenging and physically exhausting. That has changed with the arrival of a compact transport cart supplied by German manufacturer, Roemheld, Hilchenbach, whose subsidiary in Hitchin (www.roemheld.co.uk) supplies similar equipment into the UK market.
Gerst added, “Our existing carts were either unsuitable for heavy molds or too large for the limited space available. As a result, we had to maneuver them in awkward spaces and still could not quite reach one of the machines.
So two years ago, he looked for an alternative that suited the special requirements better. The steel molds used on the two machines weigh up to one tonne and have a maximum height of 400 mm, while the base varies between 300 mm x 300 mm and 550 mm x 500 mm. The new changing cart had to be able to carry all molds sizes and still fit through the enclosure’s narrow door.“Therefore the machine had to be approached from the side instead, but this meant that the mold had to be pushed crosswise to roller bars on the changing cart. A lot of effort was required before the mold was finally in the right place.”
He was looking for a system where moulds could be transferred in different directions so that the operator could access both injection molding machines optimally. One of them is located to the right of the enclosure entrance and the other is positioned opposite. The operator can drive in a straight line, load, and unload the cart either from the right side or from the front and reverse out.
An internet search led Gerst to Roemheld’s workholding and die changing technology. One of its carts, RWA 1600, is characterized by a compact design, an electro-hydraulic lifting platform and a shuttle table equipped with hydraulically actuated ball bars. The cart is also able to be customized to meet specific requirements.
With ball bars set into the support surface of the table, dies can easily be moved manually in any direction. A special safety mechanism ensures that during mold transportation the ball inserts are lowered into the table surface so the die is prevented from moving. Removable front and sidebars provide additional safety.
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