Product News

    This robot can be used to handle inserts and pre-fabricated parts in hybrid applications. Seletec Plastics has been using injection moulding machines from Engel since the 1980s, with the focus switching to automation in its new projects. A Viper 40, the anniversary edition robot, was delivered to the Pinzgau region as part of a complete package that included a duo 650 injection moulding machine. “With pressure continuing to build on costs, those of us in Western Europe can no longer afford to work without automation”, says Gerald Rauch, head of sales and development at Seletec. “Automation guarantees stable processes, which raises productivity and enhances our production quality. “The new large-scale machine will be used to make technical parts for a wide range of application fields, including housing components with metal threads. “When several inserts are placed into a mould at once, the speed of the robot is what counts”, stresses Rauch. “We also look for fast cycle times and maximum precision in our handling operations.” Minimal cycle times, precise movements The Viper robot is the ideal machine for these requirements thanks to its innovative software packages: vibration control, mass identification and efficiency control. Software packages eliminate the structure-borne vibration of the robots – even with longer axis dimensions – and optimise their movement and dynamic values. This ensures high tracking and positional accuracy and minimises cycle times. The Viper robot also adjusts its movements to the respective manipulation weight and avoids unnecessary wait times outside of the machine. Since Engel supplies both injection moulding machines and robots from a single source, full integration of the two control environments is guaranteed. ÒOperating the robot is simplicity itself’, says Rauch. From product development to series production Seletec – a Klepsch Group company – has its roots in metalworking. The company […]

For many years the flooring industry has turned to Permabond for specialist and cost effective solutions in the manufacture of their products. Permabond has a specially formulated high purity cyanoacrylate which can be used to bond a wide range of substrates that may be difficult to bond with general purpose ÒSupergluesÓ. This makes it particularly suitable for bonding natural rubber, butyl rubber and EPDM.   It is ideal for bonding rubber matting sections together and edges onto matting and provides a long lasting, durable high strength bond. Permabond also has a general purpose cyanoacrylate which has successfully been used for bonding carpet strips onto aluminium entrance mats and carpet squares to moulded plastic entrance mats in heavy wear and tear areas, preventing the carpet pieces from lifting up and helping to avoid trip hazards. For more specialised applications, a high-strength structural acrylic adhesive, which is a two part non-mix product, is used for bonding aluminium stair nosings. It can also be used for bonding blind bumps onto ceramic tiles in public buildings. All these Permabond products are rapid curing and easy to use for a quick and easy production process. Products are solvent free and have excellent chemical and temperature resistance. nextSTEP Contact Homersham Ltd Tel: 0800 659 888 or 03 358 8309  

The Viper robot will be used to handle inserts and pre-fabricated parts in hybrid applications at Seletec Plastics in the Austrian town of Uttendorf. Seletec has been using injection moulding machines from Engel since the 1980s, with the focus switching to automation in its new projects. A Viper 40, the anniversary edition robot, was delivered to the Pinzgau region as part of a complete package that included a duo 650 injection moulding machine. “With pressure continuing to build on costs, those of us in Western Europe can no longer afford to work without automation”, says Gerald Rauch, head of sales and development at Seletec. “Automation guarantees stable processes, which raises productivity and enhances our production quality.” The new large-scale machine will be used to make technical parts for a wide range of application fields, including housing components with metal threads. “When several inserts are placed into a mould at once, the speed of the robot is what counts”, stresses Rauch. “We also look for fast cycle times and maximum precision in our handling operations.” Minimal cycle times, precise movements: The Viper robot is the ideal machine for these requirements thanks to its innovative software packages: vibration control, mass identification and efficiency control. The software packages eliminate the structure-borne vibration of the robots – even with longer axis dimensions – and optimise their movement and dynamic values. This ensures high tracking and positional accuracy and minimises cycle times. The Viper robot also adjusts its movements to the respective manipulation weight and avoids unnecessary wait times outside of the machine. Since Engel supplies both injection moulding machines and robots from a single source, full integration of the two control environments is guaranteed. “Operating the robot is simplicity itself”, says Rauch. From product development to series production Seletec – a Klepsch Group company […]

 Sensitive surface touch panels In the cockpit simulation at Fakuma trade fair stand, Engel demonstrated how cars will be even more user-friendly than smartphones in future, thanks to the simple elements of touch, feel and interactivity. Capacitive electronics will be replacing buttons and switches in the cockpit of the future. “This trend not only gives interior designers a new level of freedom; it also reduces the costs of the producing functional elements,” says Franz Fureder, Head of Engel Automotive. “We are already talking to various OEMs and automotive companies. In four to five years the first vehicles will be equipped with this technology.” Centre consoles with a sensitive surface were manufactured at the Engel trade fair stand on an Engel duo 350 injection moulding machine with a rotating platen and combination mould in stack technology. For this purpose a capacitive touchskin film was backmoulded and the component upper part was flow-coated with polyurethane by the Engel clearmelt method. Two Engel viper 20 and viper 40 type linear robots took care of component and part handling enabling the ready-for-installation functional components to be manufactured in one work step.  Clear-Melt technology Scratch-proof, high quality surfaces combined with 3D effects visibly impress, hanks to Engels’s innovative clearmelt method. Decor parts with these characteristics can now be produced in a time-saving, economic and highly productive manner. Sliding table technology floods a thermoplastic carrier with transparent polyurethane. Compared to legacy methods, the required level of scratch resilience and 3D effect is achieved with thin coatings using the clearmelt approach. Compared with coating systems, this means substantial material, time and emission savings. Time consuming and expensive multiple coating techniques, which also produce a high level of rejects, are incapable of producing an attractive 3D effect below a coating thickness of 0.5 mm. In contrast to this, […]

  Delcam demonstrated the 2012 version of Delcam for SolidWorks, its integrated CAM system for SolidWorks, at SolidWorks World in San Diego this month. This latest release includes programming of wire EDM for the first time, alongside the comprehensive options for the programming of turning, mill-turn, drilling and two- through five-axis milling. Other enhancements include target-part comparison, the ability to compare a model of the desired final shape with the shape achieved by the programmed toolpaths, and multiple-instance programming, the programming of multiple SolidWorks components in one operation, either in the same orientation or in different orientations. Fully-automated de-burring and chamfering has also been added to give faster programming of these finishing operations on 2- or 2.5-axis parts. The ability to incorporate chamfers, even when they are not shown in the original SolidWorks model, duplicates functionality previously available in Delcam’s feature-based CAM system, FeatureCAM. Delcam for SolidWorks 2012 also incorporates enhancements from the 2012 release of FeatureCAM, including improvements in the use of stock models and new options in the tooling database. Stock models allow the user to visualise the material remaining after each operation. This makes it easier to eliminate air cutting and so generate more efficient toolpaths with reduced machining times. The models also simplify the selection of the most appropriate tool sizes for rest-roughing and finishing operations. The tooling database is a key part of the automation in Delcam for SolidWorks as it allows the optimum operating conditions to be associated with each tool. In most companies, the database is developed by the most experienced user. It then ensures that even inexperienced operators use safe and efficient cutting parameters. Delcam for SolidWorks, which has been awarded Certified Gold Product status by Dassault Systmes SolidWorks Corp, combines the benefits associated with DelcamÕs PowerMILL and FeatureCAM CAM systems. It […]

Robyn Robertson of Regional Business Partner Waikato and Matamata tentmaker Lindsay Tasker.   A Matamata tentmaker’s dream of helping the world with his humanitarian housing is closer to reality thanks to Regional Business Partner (RBP) Waikato. LTL Covers owner Lindsay Tasker has developed SeekaShelter tent prototype to use as emergency housing in the wake of natural disasters. Born of LTL’s successful Calf-Chalet shelter product, Lindsay and his wife and business partner Ellen are working with RBP towards distributing the housing product to governments around the globe. The Tasker’s SeekaShelter product is a 3m by 3.6m half-round tent assembled using a patented flexible join system and light-weight steel-based framing covered with double-skinned polyethylene. The quickly-assembled shelter system has been tested in 120km winds and can house up to eight people. “The next step in the journey is to have it tested by international aid agencies like the Red Cross. Regional Business Partner is helping me get it to that stage,” Lindsay said “RBP has helped me give my business vision a solid foundation. It has equipped me with the things I need to work towards to take the business to the next level.” RBP provides government-funded business support throughout Waikato and is managed by Opportunity Hamilton and Waikato Innovation Park. The free service is available throughout the region. Lindsay’s goal is for global governments to stockpile the tents = about 70 per shipping container = to use in the wake of natural disaster. “This business is about much more than making money. As a Christian it is important for me to work towards making the world a better place and that is my vision,” he said. “Finding out about the support available, like RBP and James and Wells patent attorneys has been invaluable.” Lindsay bought the Kaitaia-based tent business after a […]

  PICTURE  CAPTION : Operator Lawrence Dunn, checks a product post-production. Rex Upton’s Christchurch company, Autobend, has 30 years experience in exhausts and mandrel tube bending. The company is big in the business of replacement exhausts, universal mufflers, headers, big bore, extensions, U Bends, tube, flanges, converters, studs and gaskets; you name it, Autobend stock the lot. However, if you are an architect, design engineer, developer, kinetic artist, dairyman or wine, boat or furniture maker. Autobend’s clarion-call is: ‘don’t weld it; bend it.’ You should be dropping by at their Andromeda Crescent premises and stepping into a spotless, engineering shop where their blue-and-yellow brute has recently been installed. It is New Zealand’s biggest mandrel tube-bender, the CSM 100TBRE-RBE, courtesy of Autobend. And they’ve backed that significant investment with a smart, young engineer, one of their own James Patterson, a production manager, who joined them since gaining NZCE James has alongside him an experienced and highly-qualified CNC machine operator and a ‘master of the black art of ‘adjustment’ in a precise business’, Lawrence Dunn, also blessed with experienced hands and not that many ‘miles on his clock’ who has just returned from his OE. You get the sense they are up for anything which isn’t dangerous or dumb. Anything from 1-180 degrees (the latter has a u-bend in it). The CSM bender is world class technology, offering high-precision bending and rolling of tubes, supported throughout by an internal mandrel – a series of inter-connected metal ‘balls’ of a matching diameter – and a carriage boost. This results in an absence of humps, bumps and wrinkles, or any elongation of bend. According to Patterson, Autobend staff can programme variable radii (when rolling tubes) or produce straight and concentric coils, with CNC precision, as well as repeat bending and rolling to the original specifications. […]

  Hammond Manufacturing has added the AA, the A and C sizes to its 1553 family of soft-sided hand held enclosures; all models feature an ergonomic curved shape that fits comfortably into the hand. The AA measures 75 x 50 x 17mm, the A 100 x 61 x 17mm and the C size, available with or without a battery compartment is 117 x 79 x 33mm. The C size is a deeper version of the existing B size, which has a depth of 24mm. Available in RAL 7035 light grey or RAL 9011 black, both colours feature RAL 7012 grey over-moulded soft side grips. The units are moulded in general purpose ABS and are ideal for housing small hand-held instruments, remote controllers, flying lead machine controllers and many other applications where a small stylish, easy to hold enclosure is required. The top cover is recessed to allow a membrane keypad to be flush mounted and PCB standoffs are moulded into the base. Battery versions are supplied with clips for two AA and one PP3 batteries. All 1553 enclosures can be supplied factory modified with machining and silk screening to the user’s specification; to help the design process, AutoCAD and PDF dimensioned drawings can be downloaded from www.hammondmfg.com. nextSTEP Contact: sales@hiq.co.nz Tel: 0800 800 293  

    The Veo 16:64 Phased Array instrument is highly capable with multi-technique functionality, including TOFD; fast data recording, a simple to use interface and rugged housing. Veo is ideal for Pipeline Weld Inspection, Corrosion Mapping, Aerospace and Composite Testing. Veo’s design has made simple controls and menu workflow of paramount importance. The display features full 3D views of the user’s test set up including probes, wedges, the weld and geometry, with phased array beams. On-board probe and wedge databases are incorporated in the Veo for fast setups. The Veo Phased Array instrument has TCG and ACG, a superior encoding speed with fast A-scan recording and excellent reporting functionality. Two separate conventional channels provide simultaneous Phased Array and TOFD scanning to speed inspection and ensure correct data referencing for improved defect characterization. Real Time Focal Law calculations allow the user to change scanning parameters instantly, reducing the time spent on setup and defect investigation. The Veo enclosure has been designed to withstand the tough environments in which NDT inspections are carried out, achieving IP65 standard for water and dust ingress and employing internal shock mounts to withstand impacts. The market sectors largest sunlight readable screen is on the Veo. This is a great advantage with complex inspections and multiple probe configurations. Batteries give up to 6 hours use, and are hot swappable for continuous use.