ADDITIONAL PRODUCT NEWS

R&D Launches New Quick Change System at NPE

NPE 2006 will mark the debut of R&D’s new Quick Change Lower Blow system (patent pending). This innovative new system reduces time and complexity of tool changes for single stage ISBM customers and so further assists their efforts to optimise production “up-time”. NPE will also see R&D present the extension of their proprietary “Genesis” hot runner technology for Injection Blow Moulding applications for the first time at a US show. 

NPE 2006 will be held in Chicago, USA 19-23 June. NPE will be the #1 promotional event for 2006 for the Lee’s Summit, Missouri based Group and there will be representation from all divisions of the Lee’s Summit, Missouri based Group – Mould Tooling, Moulding Labs and Rapid Prototyping. 

HASCO-Tubular Heating Element Z 1138

HASCO presents an individually bendable heating element with CE certification. The tubular heating element has a square cross section of 6 x 6 mm and is available in nine different lengths up to 1000 mm. The heating elements are connected to 230 Volt AC and have a surface performance of 10 Watt/cm². The maximum operating temperature is 700C.

The tubular heating element Z 1138 is easy to bend and can be formed into any groove lay-out with a mallet. Optimum heat transmission is achieved by the metal braided hose with square cross section because this ensures an adequate contact area in the milled groove.

The heating element is easy to mount which considerably reduces mould down times in case of extremely rare repairs. The HASCO tubular heating elements are used preferably for applications in hot runner moulds as well as for heating of cavity plates of injection- and compression moulds. Another area of application is the heating of drop forges, embossing and deep drawing tools.

Cimatron Releases New 5-Axis NC Package

Cimatron Limited, a leading provider of integrated CAD/CAM solutions for the tooling and manufacturing industry, announced the availability of a new powerful 5-Axis NC package for production of complex parts. The new 5-Axis Production package is designed to machine parts in demanding industries, such as aerospace, defense, and heavy machinery.  

5-axis machining allows for the accurate production of complex shapes, and is used in advanced manufacturing fields for the production of impellers and turbine blades, ports and inlets, cutting tools, rubber molds, patterns and models.  

Now, Cimatron dedicated software for 5-Axis Production gives experts productive tools they need to create highly-efficient, gouge-free toolpaths that produce complex parts with high surface quality. It enables 5-Axis NC manufacturers to gain greater efficiency and achieve shorter delivery time. 

CimatronE 5-Axis Production contains a rich set of 5-axis roughing and finishing strategies, complete with tool and holder collision check. Powerful material removal and machine simulation complete the package. 

Synventive Valve Gate Cylinders Improve Glass Fiber length Retention

Synventive Molding Solutions has developed two types of valve gate cylinders for hot runner systems that feature a very large stroke as well as an optimized melt flow channel, both greatly improving the ability to retain maximum glass fiber length in the molded part.

This innovative system is suited to all types of long fiber processing, whether it be from pellets, master batch glass concentrates or direct, continuous fiber compounding, enabling the part designer and processor greater flexibility to optimize performance and lower cost.

The valve gate cylinders – HYC 4018 and PNC 7518 – from Synventive are suited to both hydraulic and pneumatic systems. The increased cross section and optimized edge design, in combination with the large melt flow channel, reduces stress at the gates by minimizing pressure therefore reducing shear. This allows greater fiber length retention as well as giving greater service life to the needle and nozzle, key factors in reducing operation costs.

Typical application industries include automotive, household appliances, electrical and electrical installation equipment.

UGS Delivers Industry's First Complete Digital Product Development Solution on Linux

UGS Corp. announced the shipment of its NX™ 4 digital product development software on the popular Linux open source operating system. UGS is the world's first PLM software and services provider to offer a complete solution for the Linux environment. 

As the world's leading open source operating system, Linux offers customers an enterprise class operating environment at a low cost of ownership. Linux and x64 are two of the technologies most requested by UGS customers. As part of its Linux strategy and commitment to open standards, UGS now offers its NX flagship product on the latest 64 bit technology from AMD and Intel. UGS will also offer Teamcenter on Linux later in the year. 

UGS chose Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for the superior scalability and reliability required for high-end engineering. Functional benefits include UNIX(r) Migration, High Performance, Backward-Compatibiity, and Open Standards.

Delcam Extends Power Features in Mold Design Software 

The new version of Delcam’s PS-Moldmaker 3D mold design software sees the use of the company’s unique “Power Features” technology extended to almost all of the items contained within the databases of standard components.  This will make mold design with the software even faster, both in the generation of the initial design and when making design modifications.  Other enhancements in the new release include full integration of the assembly modeling functionality with the solid modeling commands and automated production of drawings. 

Parametric components that contain Power Features react automatically as they are placed within an assembly, adding all the necessary fit-features to the connecting components.  As each part is added, the tolerances between the various components are also defined automatically.  This automatic creation of relationships makes the development of the overall design much quicker than other 3D mould design systems and also makes errors in the design process less likely.   

As well as making it easier to modify the size and position of components, the new release of PS-Moldmaker also makes it simpler to swap one component for another.  The component wizard allows changes to be made quickly and easily, either by choosing alternative standard parts from the databases or by entering custom sizes. 

With the high degree of automation, the time needed to produce a complete set of drawings for even a complex mould should be no longer than a day.  This compares with the two or three weeks that are typically needed with current drawing methods. 

Furthermore, all dimensions are displayed on the drawings as tables of parameters.  This makes it much easier and quicker to program 2D machining operations than the more traditional drawing layout with dimensions displayed all around the drawing.