Revamped All-Electric Shuttle Blow Molder

At the recent IPF Japan show in Tokyo, Tahara Machinery Ltd. (part of the JSW Group) introduced a redesigned lineup of all-electric shuttle machines for mass-production applications. The Innovarex400D machine at the show was an eight-head, double-station machine for three-layer coextrusion. Several new features add up to a more compact layout, easier maintenance and new control features for performance monitoring and remote maintenance.

The Innovarex400D has a 44-ton clamp, 1,300-mm mold stroke, up to four extruders (including one for a view stripe) of 35 to 90 mm diameter, and a dry cycle of 4.0 sec. It can produce products from 0.5 liters to around 10 L. Among its key new features is a newly developed clamping mechanism that eliminates the need for both tie bars and the company’s “bend stopper” to prevent platen deflection. The new design is said to save time on clamp maintenance and adjustment.

Changing the direction of bottle takeout to the back rather than to the side reduces the machine width by 35%, while retaining sufficient space for flash and bottle conveyors and making the unit more easily accessible than before.

The revised die-head design utilizes a “comb” style rather than the former “tournament” style, while keeping the head compact and enabling flexibility for installing from one to 12 heads.

Other new features include monitoring the machine’s energy consumption and the load factor of the servo motors. The latter is said to enable early detection of abnormal functioning. Remote maintenance capability is also new, enabling Tahara’s engineers to connect remotely to the machine to check its condition. Also, the addition of quick-connect couplers for the mold cooling lines speeds mold changes.