Milacron’s Uniloy product brand installs Meech’s 929IPS DC bars on blow moulding machines
Milacron’s Uniloy blow moulding product brand, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of plastic processing systems, has been installing Meech’s Hyperion 929IPS DC ionising bars for the past three years to reduce the level of static activity on its blow moulding equipment.
Founded in the USA in 1950, Uniloy’s European facilities are located in Magenta, Italy, with multiple manufacturing facilities situated in Germany. Milacron employs more than 5,000 people worldwide across all of its product brands and generates annual sales of more than $1 billion.
Milacron is the world’s only supplier of a complete product portfolio that includes hot runner systems, injection moulding, blow moulding and extrusion equipment, DME mould technologies and CIMCOOL fluid technologies. Uniloy machines are used to manufacture various parts and containers for a number of industries, including packaging, automotive, medical and cosmetics.
Massimo Davoli, Global Product Manager – Shuttle Blow Moulding at Uniloy, explains how his company came to recognise the need for an anti-static solution. “Depending on the processed material, speed and ambient conditions, high static charges can build up on the extruded parisons during the blow moulding process. Static can have a serious effect on parison alignment, with a particularly high concentration of static being able to cause the parisons on the blow moulding lines to swing out of place. Product misbehaviour can potentially result in malfunctioning equipment, loss of production and poor container quality which will lead directly to increased rejection rates.”
Being aware of the negative effects that static can have on production, Uniloy made the decision to install Meech’s Hyperion 929IPS DC bars to neutralise the parisons after the extrusion process.
The Hyperion 929IPS is a compact pulsed DC ionising bar with Integrated Power Supply (IPS), with default settings that allow quick and easy installation and use on extrusion lines. A 24V plug and play bar, it provides excellent static elimination for short to medium range applications (up to 500 mm). A significant advantage of the bar is its compact dimensions, which makes ionising the parisons easier and without compromising workflow and production speeds.
According to Davoli, customer needs have drastically changed in recent years. «Our customers need more support and only the ones that have their requirements met can survive in the market. In addition to this challenge, we must constantly develop our machines and explore new technologies. In the future, the demand for full-electric machines, which are more productive and energy-saving compared to hydraulic machines, is set to increase.»
Mr. Davoli concludes: «Meech has proven to be a reliable partner and we are very satisfied with their anti-static solution, as well as the service provided. We trust in their systems and are able to supply our customers with flawless working machines thanks to our solid partnership.»
