Technology
KraussMaffei New Small CX Series
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raussMaffei Technologies GmbH launched its new CX series features many optimizations with regard to energy efficiency, productivity, and space requirements. KraussMaffei has reworked its CX small machine series in the clamping force range of 350 to 1600 kN and consistently taken advantage of every opportunity to increase efficiency. Customers
New CX series features many optimizations with regard to energy efficiency, productivity, and space requirements.
benefit from low expenses for energy, space, time and materials, gaining important competitive advantages in the process. At CHINAPLAS 2015 (May 20 – 23), KraussMaffei showed a new CXV 160 at its booth 5.1J41. From hydraulics to control software to automation, almost every component in the tried-and-true CX machines in the small clamping force range was subjected to testing and numerous improvements were defined. "The CX series is already a successful product line. Our goal was to align this series more consistently with customer needs. Plastics processors should have the option of producing plastic with outstanding cost efficiency and flexibility," explains Dr. Hans Ulrich Golz, President of the Injection
Molding Machinery segment of the KraussMaffei Group. The new CX in the series of small machines up to 1600 kN has now become top of the class thanks to a large number of individual innovations. "We were in fact able to technically implement all of our customer requirements: 10 percent less energy, 15 percent faster, 30 percent quieter, oil volume reduced by 20 percent, and 25 percent greater efficiency; thanks to automation and faster set-up times means 100 percent added value for the customer," says Dr. Golz. Additional highlights specifically for small machines include the new sprue picker, the ejector coupling and the BluePower Vario Drive concept The new CX from KraussMaffei features high productivity and innovative detailed solutions with respect to energy efficiency, automation, space-saving design and zero-defect production.
Process to make a thermoset that can be reshaped and reused A process to make a thermoset that can be reshaped and reused has been developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The new plastic is a shape-memory polymer, so named because the material can “remember” its original shape and return to it after being deformed with heat or other forces. Orlando Rios from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a team of researchers from Washington State University and the
University of Idaho have developed a process to make a thermoset that can be reshaped and reused. The team's study is published in the journal Macromolecules. The new plastic is a shape-memory polymer, so named because the material can "remember" its original shape and return to it after being deformed with heat or other forces. The materials exhibit tripleshape memory behavior, meaning that the polymers can transform from one temporary shape to another
temporary shape at one temperature, and then back to a permanent shape at another temperature. Rios explains that although researchers have been interested in making use of shape-memory polymers' intriguing characteristics, managing the shape-shifting behavior has been a struggle. "One big issue that has limited their use is controlling the transformation temperatures and their properties," he said. "We give a recipe where you can adjust the
57• June 2015 • Plastics News