Visteon sells lighting unit to Indian firm
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n line with its shift to core climate and electronics businesses, US firm Visteon has sold its automotive lighting business to India-based automotive parts supplier Varroc Group for US$92 million. The unit includes a wide range of exterior lighting products supplied to global vehicle manufacturers, including front and rear lighting systems, auxiliary lamps and key subcomponents such as projectors and
Module simplifies GIT
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ustrian machine maker Engel together with German gas injection technology (GIT) supplier Bauer Kompressoren has produced a new module to simplify the application of GIT. GIT frequently offers benefits when producing moulded parts with hollow channels by means of injection moulding. With key patent protection rights having recently expired, this procedure is gaining fresh impetus. In partnership with Bauer, Engel is now offering complete turnkey solutions for GIT branded as gasmelt, with solutions to be developed further. Thanks to a leakage monitoring function that now comes as standard,
Automotive News electronic modules. With 2011 revenue of US$531 million, the business to be sold has operations in Europe, North America and Asia. The business will be part of Varroc’s existing 26 manufacturing plants and three engineering centres. Visteon operations that would transfer to Varroc include manufacturing and engineering facilities in Czech Republic, Mexico and India.
Moulding News the injection moulding machine alerts the system operator as soon as predefined limit values are exceeded. The GIT module is fully integrated in the CC 200 control unit of the Engel injection moulding machine, so the operator is able to monitor the entire process (including the gas supply) via the display on the machine control unit. A gasmelt unit consists of a compressor, pressure accumulator and pressure control module
Energy efficiency highlighted at open house
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t its recent Technology Days, German firm Arburg introduced a productivity package for its hydraulic Allrounder Golden Edition machine series. This includes the Arburg energy-saving system (AES) with variable speed pump drive and a water-cooled drive motor. The use of AES enables energy use to be reduced by up to 20% because a frequency converter continuously adjusts the speed of the electric motor to the actual power required. With the variable-speed pump drive, the machines can be operated at higher speeds thus resulting in a higher pump output, reducing the machine’s dry run time by around 5%. A further benefit is the minimisation of noise, heat and dust
emissions while the dissipated heat can be utilised for energy recovery. A further innovation shown was the servo-electrically driven “twinscrew Injester” for processing a broad range of high-viscosity and paste-like compounds, such as moist polyester (BMC), solid silicone (HTC) or wax. With regard to process integration, Arburg, jointly with FPT Robotik, presented a production cell with an integrated inline printing system, InkBoT process combining digital printing and robotics. In addition, the fully automated production cell also featured an electric Allrounder 370 E and a six-axis robotic system. Two individually printed name plates were produced in a 20-second cycle time. 2
APRIL 2012
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