New Sumitomo all-electric press aims at mid-size market

Photo by Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery The SEEV-A HD all-electric press is configured to allow moulds to be loaded from the side.

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery introduced the SEEV-A HD all-electric injection moulding press, aimed at challenging mid-sized presses of electric, hybrid and hydraulic power.

SEEV-A HD comes in eight clamping-force sizes, from 247-562 tons.

The injection moulding machine is designed to handle large, heavier and more complex moulds. The SEEV-A HD handles higher injection requirements, allowing moulders to make bigger parts on a smaller machine, Sumitomo Demag officials said.

Sumitomo introduced its first mid-sized all-electric press in 1997.

“But this machine series is profoundly different, and it opens up all-electric precision and profitability to a much wider range of moulders and applications. It will end any misperception of mid-sized all-electrics being lightweight or unable to handle bigger, heavier moulds,” said John Martich, vice president and chief operating officer of Sumitomo Demag’s US operations in Strongsville, Ohio, and Norcross, Georgia.

Features on the new press include:

? Tie-bar spacing was increased an average of 8% in the traverse direction and 15% in the longitudinal direction, compared with the predecessor series, the SE-HDZ, and is the highest among machines of the same class, Sumitomo Demag officials said. The square configuration of the tie bar spacing also lets moulds to be loaded from the side. A stronger, more rigid frame has boosted the allowable maximum mould weight by an average of 22%, compared with the SE-HDZ.

? Bushing-free tie bars keep the mould area clean and free of grease.

The mould opening stroke is 25mm wider than that of the SE-HDZ. The mould thickness range can be optionally extended 100mm for all model sizes, and 200mm for some sizes.

The ejector stroke is 220mm for all model sizes.

? The company’s new linear guidance system is standard, to ensure that heavy moulds open and close smoothly, maintain parallelism.

? Machine controls also are beefed up. The improved Double Center Press Platen (DCPP) design reduces inconsistencies of surface pressure inside the mould by 15%.

? For added flexibility, an optional high-duty filling specification for thin-wall parts, raises the top injection speed to 200 mm per second. Customers get a larger choice of screw diameters, including large screws with a diameter of up to 90 mm.

And Sumitomo Demag is using special technologies on the SEEV-A HD, including a new one called S-MOVE that replaces multi-step mould open/close speed settings with an optimised speed pattern, that is both smoother and 15% faster. Z-Molding’s Flow Front Control system gives balanced filling with reduced injection pressure. It takes advantage of the energy in the flow front of the resin to finish filling in an even fashion, instead of forcing the melt into open areas, and flashing areas that were already filled.

Z-Molding’s Minimum Clamping System reduces clamping force requirements and ensures optimised venting, and flash-free moulding. And Z-Molding’s Simple Process Setting provides fast and guided setup, ease of use and optimisation of the machine.