SencorpWhite, a leading supplier of thermoforming machinery, is using NPE 2018, May 7-11 in Orlando, FL, to introduce the Ultra 2, said to be the largest production steel rule die in-line thermoformer in the global plastics industry. On the machine, which has a footprint of 50’ x 11’, the process tonnage of 35 tons for form and 130 tons for trim is generated entirely by electric servo motors, and the steel rule die inline arrangement results in faster changeover and an overall cost only 10% of conventional punch & die systems, according to company sources. Onboard, 44 zones of heating are being controlled by a heat control supplied by Siemens, who also supplied the servos and other motion control components for this machine.
“The genesis of the Ultra 2,” says Brian Golden, Product Manager for Thermoformers at SencorpWhite, “was market analysis in which we determined a distinct need among our major industry segments for a more precise thermoformer with optimum control of form and trim operations, as well as a large forming area to increase production. The Ultra 2 boasts a 34-inch x 48-inch forming area. Typically, such a large machine would involve major challenges in motion and heat control, especially when running at higher production speeds.” That’s why the SencorpWhite engineering team, led by Greg Danti, turned for assistance to its longtime supplier Siemens.
“We were challenged from the outset, as SencorpWhite was looking for a faster thermoformer to do higher-end work,” says Hue Lieu, SencorpWhite Account Manager. “Likewise, they were seeking ways to achieve faster assembly, faster operation on the machine, overall cost reduction in various areas of heat and motion control, plus finally a greater throughput due to their newly designed steel rule die and proprietary off-loading system.” All of these things had to be addressed, says Lieu. “Just another day at the office, right?” he adds.
Overall, the Ultra 2 was in development approximately 2-1/2 years, with the bulk of the engineering focused on the electrical and electronic controls. “The Siemens team brought our unique TIA Portal to the table,” says Mathias Radziwill, Head of the Siemens Plastics Industry Group. “This system enables complete access to the entire suite of Siemens products and software available, allowing machine builders to engage in a totally digital enterprise during machine development, performance evaluations, simulation scenarios, build stages, and commissioning, plus it has full diagnostic and energy management tools. Many machinery builders view TIA Portal as their gateway to Industry 4.0.”
The key to the machine form and trim tonnage was the implementation of electric servos. “It eliminated an array of mechanical components, with their obvious cost and assembly time expense for the customer,” says Lieu. “The servos also run the indexers on the rail system, which upped the productivity of the machine by 40% or so.”
