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Kautex Maschinenbau provides the Japanese corporation Toray Industries an extrusion blow molding machine type KBS20 for research and development purposes. Toray's own technical center in the factory in Nagoya is using the new Kautex machine to test the production of different 3D pipes using the so-called suction blow process. The focus here lies on the development of especially heat-resistant air ducts made from polyphenylene sulphide PPS.
A development partnership
Jürgen Moitzheim, Sales Director at Kautex Maschinenbau, is looking forward to working with the Japanese resins manufacturer. "The latest developments in combustion engines are once again creating challenges for automotive industry suppliers. This is especially true for the interplay between materials and engine technology. For this reason we like to work very closely together with our customers on the development of new solutions." This also convinced Toshiteru Nishijama, Manager for Automotive Products Business, Resins Global Marketing Dept. at Toray: "We were looking for a provider who not only produces good machines, offers high process reliability and good service, but who will also support us with their know-how in the R&D field. It became clear quite quickly that we would use a Kautex suction blow molding machine."
PPS for turbocharger
A current development trend in the automotive industry is the downsizing of car engines while at the same time increasing performance. In order to achieve this, turbochargers are installed which need especially heat-resistant ducts. Toray achieved very good results here with polyphenylene sulphide PPS. This plastic distinguishes itself with especially high and durable heat-resistance up to 220 degrees Celsius. Kautex machines have been able to process this material without problems for many years.
Low-waste blow molding
Since 1999, it has been possible to produce 3D molded parts on Kautex machine type KBS which have numerous applications for pipes and tubes in the car industry. They are used as fuel filling pipes, intake air ducts, or cooling air ducts in modern combustion engines. 3D blow molding is an especially low-waste production method. In contrast to the conventional method, the parisons are molded into functional components without welds.
Further advantages arise in the manufacture of 3D ducts when using the suction blow molding method. Here, the parison is drawn into the elongated cavity of a blow mold before the actual blow molding of the part. This allows the use of significantly simpler and consequently cheaper blow molding tools.
