Engel X-Melt
There’s a new technology available for the high-speed injection molding of precision thinwall or thin-section parts from modern engineered thermoplastics. Engel’s proprietary X-MELT expansion melt technology is being used in full production to mold thin-wall, lightweight parts, such as mobile phone covers out of an ABS/PC blend, with a wall thickness of just 0.011" to 0.019" (0.3 to 0.5mm) and an injection time of 0.08 seconds. Even more impressive, X-MELT does it without using an accumulator package. The growing need for injection molders to cut costs through faster cycle times, lighter part weights and higher precision is driving the trend to thin-wall parts. Decreasing wall thickness means faster cooling and less plastic, which translates into lower machine cost per unit of time and reduced material costs. Particularly in the highly price-driven electronics device industry, where more and more components must be crammed into smaller packages, wall thicknesses continue to decrease. In addition, the high levels of part quality required demand high speed, high precision and absolute reproducibility from the injection molding machine and the molding process.
