With its motto of “Fully electric designs at affordable prices”, Zhafir Plastics Machinery is right on track for the 2013 K Show. Nearly 3.000 Venus machines have been sold since its introduction in 2007; the numbers are doubling each year. With its new Generation II models, Zhafir has greatly optimized the Venus series and expanded the range of models. While clamping forces from 400 to 4,000 kN have been available up until now, the second generation is also available in further clamping forces of 3,000, 3,600, 4,500, and 5,500 kN. “We are convinced that full electric solutions will take the lead in the next few years, especially for small and mid clamping forces” states Professor h. c. Dipl.-Ing. Helmar Franz confidently. Franz is CSO and a board member of Haitian International Ltd. “The principal market, Asia, has long set the pace, and the other markets will follow suit.”
New production capacities for around 10,000 machines per year
In Asia, the Zhafir Venus Series has competed effectively against the machines of the Japanese market leaders. “We have already measured ourselves against the market leaders from Japan in more than 1,000 mold tests to obtain performance comparisons. I can say with pride that we outperform competitors in more than 80% of the test results and are superior in performance, energy savings, and price,” says Mr. Fu Nanhong, Chief Engineer of Haitian International. At the parent company, the increasing demand worldwide for full electric machines is viewed as a logical consequence of the global pressure of competition and the company has opted for capacity expansion in a timely manner. In Chungxiao, Ningbo, a new plant is being built with a production area of 120,000 m² and capacity for up to 10,000 machines per year.
The new plant is an important building block for enhancing the production and development of full electric machine concepts. “But the fact remains: we only introduce innovations to the market when they are perfected. They have to bring advantages and savings, but they must be affordable for the customer,” emphasizes Professor Franz.
The most important new developments at a glance:
• The Venus II Series is now available with clamping forces of 400, 600 , 900, 1,200 , 1,500, 1,900, 2,300, 3,000, 3,600, 4,500, and 5,500 kN.
• In the Venus Series II, with clamping forces of 2,300 kN and more, the distances between tie bars have been significantly increased and adjusted to meet international standards.
• Up to 8 injection units are available for each clamping force.
• All motors of the Venus II Series within Haitian drive systems have been specially developed for this series. They offer higher acceleration rates, high energy savings, and rapid reaction times, and they can be fine-tuned to their inverters.
• In the standard design, the result is an increase in injection performance to 200 mm/s in injection unit models up to 430 and 160 mm/s in the higher models up to 3,350.
• The optional packaging version of the Venus II Series “p” from 1,500 to 3,800 kN offers injection speeds of up to 350 mm/s.
• The new design of the injection unit is more compact, thus more stable, and offers greater dynamics. The swiveling injection unit permits rapid replacement of the screw and facilitates access for maintenance work.
• A new type of central lubrication system works with a low-viscosity lubricant, bringing a savings of 20%.
• The ejector rapid-release coupling reduces set-up times and enables connection to be made within 30 seconds.
• The new generation of Sigmatek controls includes new, flexible core-pull sequences, and a dual-stage mold-protection function in the standard version, RFID card access and an easy-to-use pointer touchpad.
At the K Show, Zhafir will present a VE II 1900p machine in a live demonstration featuring a 24-cavity mold to produce coffee-stirrers weighing 0.6 g in a 2.9 second cycle.
High-speed version with 500 mm/s
Currently the highest injection unit performance is offered by the packaging version of the Venus II Series, with injection speeds up to 350 mm/s. “But that’s not the end of the story,” promises Mr. Fu Nanhong. “More than 95% of components with thin walls require an injection speed of 500 mm/s, and that’s what we’re working on. Take, for example, one of the most popular smart phones of the 2011/2012 generation. Whereas our 350 mm/s Venus produced minimum wall thicknesses of 0.5-0.6 mm, the follow-up model now has wall thicknesses of only 0.3-0.4 mm. Injection unit speeds of 350 mm/s is no longer adequate for this purpose. Our R&D already has a 500 m/s prototype under development that has passed several customer tests.”
