Injection Molding

Major Injection Molder selects Wheelift free ranging transporters for rapid mold changes to serve their 3000 ton injection molding machines.

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Mold Changers

These self-propelled, precision travel, free ranging mold changers are ideally suited for high production facilities that have many 3,000 ton and larger injection molding machines. These 140 horsepower LPG engine powered mold changing transporters are capable of carrying two molds at a time weighing from 30 to 70 tons each. With a twin-bed power roller deck, equipment efficiencies are quickly realized on the larger injection molding machines that are subjected to the ever frequent mold changes being driven by their automotive and consumer goods customers.

Rapid mold changing with Wheelift® Transporters

A typical mold change sequence has the Wheelift transporter bringing the next replacement mold. The operator maneuvers through narrow aisles with a hand-held pendant from the centralized mold storage and prep areas. The operator drives up to a point that aligns with the empty side of the twin roller deck and the mold that is to be removed. The ransporter travels laterally and stops at the required transfer distance. At that point, the entire Transporter raises up on outrigger jacks to the appropriate transfer height. A "bore sight" is provided in each of the roller deck's end stops allowing the operator to visually align the rollers in the powered roller deck with the rollers inside the machine. The outriggers are a convenient and fast means of providing a level, solid, and stable transfer bed for moving molds on and off the transporter.

CHALLENGE: Meet higher volume requirements by reducing mold change time to allow an injection molding production facility to eliminate overhead crane handling of molds in their new production facility. Mold sizes weigh up to 70-ton each.

SOLUTION: A single pendant controlled 140-ton free ranging Wheelift® Transporter with dual position power roller decks capable of raising to match machine heights to extract spent run molds, then index over to insert new run molds for consistently under 15-minute mold changes.

BENEFIT:

• Eliminates wasted mold change rigging time
• Reduced manpower while improving safety
• Eliminates parasitic downtime
• Provides process flexibility to operate with a wide variety of machines and machine heights

The Transporter has eight on-center rotation, omni-directional travel, fluid suspension axle assemblies. With their 3-point fluid equalizing suspension, the axles have interconnecting fluid lines that divide them into load sharing groups to assure that every wheel carries only its specific share of the load, regardless of variations, slopes, and irregularities in the floor surfaces. Floor loading is dispersed with ground pressure loads spread over a wide footprint to allow the transporter to operate on relatively thin concrete floors.

The Uniload® wheel module provides high capacity along with a degree of flexibility not attainable through other technologies. Wheelift Transporters and AGVs enable manufacturing flexibility with configurable work processes facilitating new design freedoms benefiting worldwide niche markets.

Wheelift Transporters and AGVs are manufactured in Iowa and are custom engineered to application specific requirements. Chassis and fixtures are available with load capacities to 500+ tons and deck heights as low as 18.5". Power options include diesel, LP gas, battery, and/or umbilical cord. Computerized all electric omni-directional drives are standard with individual axle ratings of 15, 20, or 30-ton.

SUMMATION: Free ranging Wheelift® transporters fitted with power roller decks can bring a new degree flexibility and reliability to heavy injection molding applications.

TRADEMARKS

The following terms that are used through this website: Wheelift^®, Uniload^®, SynchroSteer^®, StackAxle^®, TrackAxle™ and OmniAxle^™ are all trademarks that are exclusively licensed to Doerfer Companies.