There have been many attempts in Europe and Japan in recent years to develop sophisticated yet economic all-electric machines. Significant innovations have failed to appear to date. Most fail at the immense costs for components and manufacturing. Since 2007, the Zhafir Plastics Machinery development team has had the necessary freedom and the financial background of the Holding Haitian International Ltd. to research and to develop a totally new approach for a all-electric injection molding machine.
The Zhafir series of the “Mercury” series opens new horizons for the design of molded parts and for the use of innovative plastics that are difficult to process. This is the goal declared by Zhafir Plastics Machinery. To take new paths and by doing so to keep the process based effective principles affordable, these are the maxims for the development engineers. 14 high qualified and high motivated specialists from Germany and China are currently working on the optimization of the first prototypes, which promise the realization of pioneering ideas in many technical details. Seven new patents have already been applied for to date.
At the beginning the technicians and engineers questioned everything that had gone before. All angles were explored from a different point of view. As there were always limits on the tool designers in the geometry of the molded parts so Mercury opens up new opportunities.
The machine design of the Mercury was reduced to the essentials, which amongst other things is particularly recognizable at the machine dimensions. Columns became side walls and consequently took on more functions. Plus the guides on the sides produced greater plate parallelism of the moving plate.
The open and almost simple machine bed offers more free space beneath the mould. The simplest mold assembly even under difficult conditions and the extremely flexible use of the peripheries is consequently made possible.
The clamping system was carefully value engineered and has been reduced to the most essential moving parts.
The separation of plastification and injection permits the combination of various screw and injection piston diameters and thus allows for an exceptionally high melting quality. The injection process is highly dynamic and the piston permits a constant injection volume, which in turn promises a consistent injected weight. This is how Mercury offers its customers a variable configuration of the machines on the specific demands of the molds, materials and process technology.
In the current development stadium of the prototypes there are several components under consideration, for example motors, spindles, ejector systems and screws. In order to find the best possible solution in each case, more systems are currently being tested at the same time in parallel from all angles.
Definition of the standard of the new series happens in dialog with the user. A multitude of workshops, test runs and close agreements with the mold makers, the suppliers of plastics materials and the manufacturers of peripherals help the team of Zhafir specialists to develop an extremely customer oriented solution.
The Mercury is provided with comprehensive standard equipments, which through the effect of mass quantities guarantees favorable costs, a high product quality, high product control and high availability. So high end in standard.
“A 55 ton version is to be delivered for the first time to a pilot client at the end of 2009 as a pre-series. Further pilot projects are already being planned. The practical field reports from the tests are flowing one-to-one directly into the final construction of the Mercury” reports Steffen Franz, Technical Director of Zhafir Plastics Machinery in Germany and leader of the “Mercury” project.
The first results are already clearly showing that the approaches and visions planned with the Mercury can actually be made reality. The sales release will be on time for the K fair in Duesseldorf in October 2010 and consequently the global presentation of the new Mercury series.
