Engel unveils world's largest technical centre injection moulding machine

The automotive industry increasingly uses larger plastic parts to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel efficiency, and lower production costs. Plastics offer design flexibility, enhance corrosion resistance, and contribute to the longevity and safety of vehicles. They also allow for the integration of functional elements, reducing the number of individual parts needed. Engel’s new facility supports this trend by enabling the production of larger plastic components.

Engel Austria GmbH has expanded its technical centre in St Valentin, Austria, with the duo 5500 combi M, one of the largest injection moulding machines in its standard portfolio. With a clamping force of 55,000 kN, it is the largest technical centre machine in the world, measuring 32m long, 13m wide, 6.8m high, and weighing 545 tonnes. Engel aims to use this machine to develop technologies and components of completely new dimensions in collaboration with its customers and partners. The extra-large mould space accommodates molds weighing up to 150 tonnes, with shot weights up to 42 kg.

The duo 5500 combi M features advanced injection moulding technology with two movable, individually operable horizontal injection units and a combi M injection unit. It is equipped with two six-axis Engel easix articulated robots for flexible and efficient automation. For PU applications, two Cannon systems are available, one for small-volume and one for high-volume applications. Additionally, a corresponding dosing unit allows for colouring polyurethanes to create exciting designs. All digital assistance systems from Engel are integrated into the machine control, enabling energy-efficient, sustainable, and optimised production processes.

This state-of-the-art machine was developed to meet the demands of the automotive industry and technical injection moulding and is now available for customer trials. Its impressive size supports a wide range of material combinations and technologies, including clearmelt for coating visible parts with PUR, foammelt for foam injection moulding, organomelt for long glass fibre or tape reinforcement, coinmelt for compression injection moulding, optimelt for high-quality optical parts made from transparent plastics, combimelt for multi-colour injection moulding, and foilmelt for back-injection of decorative/functional films. The new Engel technical centre facility covers all application areas for the automotive sector and technical injection moulding.

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