“Zero Cooling” technology & revised machine design from ASB creates a quantum leap for high quality & productivity at Chinaplas 2019

Chinaplas 2019 The 33rd Chinaplas continues to grow annually and is well established as Asia’s largest plastics & rubber trade fair.  Its significance has now grown far beyond China’s borders and with year-on-year increases in overseas visitors it makes an ideal venue for ASB to reach potential customers across the eastern hemisphere.

“Zero Cooling” - Patented Molding Technology Announced in 2018, ASB’s revolutionary advance in preform cooling technology enables significantly faster molding cycles than seen previously while at the same time actually increasing product quality. Taking full advantage of ASB’s proprietary 4-station, 1-step molding method, virtually all the required preform cooling is shifted away from the injection station and into the second, conditioning station enabling dramatically reduced injection cycle times. Crucially, the Zero Cooling molding method enables these fast cycle times to be achieved while avoiding the need for thin, non-optimized preforms that are susceptible to several quality related problems, most notably “fisheye”, “body ring” and “orange peel”, all of which are undesirable.

Now, the preform designer is free to focus on a shorter preform design with a thicker wall section that enable full optimization of stretch ratios resulting in dramatically improved quality as well as increased productivity.

This groundbreaking molding technique effectively eliminates the traditional need to compromise the preform design between cycle time and container quality.  It is made possible by the four-station molding process of the ASB Series machines having the preform conditioning station between the injection and blow stations.

The advanced cooling method also enables the molding of heavyweight premium cosmetic containers in very short cycle times using standard PET grades while exhibiting no haziness. 

Actual test results from Zero Cooling molds have shown 15% higher strength, improved control of material distribution and an average of 1.5X productivity increases while maintaining or improving on visual quality.

Furthermore, since the material strength has been improved by better orientation, more scope is available to apply additional light-weighting to a container’s specification. 

ASB-70DPH One Step Injection Stretch Blow Molding Machine The mid-range ASB-70DPH model has been a best seller for over 30 years due to its economy, flexibility and convenient size – and due to regular technology updates, it has stayed at the forefront of 1-step molding technology with class leading efficiency.   The version being demonstrated at Chinaplas 2019 is a pre-production model of the next generation design that showcases a wide range of updates and options that further enhance flexibility but most importantly, complements the Zero Cooling molding process to dramatically increase productivity over previous models, especially for smaller containers.  Key points include; 

• Revised hydraulic circuit provides faster, smoother motion of clamping.
• Adjustable stroke in all clamping stations reduces machine indexing time for shorter preforms, while adjustable daylight also allows longer preforms, a feature especially useful for non-PET molding resins.
• Fully revised blow station reduces index time, simplifies blow mold changeover and reduces maintenance.
• Compatibility for existing ASB-70DPH molds is maintained.
• Optional integrated height adjustment system for injection unit reduces mold changeover times in high product mix molding scenarios.