Mold management
Agr International, Inc., Butler, Pa., enhanced its Process Pilot automated blowmolder control system to include Individual Mold Control, which controls the blow parameters for each individual mold station, making it possible to minimize mold-to-mold variation in thickness distribution.
With the Process Pilot system, high-precision thickness distribution measurements are captured on every bottle. Typically the Process Pilot system manages material distribution to a base-line thickness established on an overall average of all mold stations by controlling the oven parameters and P1 pressure as well as start time. These parameters move the material distribution close to baseline to produce a consistent quality of bottles.
The Individual Mold Control option takes distribution management to a new level by identifying the distribution variance from mold to mold. Using an advanced control algorithm, the Individual Mold Control option provides the means to reduce individual mold station variability by proactively adjusting the pre-blow start time of each mold station through individual mold offsets. By doing this, the material distribution can be controlled on a per mold basis, making it possible to achieve an overall tighter distribution model over the entire mold set, much closer to the baseline than can be provided using the global approach. Furthermore, the level of trend analysis incorporated by Process Pilot on a mold station-by-station approach provides valuable data for condition-based mold station maintenance.
The Process Pilot with the Individual Mold Control option is compatible with rotary stretch blowmolding systems that incorporate independent mold station management.
Agr International Inc.
724-482-2163
www.agrintl.com
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