Negri Bossi builds third big Bi-Power

Negri Bossi showed off an enormous, 7,700-ton two-platen hybrid injection molding machine at its open house for international molders in Milan.

The Bi-Power VH 7000 press on display, the largest Negri Bossi builds, is headed to a Portugal molder that will use it to produce very large containers for the refuse, logistics and agricultural industries.

The machine is the third VH 7000 model built by Negri Bossi SpA since introducing the line five years ago, says Tony Firth, VP and general manager at Negri Bossi USA, New Castle, Del. One of those machines went to a molder in Spain for the production of refuse containers, and the other to a molder in Japan that supplies large storage containers to fishermen.

The huge Bi-Power, weighing in at 530 tons and with a footprint of 88.6 feet by 23 feet by 18 feet, was the highlight of the September open house. Each tie bar is 14 metric tons, equivalent in heft to a 180-metric-ton press. The model features a special twin-barrel injection unit and co-injection nozzle that can deliver a 330-pound shot of PS. It handles a maximum mold weight of about 265,000 pounds. There are 96 accumulators on the unit and an oil tank with 1,320-gallon capacity.

The Bi-Power VH 7000 press comes with a new Powerlink Ethernet-based controller featuring an enhanced operator interface for easier, more intuitive setup of system functions. To ease mold changeovers, the unit is equipped with an automatic tie bar extraction device that pulls the top, non-operator side tie bar through the fixed platen towards the injection unit.

The Bi-Power line's eight models span from 1,100 to 7,700 tons.

The open house, which brought in 150 visitors, including 30 molders from the U.S., included demonstrations in multi-component molding on several toggle presses. Visitors also heard news of a new wide-platen option on Negri Bossi's Vector series of smaller hybrid machines and they saw a demonstration of its core competency in multi-material applications with several units in the final stage of building and testing.

Two 250-ton eCanbio toggle presses, each with a second injection unit mounted vertically, produced flip-top closures with a living hinge from PP material. Slides in the tool flipped the cap over before over-molding with a different color of PP. Another eCanbio, a 330-ton unit, produced a face mask featuring an LSR lens over-molded with PP.

Also on display was a 1,500-ton hybrid machine from the Vector line, being built for a customer in Windsor, Ontario. The new wide-platen option provides up to 15 percent wider platens.

Negri Bossi's parent company, Sacmi Group, manufactures all of the machinery in Imola, Italy. Earlier this year, Sacmi sold its Negri Bossi plastics division to Ausable Capital Partners LLC, Santa Monica, Calif., and Kingsbury Corp., Rush, N.Y. The sale includes Negri Bossi's portfolio of products and encompasses the Negri Bossi and BM Biraghi injection molding machines, as well as the Sytrama range of Cartesian robots and related automation products.

Sacmi will continue to manufacture Negri Bossi's Bi-Power machines at the Imola plant for the foreseeable future.

Kingsbury manufactures extrusion, coating and converting equipment, and Ausable brings extensive experience in injection molding to the venture. Sacmi, which has owned Negri Bossi since 2002, will focus on its core business of ceramics, beverage, compression and food processing equipment.

For more information, contact Negri Bossi North America, 302-328-8020, www.negribossina.com.

Mikell Knights, senior correspondent

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