THE 'AFFORDABLE' HANDLES LARGE PLASTIC MOLDING PROJECTS

By: Loren Richards, President

American Mold & Engineering Co., Fridley, Minnesota

Although plastics are found in just about every product manufactured, the key to their existence is metal... metal for molds. The key behind the molds are a variety of machine tools including CNC machining centers. Recently, American Mold & Engineering added a new work house to its CNC machining stable, a Mighty Acura Seiki B-100 Bridge VMC featuring a value priced design that offers an extra large envelope to accomondate large work pieces.

American Mold & Engineering (AME) is a twenty-year old, and growing, high-tech injection mold shop. It has performed projects for many Fortune 500 companies, especially office product manufacturers. Making molds for a variety of simple and complex products, the more complex projects (such as ATM machines) may require upwards of 45 separate molds or even more. The key to manufacturing molds is having all the critical resources, leading-edge machinery, high-end software, production-level testing presses, and most importantly, a knowledgeable and experienced work force.

The company offers in-house prototyping services as well. By building prototypes AME offers its customers a wide range of products and sizes. In house presses, ranging from 150 to 1000 tons, allow us to test prototypes as an integral part of that process. Some customers involve us early in the development of a mold, and building soft tools is part of that process. Others ask for a hard tool, and then have us modify it for production.

PAPERLESS ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

By customers including AME early in the design process, we have been able to assist many of them in keeping costs down and to bring their products to market faster. Sharing information is very important to the process. All AME equipment is networked together, which eliminates the proverbial paper trail of documentation. We like to state that our computers can talk to our customers... and our personnel speak their language. In other words, we adapt to the way our customers do their business.

AME maintains a base of advanced engineering tools including Unigraphics CAD and CAM, SmartCAM and laser digitizing. InterCIM is used for postprocessing and all computers and equipments are connected via ethernet.

BRIDGE-TYPE VMC

We host a variety of machine tools including eight CNC machining centers. Recently we added another unit to our operation. The new unit, a Mighty Acura Seiki B-100, offers high performance and versatility at an affordable price. As a double column vertical machining center, it is designed for consistant and accurate machining. The massive cast iron frame is made from high-grade, rigid cast iron that has been specially heat treated to relieve stress and ensure a distortion-free base and provide solid support for maximum rigidity of the uprights. Its large bed and travel of 102" x 50" is perfect for our needs and it handles both aluminum and steel with no problems at all.

The table for the machine has been designed to maximize the working surface area. Heavy work pieces are rigidly supported by an oversized saddle and wide X stance axis ways. Travel is an abundant 102" x 50" x 20" for the B-100, which works great for machining large ejector plates. Table load on the B-100 is a hefty 9,000 lbs and the table is precision ground and fitted to the machine. Its automatic tool changer is bidirectiona, which minimizes tool change time. The magazine holds 20 tools and holds tools with a maximum diameter of 6" and a maximum length of 8".

The spindle nose diameter is oversized for better rigidity and the head design provides smooth, accurate machining throughout the entire speed range. A direct synchronous sensor (DSS) built into the digitally controlled Mitsubishi spindle motor provides a synchronous rotation of the spindle and Z axis. Rigid tapping up to 3,000 rpm is permitted, and again, is great for ejector plates. Controlling the rpm of the spindle reduces tapping time by as much as 50% over conventional tapping as well as maintaining accurate Z axis depth. Costly floating type tap holders are not required.

Designed for minimal maintenance, an automatic lubrication system is used on the premium quality guideways. All guide ways are mounted on precision ground surfaces and have no gibs to adjust. Large pretension and pre-loaded ball screws are used on all three axes, guaranteeing increased positioning accuracy and high feed rates.

Its Mitsubishi MELDAS 520A Series drives feature a built-in 32-bit high speed CPU and advanced servo technology that ensures high-speed positioning. A user friendly interface that utilizes a custom release function and an open architecture, greatly enhances this high performance control.

PEOPLE POWER

Technology is only as good as the people who use it. AME is able to meet a wide range of needs because we have the latest in high-tech hardware, software, and machinery. More importantly, we have knowledgeable and experienced personnel to coax each machine to the upper limits of its capacity. AME's complete CAD design services can handle any challenge, even projects from the barnapkin-sketch stage. Overall, we can take projects through part design, prototyping and testing, all the way to final hand tooling.

One can find just about any kind of tooling technology at AME. Even teh really low tech stuff, like our own invented hand-polishing process. Furthermore, we do not rest on our laurels. We invest heavily in the continued development of our personnel through training and seminars. While they stay attuned to the latest technology, the company benefits by being able to provide better products for our customers.