KBB series - New standard in consumer packaging

Kautex Maschinenbau sets new standards in the manufacture of consumer packaging with a pioneering machine concept. The all-electric KBB series offers maximum freedom in configuration, through which the processor can react flexibly to the ever faster changing demands of the market. Performance and energy consumption have also been optimized.

Less energy, more power
"Our new generation of machines achieves its high performance levels through less downtime," explains Dietmar Michels, Product Manager at Kautex Maschinenbau. "We significantly accelerated transport movements in the machine as well as the opening and closing movement of the mold, reducing the traversing time for 770 mm from the head to the calibration position to only 0.6 seconds." The cooling phase has also been shortened. Compared to conventional production systems, the new machine concept achieves a reduction of 25 percent in the dry cycle time.

Usually, higher performance requires even higher energy consumption. This is exactly the opposite for machines of the KBB series: "By using lighter materials, we have significantly reduced the moving mass. In this way, we were able to increase not only the performance, but also to reduce the required drive power," says Dietmar Michels. There is also a system for recovering energy where the excess braking energy is fed back into the machine or the processor’s network via an intermediate circuit.

Minimizes downtime
A procedure for changing molds, exclusive to Kautex Maschinenbau, allows for further efficiency improvements in the production process. A change of mold can be performed by two persons in less than 15 minutes. An automatic lubrication system provides for an additional reduction of downtime by reducing maintenance. Last but not least, all necessary adjustments for optimizing material and the machine settings can be performed during operation. Consequently, the machine does not need to be stopped, for example, to adjust the closing or calibration forces. This simplifies handling and saves time.

Altogether, the four models of the KBB series offer feed strokes from 400 to 1,000 millimeters and closing forces from 10 to 40 tons, so that a wide spectrum of production possibilities is covered. As an option, the manufacturer has developed a new type of remote monitoring via the Internet, as well as a virtual training station.