Milacron Plastics Technologies (www.milacron.com) has replaced the standard frequency or induction drive motor featured in the Maxima Servo injection molding machine with a permanent-magnet servo motor to enable it to offer reliability, energy efficiency and part quality comparable to an all-electric at a lower price.

Unlike other competitive servo driven hydraulics, the machine’s two-platen clamp design allows it to directly apply pressure to the mold’s center rather than the corners, resulting to more consistent parts.

In a release, Milacro’s Hydraulic Platform Product Manager Brian Bish noted that the new Maxima Servo line combine the energy savings of various all-electric presses with its small footprint and two-platen’s center tonnage cylinder. The company also revealed that the energy savings offer a return on the initial cost premium for at least six months.

Instead of utilizing an induction motor that operates at a fixed speed, Maxima’s servomotors runs at varying speeds of zero to 3000 rpm in both directions and respond to work load with remarkably high resolution. This is attributed to its ability to control rotation by a fraction of an angle.

Moreover, the electro-hydraulic pump is replaced by an internal gear pump, which offers the advantage of running only when needed and requires less maintenance.

The Maxima directly provides clamping force behind the mold by centrally positioning the tonnage cylinder at the back of the moving platen, effectively concentrating uniform force at the mold surface and reducing platen deflection. Aside from reducing mold wear, this also enables superior force distribution across the parting lines of the mold for cleaner parts.

Offered globally from 310 tons to 4400 tons, the Milacron Maxima Servo is also available in hybrid version.