Hitech thermoforming

High productivity, high flexibility, reduced times: This is what the F33 thermoforming machine guarantees, a brand new machine and OMV Machinery’s latest creation who, in order to develop the same, turned to Bosch Rexroth for support.

OMV Machinery (Parona, VR) is internationally recognized for its high standard of technology and degree of specialization in thermoforming and extrusion of plastic materials. Its R&D section is cutting edge, with a high-level of expertise in the manufacture of polypropylene and the creation of thermoforming machines, extrusion lines and turnkey systems complete with all the required auxiliary equipment.
Skills, those of OMV, also much appreciated by its suppliers, as Luca Stanzani (Food, Packaging and Printing Sales and Industry Manager of Bosch Rexroth) recognised, commenting on the quality of the collaboration: «We have been working with OMV for years and we have always been impressed by their professionalism and the constant search for improvement and innovation, the basis of their success».

The new F33. Among the recently created systems, the F33 thermoforming machines best interprets the concept of quality that underlies OMV’s product offer. The machine provides an efficient and advanced thermoforming of cups, bowls, containers for ice cream, yogurt and packaging, in short, all those products requiring maximum dimensional accuracy. The new F33 can work different thermoplastic materials such as PS, PP, ABS, PET.
Fully automatic, with in-mold trim technology (forming and cutting at the same station) the machine ensures high cutting precision and features a high cycle speed, simple functioning and maximum flexibility.
The system comprises a forming press with cutting station and an automatic offloading system. Its flexibility is ensured by the fact that, by merely replacing the mold, products can be made that are highly different from each other in terms of weight, dimensions and materials used.
On request, the thermoforming may be supplemented by an extrusion system upstream and bagging and boxing facilities at end-of-line.
The result is a compact, versatile and reliable machine able to achieve more than 40 cycles/min. in dry cycle mode. «We must consider - states in this regard Ingegner Marco Montresor, head of OMV’s technical electrical section - that the speed depends on several variables, ie the type of object to be created, the thickness of the sheet and the material used: the F33 can pressmould in both PP and polystyrene with high productivity levels. For example you can produce over 53,000 200 ml cups per hour».

Featuring Drive & Control. In the construction of the new F33, OMV was supported by Bosch Rexroth, with which it has been collaborating for over 20 years. «To build a fast and versatile machine, we needed to rely on a partner that was equally flexible and open to innovation. Bosch Rexroth has supplied all the components with the necessary features to suit our needs», confirms Montresor. The machine has been equipped with controls, drives, motors, pneumatic components and linear guides. In particular, the electronic part, which is the heart of the system, features MSK motors along with single axis modular drives (36 to 210 A) with synchronism and interpolation directly on the drive, stabilized regenerative power and MLD-M type axial control unit. The drive architecture also uses the STO and safe integrated certified motion safety features.
«The solution adopted for OMV responds fully to the demands of flexibility and the reduction of production changeover times. The high performance of our motors and drives are decisive in terms of the automation» intervenes Luca Stanzani.
«We were called upon to support the mechanical thrust of the F33 with our components: to give very high acceleration and reduce downtime in the cycle, we used high-dynamic motors, which provide the highest performance in terms of productivity».
Through a simple software setting, the new F33 thermoforming machine can operate with punch-and-die technology or specific molds that use steel-rule cutting technology, particularly prevalent in the production of PET containers and trays.
Its max. flexibility enables the F33 thermoformer to meet all possible market demands without any modification of the machine.

Made to measure. The F33 was developed and built to meet the specific need of a customer, who needed a compact machine, with a limited forming area and with high cycle speed. Thanks to the support from Bosch Rexroth, OMV has been able to combine the best electronic and mechanical technology, to the benefit of machine operativity, all this at a commercially competitive price.