Three award-winning products created on 10000kN wide-platen presses demonstrated the versatility of multi-nozzle structural foam molding for creating extremely large plastics parts.

Uniloy Milacron demonstrated at NPE the versatility of multi-nozzle structural foam molding for creating extremely large plastic parts by featuring three innovative, award-winning products created on Uniloy Springfield 1000 tonf (10000kN) wide-platen presses. A large children's play cottage, made by Horizon Plastics of Cobourg, Ontario, features two 6.5 x 5ft roof panels and two floor panels molded on a Uniloy 1000 tonf press. Two roof or floor panels, enough for one cottage, can be molded per cycle on the machine's 167in W x 104in H platen.

The cottage's innovative roof design earned top honors at the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) Alliance of plastics processors 2006 conference.

Industry's first collapsible transport container capable of carrying liquids was honored at the 2005 conference.

The Citadel?

Bulk Container from Buckhorn, Cincinnati, features 48in W x 46in H walls molded four-up in a single cycle on a Uniloy Springfield 1000WP press.

Fitted with a disposable plastic liner, the revolutionary container can hold up to 300 gallons/3000 lb of liquid or granular product.

Developed for the food and material processing industries, the Citadel replaces bulk wooden containers, corrugated gaylords, and drums for transport and long-term storage.

Special interlocking lids and bases, molded on the Uniloy press, allow secure stacking up to five containers high.

Buckhorn's 'Center Flow Container', an earlier award winner, was developed for large-scale soybean transport and planting.

Bulk seeds are shipped in the closed containers, then loaded onto a mechanized planter for the actual seeding operation.

Two mating units mating - a 56in L x 45in W x 33in H lower base section and slightly smaller upper section - are shipped filled with seed.

The container holds up to 436 gallons/2500 lb.

of product.

Mounted on the planter, center-flow, interior funnel design enables complete emptying without tilting or jogging.

The lower section has a molded-in hopper with a slide shutoff.

When the container is empty, the upper section can be slid into the lower section to reduce space for return to the seed company.

Both sections are molded on a Uniloy 1000 tonf structural foam press with mold daylight extended to 180in to accommodate the deep-draw molds.

The lower unit requires a 200 lb shot of PE, the upper unit more than 100 lb.

'These products demonstrate the unique capabilities of structural foam molding for creating both very large flat structures and massive, deep structures,' said Ed Hunerberg, executive director of Uniloy Milacron's structural foam and industrial blow molding machinery businesses.

'The structural foam process provides a low-pressure, lower-cost solution to molding large, high-strength, durable parts.