Bayer MaterialScience has agreed to close technical cooperation with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology Co., Ltd. and Kyowa Industrial Co., Ltd. in the field of polycarbonate (PC) automotive glazing. By combining their expertise in injection molding applications, the three partners are looking to drive forward technological developments for this range of applications and the use of PC glazing in the Japanese automotive industry.

As part of the cooperation, the partners will use an electric two-component injection molding machine with reversing plate from Mitsubishi’s emR series with a locking force of 1,450 metric tons for customer trials in Mitsubishi’s new technical service center at its headquarters (Iwatsuka plant) in Nagoya City.

Bayer MaterialScience will also be contributing its materials knowledge and materials for mold proving. Specially adapted materials that have already proven effective in the series production of automotive glazing will be used for the two-component injection molding process.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technology is a leading manufacturer of electric injection molding machines. Kyowa Industrial brings to the cooperation its expertise as a major global producer of molds for injection molding applications. The company has bundled its full range of expertise in automotive glazing with its high-tech polycarbonate Makrolon under the BayVision brand name.

The collaboration with the two Japanese partners forms Bayer MaterialScience’s second large technology cell for developments in the polycarbonate glazing sector. Support for customers across the globe is significantly underpinned by a new two-component injection molding machine with a locking force of 2,300 metric tons at the company’s own global Glazing Center in Leverkusen, which went into operation in summer 2009. This machine can manufacture parts up to 1.2 square meters in size.

Injection molding has already proven to be the process of choice for large, three-dimensional glazing components such as panorama roofs. With reduced injection pressure, it delivers low-stress and low-distortion components exhibiting excellent surface quality that lend themselves to the application of wetcoats. This technology too can be employed on the machine in Leverkusen, with the experience gained being made available for projects throughout the world. In addition to investing in the injection molding facility, Bayer MaterialScience has once again extended its large coating technical service center in Germany and integrated it in the BayVision concept. This center can coat 3D molded polycarbonate components measuring up to 1.4 square meters using flow coating.

Bayer MaterialScience
www.bayer.com

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Plastic Technologies
www.mhi-pt.co.jp

Kyowa Industrial Co.
www.kyowa-ind.co.jp

::Design World::

---

Filed Under: Automotive, Materials • advanced, Molding • injection molding components

 

---