As vacuum formers we are usually fighting with parts made using GRP/GFK , Rotational Molding, Blow Moulding or Injection Moulding! 

What we project as the advantages of vacuum forming is the low cost tooling compared to the other technologies & how lightweight the part is!

The story of why vacuum forming over other technologies sounds legit specially when the parts are XL sized. Parts of size 2 x 3 m or 4 x 2 m or 5 x 2.5 m are now increasing in demand by markets like automotive, wind-energy, farm equipment, signage, spas, industrial covers, etc. 

In the past 3 years, Machinecraft has made 6 x XL sized machines. While producing the XL sized machines, we faced many challenges which we have now overcome, one such challenge was the clamping of sheets in the center when they are so long, there is a counter force / bulge in the center which needs to be acted with a pneumatic clamping system in the center. 

One such special XL sized machine was delivered last week to our client in North America. Below is a video of the machine.

The machine was designed with special request from the customer. They run high sag materials on the machine o size 4,800 x 2,500 mm with more than 500 mm depth. The tools are usually negative. And the number of parts per day are close to 10 numbers. So, the requirement for the machine to be fast is not important but they have a high product change-over. The machine was requested with an easy sheet loading & tool change system. The client also had a tight floor space, so adding a traditional autoloader which occupies the same space as the machine was not an option!

So, we designed a new type of system that allows the bottom platen to come out of the machine and the operator can easily set the tool outside and also load / unload from above the tool outside of the chamber. 

This is probably the first time anyone has done such a system in the word! And we are proud to share the video with you.

If you have any request for XL parts, you can reach out to Machinecraft to help you realize the project in an economic way.