Composites Today

Magazine For Composites Professionals

Electric drive press for composite parts production.

BBG to supply electric composites press for aircraft interior parts to a reputed aerospace company.

BBG announced that it will soon deliver electric composites press for aircraft interior parts to the plant of a reputed US aerospace company. The order goes back to a project by the US subsidiary BBG North America.BBG is one of the leading developers and producers of molds, machines, and end-to-end manufacturing systems for the plastics-processing industry.

BBG manufactured composite prototype parts in its technical center at Oxford/Michigan, for the aircraft manufacturer together with the customer and convinced with the production technology “made by BBG”. The company ordered a pilot plant including molds to produce lightweight composite parts.

Long years of experience with composite presses

In a news release, BBG states that it benefited from its decades of experience in the development and manufacture of mold carrier and press systems. Although hydraulic presses are still widespread today, especially in the field of composites production, its customer has intentionally chosen its system equipped with an electric drive. The four main advantages of the electric composite press:

  1. The high level of efficiency of the electric drive reduces energy consumption to 35 Wh per production cycle.
  2. The high dynamics contribute to short cycle times.
  3. The electric drive is much easier to maintain than the hydraulic variant.
  4. The particularly quiet operation.

BBG manufactures all machines and systems in Mindelheim and ships them from there to its international customers. The theMindelheim team also manufactures the composites press specifically configured for use in aircraft construction. The molds are manufactured by BBG North America and then shipped concurrently with the press and commissioned at the customer’s facility.

Composites press specification

  • The mold mounting plates are 2,200 x 1,500 mm, and molds can be moved and positioned without any effort thanks to integrated pneumatic roller bars.
  • The angle of traverse of the lower carrier plate is 0 to 27 degrees, and that of the upper plate is 0 to 75 degrees. This opens the press wide enough for operators to access the mold comfortably.
  • Maximum capacity is 3,500 kilograms for the lower plate, and 3,000 kilograms for the upper plate.

Intelligent pressure control allows for a press force of 60 US tons – which corresponds to about 535 kN – and an infinitely variable adjustment option from 50 kN onwards.

Easy Control 2.0 ensures ease of handling

The composite press is operated via the Easy Control 2.0 user interface developed by BBG itself. The man-machine interface simplifies the programming and operation of the press while increasing productivity and improving process reliability at the same time.

In this way, reliable results can be achieved in production and the system is simple and easy to handle. The user interface shows the functions and workflows of the press and the mold. Workflows can be adapted quickly and easily without any PLC knowledge.

Leave a Reply