King Steel, Taiwan’s leading producer of shoe-making equipment, together with its European Co-Innovation Partners, has developed a new physical foam injection molding machine process for mass-production. The machine is capable of multi-injection, multi-mode processes and features high utilization and productivity rates, is highly stable and offers excellent environmental protection.
In conjunction with Otsuka Information Technology Corp, the equipment scooped three prestigious international design awards, including a Red Dot Award for Design Concept in Germany and a MUSE Design Award in the US.
Jim Chen(陳璟浩), special assistant to King Steel’s chairman, believes the company’s success with the three major international design awards is due mainly to guidance from its European Co-Innovation Partner. Chen says that the sharing of expertise afforded the new machine three significant distinguishing features.
Photo courtesy of King Steel
First, it helped to improve brand recognition, consolidating the product aesthetic, inspired by the diamond shape to convey a feeling of accuracy and reliability.
The new LED interface and front operation panel color scheme, with corporate blue over white ground, also provide a professional appearance and an interface that complies with CE safety regulations and operating specifications.
Third, the design marks a departure from the conventional rectangular frame, with a more ergonomic shape and retractable feet allowing easy relocation.
Each side of the machine features cut-outs to the flat panels to provide a distinctive three-dimensional feel and is crafted with ridged lines, leading the eye to the center. A large viewing window provides situational awareness of modularized, horizontally extending equipment.
Jim stresses that meticulous R&D with King Steel’s European partners has enabled the incorporation of a number of key features, including a multi-station design, with multi-mode, multi-injection and continuous production capabilities offering stability and the ability to produce high yields.
Chen says the equipment is the optimal choice for shoe manufacturers entering formal mass production. Under identical production conditions, the new machine can achieve the same output using double injection guns and multi-mode stations, reducing the amount of equipment investment, and increasing plant space efficiency by approximately 70 to 80 percent.
He adds that the new machine is designed with sustainability in mind and can use dinitrogen (N2) or carbon dioxide (CO2) as the foaming agent. Using these natural substances means the process does not produce greenhouse gases, while the oil and electric servo body is more energy efficient and reduces electricity costs.(Advertorial)
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