| Plastic fuel systems supplier
Inergy will put a new blow-moulding process into production next year
with an unnamed OEM. It integrates peripheral parts into a plastic fuel
tank in one process.
“Twin sheet blow moulding” allows parts such as fuel gauges,
pumps and lines to be integrated with only minor modifications to a standard
blow moulding machine. The process means the fuel system has fewer seams
and so fewer evaporative emissions – important for California’s
Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle standard.
“Twin sheet blow moulding allows for new architecture possibilities,
free positioning of components, reduced slosh noise and optimised fuel
tank volumes,” said Inergy.
The process takes the parison, the hollow tube of plastic, and cuts it
in half when it comes out of the extrusion head. This creates two sheets.
Inergy then inserts a central core supporting the components between the
two halves.
The next stage blows the sheets on to their respective mould halves while
the components are mechanically anchored onto the inner tank’s surface.
The core is removed before the mould closes and completes the blowing
cycle.
There are hardly any finishing operations such as welding or cutting.
The process uses known techniques so is easy to set up, said Inergy. Even
so, it is the result of two years intensive research. |
|
