Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : How Engel Broke the Mold at K in 1989
Today's KNOWLEDGE Share
How Engel Broke the Mold at K in 1989
The invention of tie-bar-less molding was a game changer for injection molding technology 35 years ago. The saga continues with a world premiere at K 2025.
When Austria-based Engel unveiled its brand new tie-bar-less injection molding machine at the K show in Dรผsseldorf, Germany, in 1989, attendees were profoundly interested in the technology but also openly skeptical, acknowledged the company. Armed with 20/20 hindsight, however, it’s clear that the technical innovation proved the skeptics wrong and has withstood the test of time.
Engel reports that more than 85,000 tie-bar-less machines have been installed in plants around the world so far, and that number continues to grow as it refines that innovation. In fact, at this year’s K show in October, Engel will introduce an electric model with new features. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What made tie-bar-free design a milestone in plastics processing to begin with?
A user request sparks an idea:
As so often happens, the innovation came about at the behest of a user. As Engel explains it, a customer told them that the conventional four tie-bar setup of injection molding machines made it difficult to do mold changes. It would be so much easier if they weren’t in the way, he mused. The idea resonated with Engel’s development department, which went to work.
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Tie bars support and align the platens in an injection molding machine and support the mold, as Beaumont describes on its website. The space between the tie bars limits the size of the mold that can be placed in the press, adds the company, which partners with plastics processors to advance injection molding technology.
Until the invention of tie-bar-less technology some 35 years ago, “it was regarded as an unshakeable principle in mechanical engineering that an injection molding machine had to have four tie-bars, regardless of size or application,” said Engel. “The tie-bar-less clamping unit marked a radical new beginning in engineering.”
Bending-bar joint breakthrough:
The breakthrough was achieved with a novel joint principle that compensates for the asymmetry of force application in the C-frame, explains Engel. Instead of guiding the platen over tie-bars, the mold is clamped via a solid frame — with a freely movable bending-bar joint between the moving platen and the clamping piston. This Flex-Link element, which Engel patented and further developed under the name Force Divider, ensures that the mold halves remain absolutely parallel. It also provides for an even distribution of clamping force across all cavities of the platen and, thus, over the entire mold surface. This marked the birth of a new generation of machines that not only impressed technically but also opened up new avenues in mold design. The first complete series went into production in 1990, and victory became the official product name in 2000.
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Engel now markets three versions of tie-bar-less machines — hydraulic, hybrid, and electric. They all share the advantages of a tie-bar-less clamping unit:
Maximum utilization of the mold mounting surface;
faster mold changes;
ergonomic access to the mold area;
flexible automation concepts.
An economic advantage of the large, open mold area is that it allows the use of very large and complex molds on machines with comparatively low clamping force, said Engel.
source: Plastics Today
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