SOVRIN | Technical Moulding

Sovrin choose Sodick for toolroom

01 March 2007

Sovrin Plastics, the UK-based medical and technical moulder and specialist in the manufacture of micro moulds and moulded components, has become the first UK user of the new Sodick Premium AP1L die sink EDM (electrical discharge machining) - only the second machine of its type to be installed in Europe.

The system will be used at Sovrin's facilities in Slough, which include six Class 7 (10,000) cleanrooms (1600sq m), that house its technical plastic injection moulding and state-of-the-art CAD/CAM and CNC tooling divisions.

The company's micro-mouldings have found an increasing demand in the medical, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and electronics industries. A micro-moulding cell has been designed specifically for producing the smallest components, typically with component weights below 0.25g and down into single figures of milligrams.

"We selected (Sodick's) machine after extensive trials at Sodi-Tech in the UK and at Sodick's headquarters in Japan," said Sovrin's founder and MD, Peter Joiner. "One such trial demanded the creation of various pin-gates measuring between 0.1 and 0.15mm in diameter - the way the Sodick machine handled the task was excellent. Other tests showed that electrode wear was also significantly reduced, in one instance to 0.005mm."

EDM contouring with the Premium AP1L provides die-sinking EDM with the dynamic response of linear technology and therefore offers many associated advantages: reduced electrode costs, electrode shape independent of cavity, accurate forms and shapes, and EDM direct milling of the cavity, Sodick says.

"The toolchanger has made a world of difference to our toolroom operation," says Mr Joiner. "We can now setup and leave jobs to run unattended overnight, achieving genuine 24 hour production."