The new Janus Series from Negri Bossi combines the company's experience of hydraulic, electric and hybrid drive technologies to offer the market three new versions of this advanced hybrid solution that can be tailored to meet the customer’s particular requirements, whether these are driven by performance or economy. The hybrid solution makes it possible to use the most suitable actuator, hydraulic or electric, resulting in a more efficient process, coupled with higher energy efficiency. The JANUS series is both an advanced hybrid machine and a modular concept that is an ideal match between hydraulic technology and full-electric.

JANUS The result of a judicious mix of experience and innovation.

This month we would like to introduce you to the JANUS version equipped with the SMART ENERGY system; this system provides energy levels very close to the full-electric solution whilst providing performance levels that are difficult and expensive to achieve with full-electric machines.

Direct-drive torque motors are used for mould clamping and screw rotation while this base platform is supplemented with a variable-delivery, SMART ENERGY hydraulic system which powers injection, ejector/core and carriage functions and also enabling the overlapping of all phases.

The machine uses this advanced combination of hardware along with advanced software to ensure that the minimum amount of energy is expended during each machine cycle.

The hydraulic system comes in the form of a very small fixed displacement pump, driven by a variable speed motor, combined with a small accumulator system. The use of an inverter driven motor enables the pump speed, and hence oil delivery, to be varied in accordance with the system requirements. The accumulator is charged by the pump to provide an energy store which can be discharged to manage the hydraulic functions of the machine. The SMART ENERGY system has the capability to learn about the cycle dynamics and the intelligence to adjust to the actual moulding conditions to ensure that only the minimum energy required to perform each function is generated.

Sophisticated software calculates the energy required by the next phase of the cycle and then charges the accumulator to the appropriate level with the minimum energy consumption. Since the pump’s flow exactly matches the requirement for a given movement there is a high overall efficiency with low hydraulic power loss and low cooling requirements. The application of long holding pressure times is achieved solely by the accumulators whilst the inverter driven pump is stopped and the system is consuming virtually no energy. In addition the machine regenerates energy from braking inertia, further enhancing energy efficiency.

Dialogue between the various parts of the system provides constant monitoring of motor speed, accumulator charge and energy consumption in each phase of the cycle and a special program is included to constantly analyse the power consumption of the machine.

The JANUS SMART ENERGY system can show impressive energy comparisons to a full-electric drive at a considerably reduced capital cost with an improved flexibility to manage an impressive spectrum of moulding applications. In applications where the injection hold pressure time is quite long the JANUS is even able to reduce the machine’s overall energy consumption below that of a full-electric machine.

The JANUS machines come with a long list of standard equipment such as bimetallic barrels, digital proportional valves, magnetostrictive transducers, Bosch hydraulics, Siemens servo motors and drives, and the CANbus interface for peripheral device control and digital wireless communications, including the company’s Amico wireless network for easy remote support and diagnostics.

JANUS – Performance, Flexibility and Efficiency, the result of a judicious mix of experience and innovation.

Next month we will introduce you to the JANUS UNIVERSAL and the JANUS HIGH POWER.

ASD Lighting PLC manufacture a comprehensive range of high quality Polycarbonate Luminaires. Mould Shop Manager, Bob Milnes, says "ASD have previously purchased Negri Bossi's Canbio Series full hydraulic machines as well as the Canbel Series full electric machines. Although we have been happy with both models, there were elements of each that were seen as advantageous over the other. As soon as the concept of the new Janus hybrid design was explained to us, we could see that it combined the `best of both worlds' and we instinctively knew that it would be the best solution for our demanding processing requirements. In the time that the new machines have been in service, we have already seen that this is indeed the case.

In addition to the superior all-round performance and flexibility, the energy consumption is only marginally higher than with our full electric machines and pricing levels are well placed. The direct drive high torque screw motor easily copes with the stiff grades of Polycarbonate that we use and we find that the hydraulic ejector system provides a much `punchier' response than is typical with all electric machines. The introduction of the two new machines has also dramatically improved the noise levels in that area of the shop."