In 2009, Husky launched HyCAP, which is based on Husky’s proven Hylectric machine platform. HyCAP has been designed for the specific needs of high output beverage closure manufacturing.
The result of refinements to the entire system, HyCAP is designed to maximize speed, reliability and efficiency – offering the industry’s fastest cycles without sacrificing quality or consistency. It helps closure manufacturers achieve productivity levels that match or exceed compression molding, with tighter tolerances and significantly more part design flexibility.
HyCAP is one element of our complete beverage packaging solution. Our customers can look to us to be their single-source supplier who can coordinate all elements – neck finish, bottle and closure – so they work together as a complete package.
HyCAP benefits:
Fastest cycle times
Husky is known for continually advancing technology to achieve the fastest cycle times. HyCAP has specific advancements that take speed to the next level, including faster clamp dry cycles, features to reduce melt temperature and therefore cooling time, and tighter integration of hot runner control. With these enhancements, a 72-cavity HyCAP system is capable of running 2.5 second cycles to produce a lightweight 26 mm closure weighing less than 1.0 gram. This is a significant improvement from the industry standard of 3.5 to 4.0 second cycles on a 1.5 to 1.6 gram closure.
Better melt control
HyCAP systems are specifically designed to meet the requirements of closure manufacturing. All components in contact with the melt – screw, barrel, shut-off nozzle, manifolds, nozzles – have been scrutinized to ensure the lowest cycle and best part quality. The melt is prepared at the ideal temperature and delivered to the mold cavities uniformly and with minimal stress. Our hot runner nozzles offer generous access to cooling water, resulting in reduced cooling times and better gate quality, ultimately yielding better part control and consistency. Reduced pressures that result from our optimized melt channel sizing in both the injection unit and hot runner provide the benefit of less wear on the system and ease of processing.
Meeting the challenges of new, shorter, lighter caps
Producing a high volume of closures is one thing, producing high quality, lightweight closures consistently is another challenge altogether. HyCAP’s injection accuracy and hot runner balance reduce part weight variation, improve processing window limits and provide more consistent part dimensions – all critical factors as parts become lighter and thinner. For example, HyCAP has been shown to maintain consistency of +/- 0.08 mm on the bore seal of a 96-cavity lightweight 30/25 closure.
Specific modifications have been made to accommodate the requirements of closure resins, which are often viscous and challenging to mold. Husky closure systems and family of Ultra hot runner nozzles offer a solution by helping to open the process window.
The HyCAP machine and Ultra hot runners have been modified to create the ideal molding conditions in terms of temperature, pressure, clamp force and balance. An example is our Reflex platen technology coupled with the Ultra hot runner, which work together to minimize overall mold deflection and ensure the same clamping force is delivered to each cavity. Comparisons in a production environment have shown a significant tonnage reduction compared to other high performance injection molding machines. All of these benefits combine to make HyCAP the ideal system to produce the new, shorter, lightweight caps. In the case of lightweight, one-piece water closures, Husky systems produce more consistent, higher quality closures than those produced using competitive processes.
