Determining Shut off Land Relief and Contact Stress in Multi Cavity Tooling
Balancing shut-off land relief area against clamp force prevents steel hobbing while holding plastic melt seal across multi-cavity injection tooling.
Euromap 2
Meaning
A set of technical specifications defines the mounting dimensions for the clamping unit of an injection moulding machine. Euromap 2 standardises the arrangement of platen holes to ensure that moulds made for one manufacturer fit the platens of another. This configuration governs the mechanical interface between the tool and the press by fixing the coordinates for the tie bars and the central alignment register.
Clamping Geometry
Platen dimensions dictate the maximum size of the mould base that a machine accepts without mechanical interference. The hole pattern of euromap 2 determines where bolts secure the mould to the moving and fixed platens. Poor alignment between these bolt circles and the press platen causes stress on the tie bars during closing.
Excessive variation leads to uneven clamping force across the parting line of the cavity.
Tooling Compatibility
Procurement teams verify these dimensions when swapping legacy tools to newer machines to avoid expensive plate rework. Designers calculate the projected area of the part against the clamping force provided by the machine to prevent flash. When the bolt pattern does not match the hole configuration of the platen, shops employ adapter plates to bridge the gap.
These plates add weight to the moving half of the mould and reduce the total daylight available for part removal.
Economic Implication
Production efficiency relies on the ease of swapping moulds between stations during peak manufacturing windows. Machines adhering to euromap 2 limit the downtime associated with rigging and bolting. Divergence from these dimensions creates a captive asset that only operates on specific equipment.
Standardisation reduces the inventory of spare parts and custom adapters required to maintain a diverse press fleet.