The LIAD Smart ColorSave®-Micro from Ampacet, the industry-first gravimetric color and additive feeder for the fast-growing 3D printing industry enables accurate dosing and consistent metering down to a single pellet.
3D printing filament extrusion companies face a common challenge: inconsistent color quality during filament extrusion. Color issues can lead to high scrap rates and customer complaints. Color inconsistency may be primarily due to short screws without mixing elements, hand mixing offline and not using micro pellets or quick melt color masterbatches.
LIAD Smart ColorSave-Micro gravimetric feeders provide the most precise feeding of color masterbatches and eliminate the inaccuracies of hand-mixing resin and color or additive masterbatches. In addition, the ColorSave-Micro eliminates the possibility of segregation of color and virgin resin during the feeding process.
The patented ColorSave-Micro uses a single vibrational, protected inner channel to eliminate exterior vibration and consistently deliver an accurate dose. It operates in a continuous extrusion mode and ensures a consistent letdown ratio of the colorant relative to the extruder throughput rate. ColorSave-Micro can accurately dispense materials in a full range of LDRs, even as low as 0.1%.
The ColorSave-Micro handles low feed rates, can be easily cleaned between jobs and used for nearly all types of additives, including flowable, non-dusty powders or granules and micro pellets. “The ColorSave-Micro boosts productivity dramatically. It eliminates manual mixing, makes calibration easy and turns product rejects into a thing of the past,” says Doug Brownfield, Commercial Director, CISystems. “Our customers love that they can use expensive colors and additives at the lowest possible LDR, enabling them to run at the low end of the tolerance specification to save on masterbatch costs.”
Part of the LIAD Smart family of feeders, ColorSave-Micro can be used in injection molding, extrusion and extrusion blow molding processes and is ideal for use in research, testing and prototyping facilities. In addition to 3D printing, other micro molding applications include medical, electronics, automotive and micro optics industries.
For product information, visit https://www.ampacet.com/colorsave-micro/ or contact Doug Brownfield, douglas.brownfield@ampacet.com