More than 1,800 exhibitors are expected to attend the leading trade fair for industrial plastics processing from 16 - 20 October. The exhibition centre in Friedrichshafen / Germany is the venue for the event, which will bring together all plastics technologies under one roof – from injection moulding and extrusion to thermoforming and 3D printing.
Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), IKV Plastics Processing Institute at RWTH Aachen University will present the latest developments, ranging from the design of optical systems and the construction of the tools and mould inserts to optics replication. They will be on the joint stand of "kunststoffland NRW e.V." (Hall B4, Stand 4404) and will highlight the topic of "Plastic optical components from Aachen".
The main topics at the show will be injection-moulded and injection compression-moulded optics, continuously produced optical film and innovative optical materials and applications. The research and development field of "optical components" enjoys a long tradition at RWTH Aachen University, but particularly recently plastics have proved to be highly promising materials for optical devices such as lenses, with a variety of potential technological applications under cost-effective production conditions.
At the heart of the presentation will be the production of a plastic free-form lens with micro-structured sections developed in cooperation with the firms INNOLITE GmbH, Aachen, and ARBURG GmbH and Co KG, Loßburg. The injection moulding process will be demonstrated live on the joint stand B4/4404.