Wheel arch, the arch-shaped cavity which houses a wheel, plays an important role in terms of safety: in case of collision, in fact, the flexibility of this component helps to reduce possible damages to both pedestrians and other cars.

Furthermore, wheel arch protects the car from pebbles, mud, ice… which could damage or dirty the vehicle, and increases also the level of insulation from wheel noise.

For this reasons, wheel arch is manufactured in thermoplastic materials with the highest level of flexibility.

Cannon provides several solutions for processing this kind of lightweight reinforced thermoplastics (LWRT): different systems of material heating and forming are developed to adapt to the specific raw materials to be formed and to the customer’s needs.

Renewable energies are playing an important role in the ongoing carbon phase out.  Among these, wind energy is the most widespread in the world and, more than the others, has large growth potentials and low production costs.
The wind power sector is continuously developing, with researches mainly aimed at making materials more and more performing.The wind power sector is continuously developing, with researches mainly aimed at making materials more and more performing.

Since 2007, Cannon has collaborated with important wind turbines producers, providing dedicated machines for the production processes of wind blades:

• Engineering capabilities for special prducts & applications
• High-volumes production units
• Turn-key plants

Basing on its experience in twin sheet thermoforming, Cannon has developed a dedicated solution for production of fuel tanks. The two sheets, which compose the two tank’s halves, are first heated to the correct temperature and thermoformed independently. They are then joined together inside a high tonnage press to grant perfect sealing.

Thanks to this innovative solution it is possible to achieve a highly accurate forming process together with a unique accessibility, which allows an easy placing of inserts inside the tank.

Cannon provides very complex  tailor-made fuel tanks thermoforming complete lines, as the following

Besides the engine itself, the biggest heat flow is generated by the exhaust piping. As a consequence, proper heat shields are required in order to protect vehicle bodies or sensitive parts from overheating.

Heat shields are generally manufactured in aluminum sheet or with a multi-layer structure of aluminum and structural and/or insulating material.

Cannon provides complete production plants highly customized for this application, with possibility of production of multilayer part.

The plant includes forming presses and the related automatic handling equipment to grant extremely high productivities.

Following the low weight trend in the automotive industry related to fuel economy, many OEMs are introducing and researching also composites electric batteries’ boxes in composite material.

Battery boxes can be manufactured in:

HP-RTM

Liquid Lay Down (LLD)

SMC

GMT

These elements can be produced in different ways:
obtaining high performance structural parts with the combination of matrix and reinforcement with

HP-RTM

Liquid Lay Down

SMC, to achieve complex geometries

PrePreg

GMT

Interwet

Polyurethane RRIM (reinforced reaction injection moulding) and RIM (reaction injection moulding) contends to plastics the title for preferred material in manufacturing external body parts for vehicles, such as bumpers, spoilers, rocker panels, fenders, etc.

Despite the higher cost, polyurethane prevails in terms of mechanical properties, cost of tooling, cost of processing equipment and time to market. Polyurethane is the preferred choice for medium-low volume productions (luxury and sports car) or for small series of high volume models.

RIM and RRIM polyurethanes are always injected in closed mould, using high pressure machines.

In both cases aid of nucleated air into polyol is important to ensure good flow of the injected liquid PU inside the mould (see Cannon’ solutions for air nucleation).

Processing RRIM is more critical than RIM, because RRIM features solid fillers, often abrasive, like glass or mineral fibers, carbon fibers and others. Thus, while RIM can be processed with a simple high pressure machine, RRIM requires machines with special dosing cylinders, provided with hydraulic piston.  

Special treatments of the metal used for the mixing head ensure stable performance even with the toughest formulations.

Cannon supplies turnkey plants for exterior body parts working with

RIM & RRIM

Spoilers can be also produced using

Thermoforming

Automotive body in white components and frames are critical structures requiring the highest fibre volume fraction in order to withstand extreme mechanical stresses. Cannon has developed two ways to produce these parts:

HP-RTM

When the resin transfer is not convenient due to part dimension or type of reinforcement (e.g. in case of low cost reinforcement and recycled carbon fibre) we suggest to work using 

Liquid Lay Down

In particular, these components can be produced also with a dry – only process: the epoxy or carbon material is shaped in closed mould under high pressure. This process is called

Prepreg

The sheets of pre-impregnated chopped carbon fibers are positioned into the mould and thanks to a press action, frames are shaped. This technology is called

SMC

In order to produce vehicles or trucks even lighter, automotive players are looking for save weight also in structural components.

For high-end vehicles and special applications, it is preferable to have wheels and leafspring suspensions made by glass fibre. This possibility allows weight saving improving driving performances and decreasing fuel consumption, also increasing the attractiveness of the component for the final customer.

When high production volumes are required, it is important to rely on a repeatable and reliable process such as HP-RTM: a multi-component mixed thermosetting or thermoplastic matrix is injected into a closed mould, in which a dry reinforcement preform has been previously placed, and where a vacuum has been applied.

After the polymerization time, the mould is opened and the finished part is extracted.

Glass Encapsulation is used on automotive widescreens, side windows and rear windows, and consists in creating a frame around the glass by injecting a polymer (TPE, PVC or PU) on its border through a framing mould.

Depending on customer’s needs, Cannon can also provide tailor-made layouts.

Energy saving and the reduction of CO2 emissions represent two mega-trends which are contributing in driving the automotive market. The introduction of lightweight components is one of the actions which are taken to reduce the total weight of a vehicle, thus saving energy and cutting on CO2 emissions.

Load-floors, parcel shelves and sun roofs covers are semi-structural parts which can be manufactured using a lightweight composite sandwich made of three layers: a honeycomb cardboard core between two fiberglass mats. These materials are glued together by spraying polyurethane on both sides of the sandwich and compressing it in a dedicated mould.

Looking at the part itself, it is of utmost importance to spray a homogeneous and controlled polyurethane layer on both sides of the sandwich: this has to contain the minimum amount of PU necessary to keep the layers together and grant the part the necessary mechanical properties. Not only an excess of PU represents additional weight, but it is also a waste of money since more chemicals than necessary are consumed.

From the standpoint of the process, it is fundamental to tailor the plant according to the requested productivity, keeping an eye on the overall consumptions, layout and ergonomics. Cannon can provide turn-key solutions for diverse productivity levels –from relatively low volumes to extremely high volumes- with various level of automatization.

Parcel shelves can also be produced with

Lightweight Reinforced Thermoplastics (LWRT)

Headliners, the composite material adhered to the inside roof of cars, generally consist of a fabric with nonwoven or foam backing.

They  are made by reinforcing and laminating thin layers of semi-rigid polyurethane foam, cut from blocks.

Cannon supplies two solutions to foam blocks in discontinuous:

Cannon developed a specific forming lines to automatically form thermoplastic composite materials with the highest level of flexibility

The steering wheel, besides being a structural and aesthetic element of the car, is strongly involved into safety: it not only contains the airbag, but it is also designed to properly deform itself not to damage your chest in case of accident.

No wonder manufacturers of steering wheels around the world pay so much attention to the quality and performance of their products. Cannon turnkey plants are the best solution for keep high quality and reliability levels.

Cannon supplies complete plants for production in open mould pouring or closed injection, as well as production plants with turning table or series of stationary foaming presses.

Nowadays a typical plant for steering wheels is made of:

• One high pressure foaming machine, connected to several mixing heads
• Several foaming stations, each including a press and a booth with ventilation
• Several mixing heads, one for each press, fixed on the mould.

The two main benefits of Cannon presses for steering wheels are ergonomics and reliability. Cannon’s presses can feature an automatically adjustable tilting and a proper daylight, to ensure easy accessibility by the operator.

Production of steering wheels often involves a lot of manual operations. If you are looking for any degree of automation, Cannon’s skills and experience are the right choice.

Central console, dashboard and door panels are the most interaction places in a car.

For this reason, great importance is given to the tactile sensations: automotive players are always looking for soft and pleasant materials, with a nice-looking glossy surface.

Cannon provides different equipment to supply central console and dashboard production process:

• high pressure dosing machines for polyurethane: ideal to backfoam the skin of dashboards, with a thin layer of flexible foam. The foam keeps the skin glued to the structure of the dashboard and gives to it a proper “soft touch” feeling.
• thermoforming machines can form the skin even to the most sophisticated shapes.
• high pressure machines for RIM coating can add glossy surfaces to the inserts for dashboard or central console: this elements are positioned into a mould in which a transparent bicomponent polyurethane, previously mixed in high pressure, is injected. The resulting transparent lacquer protects wood from wear and sun rays, and gives the piece a very elegant shiny look.

Backfoaming

Thermoforming

RIM Coating

Headrests are an automotive safety feature, generally attached to the seat. This important elements can be produced:

• Through a foam pad: the integral skin or the flexible foam are injected in close mould or poured in open mould. After demoulding, the flexible foam is dressed with fabric.
• With the Foam-in-place technology: the flexible foam is directly injected into the fabric located in the mould. An external fork system (integrated with the mould) keeps the fabric opened during the foam injection. Alternatively, the PU can be injected through a plastic disposable diffuser easily into the mould.

Few parts of a car are so difficult to define and identify as the armrest: it can be integrated with the seat, or part of the central console or, again, of the door. It can be even disguised as another item, such as a glove compartment.

As far as polyurethanes are concerned, armrests can be made in integral skin or flexible foam: PU is usually injected in closed mould, over a substrate, generally made by plastic inserts or even fabric.

Cannon solutions are flexible and scalable, in order to meet the need for small/medium production capacity and a wide variety of models.

For headrests and armrests, Cannon supplies turnkey plants, including:

Plants: mixing head handling system with manual holding boom, automatic manipulator or 6 axis robot; turning table or oval carousel; Automation

Car seats performance and quality are fundamental  for vehicles’ comfort and security: this is why automotive seats production is one of the most demanding application.

The design of car seats and becomes more sophisticated and challenging: foam pads are becoming thinner to save space in the vehicle, but, at the same time, they must ensure best comfort and top mechanical performance.

Consequently, also chemical formulations are evolving: seats featuring different densities and hardness are made by pouring different formulations in the same mould.

To achieve this goal, Cannon has developed more sophisticated and versatile seat foaming systems; plants and foaming machines for seating are engineered to efficiently and reliably produce multi-density and multi-hardness foams: their modular design, in fact, allows to process several streams, and both TDI and MDI formulations in the same plant.

Toyota Boshoku awarded Cannon AX22 mixing head with the “Technology & Development award 2017” prize for its proven high productivity, high flexibility, high quality and high stability.

Read the following article or go to the dedicated AX page

Cannon is close to the international market with its manufacturing centres in USA, China and Italy. This guarantees the full compliance with the local regulations and technical standards of the final product and with the health and safety regulations that apply to the plant operation.

In order to protect car engine from possible damages, proper shields are required, which shall be able to absorb severe mechanical stresses.

Engine shields are generally manufactured in composite materials such which allow to combine high mechanical properties together with a light weight.

Cannon is able to provide complete customized forming lines for this application, able to grant extremely high productivities.

The plant includes: 

Engine covers are both an aesthetic and a NVH part: they absorb engine vibrations and noises. To produce engine covers, PU can be involved in 3 main different ways:

• Engine Cover entirely PU made:
  The process usually involves a stop-and-go carousel (turning table) composed by different stations: one dedicated to removal and mould cleaning, one to release agent spray and/or in-mould spray, and tag placement (the release agent and the spray paint can be applied either manually or automatically), one to open mould PU pouring, and one to mould closing, curing and mould opening
• Thermoplastic cover back-foamed with PU:
  This is a fully automated process where the thermoplastic cover and the back-foaming are carried out within the same injection moulding press. After injecting the thermoplastic cover, the PU is back-injected in closed mould
• Thermoplastic cover manually assembled with a PU layer:
  The PU layer to be positioned on the back of the thermoplastic cover is foamed manually in open mould using a self-equipped tool

In case fire resistance has to be achieved by adding expandable graphite (fire retardant) to the PU formulation, Cannon has a dedicated solution to achieve this goal. First of all, the graphite, usually in form of a powder or flakes, is blended with part of the polyol using premixing system  thus producing a slurry; then the slurry is metered and injected as third component using the Solistream unit and a dedicated FPL AN head or an AX 14/4 (size).

Cavity Filling

Cavity filling and acoustic foams are two of the technologies that OEMs use to reduce the NVH, Noise, Vibration and Harshness, of vehicles: “buns” of foam are injected directly into the car body, directly at the assembling line.

Concerning cavity filling, it requires the OEM to properly design the car bodies, so to have cavities in the right spot, prepared to receive shots of liquid PU.

Since years, Cannon has been in the front line on the development of dedicated dosing machines for the different acoustic insulation foams available in the market. Reliability of Cannon machines and repeatability of the produced shots of foam have been proven in actual production environments, with outstanding results.

Cannon provides a range of machinery dedicated to different foam systems and to different kind of production volumes. Cannon equipment, which has been approved and validated by raw material suppliers, is serving most of the major car manufacturers in the market.

Each car and truck  may contain several hundreds of meters  of cables. Some specific sections of these cables need protection from water, heat ,  chemicals and dust while others must basically seal holes between different compartments of the cabin.

These functions are fulfilled by the so called “cable grommet” and “wire encapsulation”, both made by using polyurethane in order to have high mechanical and technical properties, like stability and sealing.

Cannon provides integrated turn-key systems for the production of cable grommet and wire encapsulation through the classic RIM technology, where cables or wires are closed in a mould and poured.
Depending on costumer’s needs, Cannon can also provide moulds in different materials and tailor-made layouts.

Dash insulator and carpets are used to reduce engine and road noise into the car interior cabin.

A typical dash insulator or carpet system consists of a steel panel (vehicle body panel), a porous decoupler and a heavy layer in the form of sandwich construction. To make these parts, Cannon has developed two different production systems:

RRIM and BackFoaming

Heavy Layer PUR is a two components PU resin which is heavily filled with Barite especially in Polyol component, and applied onto a surface through a spray or a closed-mould injection (RRIM) process.

Forming Lines and Back Foaming

A well-mixed liquid PU is applied into the mould, in order to be to be moulded as a sheet and subsequently glued onto the substrate. This last can be a fabric or even a heavy layer combined material. The PU back foaming can be realized by open mould pouring (assisted by robotic system) or closed mould injection (with multi-mixing heads on different mold carriers). For this process, Cannon provides: