Engel to mould high-precision LSR seal at Fakuma 2026

Engel will present a liquid silicone rubber (LSR) application on its stand at Fakuma 2026, using a victory electric 1565/220 injection moulding machine to produce a high-precision seal for an inverter component. The demonstration addresses typical challenges in LSR processing, including flash formation caused by uneven clamping pressure, viscosity fluctuations and batch variations that can affect part quality and machine availability. According to the company, the component will be moulded live as a flash-free part, directly from the machine and without manual rework. The application is intended to show how tie-bar-less machine technology, platen parallelism and process monitoring can support the production of large LSR parts with very tight tolerances.

Electric tie-bar-less machine for large LSR parts

The victory electric 1565/220 shown at the fair is an electric, tie-bar-less injection moulding machine with a clamping force of 2,200 kN. It is equipped with a 1565 injection unit designed for large shot weights. The machine made its debut at K 2025 in a thermoplastics application. At Fakuma 2026 it will be used for LSR processing.

Engel points to platen parallelism as a central feature of the tie-bar-less design. In this machine concept, the clamping force is distributed evenly over the whole mould surface rather than being concentrated at individual points. This is intended to keep the mould stable and sealed during injection, which is important for low-viscosity LSR because the material can penetrate very small gaps and create flash.

For processors, toolmakers and end customers, Engel identifies the following benefits:

• less scrap and less rework, with flash-free parts coming directly from the machine,
• higher process reliability for safety-critical and traceable components,
• typical victory machine features, including easy mould access and a low-maintenance design, applied to LSR processing.

Ready for silicone processing: the victory electric 1565/220 fitted with an ACH mould using Servoshot technology. An Engel viper 40 and ACH's end-of-arm tooling work hand in hand to remove the finished part

Seal for an inverter component

The part produced on the stand will be an LSR seal measuring 484 x 202 x 29 mm. It is designed for an inverter component and is intended to protect sensitive electronics from moisture. The specified cycle time is around 70 seconds.

The dimensional requirements are demanding. The contour tolerances are in the hundredths-of-a-millimetre range, which the source describes as tight even for elastomer processing. To achieve this, the mould must maintain tolerances down to the thousandth of a millimetre. The material used in the demonstration is a two-component LSR grade, Shin-Etsu KEG 2003H-50 A/B.

Tooling, automation and process monitoring

The mould is supplied by ACH Solution and uses Servoshot technology. It is designed for liquid silicone processing and includes vacuum-assisted venting, high accuracy, tight sealing and a cavity surface adapted to the material to prevent sticking. After moulding, the hot part is removed automatically by an Engel viper 40 robot equipped with a customised ACH end-of-arm tool.

The production cell also includes standard pressure monitoring on the feed pressure of the metering unit. Engel describes this as an early-warning system for viscosity or batch quality deviations. In conventional operation, operators may respond to such deviations by increasing dosing pressure, which can continue until the machine stops. In this configuration, pressure monitoring triggers an alarm at 50 bar, allowing intervention before process problems escalate.

The system is supplemented by iQ weight control, Engel's established iQ system for reducing the effects of viscosity fluctuations and limiting scrap. The demonstration will be shown on the Engel stand at Fakuma, Hall A5, Stand 5203.

A seal built for zero defects: this 484 x 202 x 29 mm LSR seal keeps sensitive electronics in inverters safe from moisture