How to Match Cup Diameter to Forming Area
A larger forming area only helps if the cup diameter, pitch, and cooling still fit. Start from the drawing, then pick FS-7836, FS-7842, or FS-8560.
Read article →Engineering notes
Practical checklists our project engineers use when sizing extruders, formers, molds, and utilities — not generic industry news.
A larger forming area only helps if the cup diameter, pitch, and cooling still fit. Start from the drawing, then pick FS-7836, FS-7842, or FS-8560.
Read article →A shared workshop compressor is the usual reason a new former misses cycle time. Size air and power to the machine page, then add the extruder and chiller.
Read article →The station count is not the decision. The decision is whether vacuum alone can copy the mold, or the part needs air pressure on top of the sheet.
Read article →Full servo is not the automatic upgrade. HSS is the middle path: servo indexing, hydraulic forming force, and a lower nameplate than FS.
Read article →A cup machine at 40 cycles only works if the extruder can feed the web plus the skeleton. Width, layers, and kg/h come before the model photo.
Read article →Buying the former without the downstream station is how plants discover that two people cannot nest 40 cycles. Decide the pack format before the cup machine is on the floor.
Read article →“Price for a cup machine” is not a specification. The list below is what we use to name FS, HSS, or LS and to refuse a number we cannot build.
Read article →The date on a quotation is not the date cups ship to your customer. Separate build time, the sea, and the week the crew actually learns the panel.
Read article →Match width, kg/h, and flake ratio before you pick twin-screw or single-screw. Drying, vacuum, and cup-machine balance decide clarity.
Read article →FS 40–50 cpm and 95–120 kW versus LS 25–38 cpm and 65–90 kW. Use energy, cavity plan, and service skill — not the brochure photo.
Read article →Heat, density, clarity, and drying: PP to ~120°C, PET best clarity, PS easy forming but tighter recycling rules. Lock resin before you freeze the mold.
Read article →Sequence: cup mix → cavities → former → sheet kg/h → kVA, air, chiller → stacker and crusher → mold freeze. 35–45 day machine lead after drawings.
Read article →Cavity count is limited by forming area and pitch, not the model name. Cooling circuits and in-mold cut change cycle time more than the PLC.
Read article →Vacuum vs 4–6 h predry, flake ratio, IV, and 30–50% extra capital. SI/XSI versus LSI-PET-PLA — when we refuse a single-screw quote.
Read article →Skeleton is 30–50% of the web. Online crusher for continuous PP/PS; offline for lumps. PP regrind 20–40%; PET needs another dry pass.
Read article →Split extrusion rolls and mold loops. Tons ≈ mass × specific heat × ΔT with a 20% margin. Hall air is not process water.
Read article →Dry 4–6 h at ~80–100°C toward <250 ppm (prefer <100). Melt often 170–210°C. Not drop-in PP. Purge the screw.
Read article →Cups/h = cavities × cpm × 60 × uptime. Brochure 40–50 cpm is not year-one output. Worked path from 20 million/month to FS-7842 vs FS-8560.
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