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KARIYA (Japan) - DENSO Corporation, jointly with Toyo Machinery & Metal Co., Ltd. and Miyamoto Kogyosho, will receive the Economy, Trade and Industry Minister's Award for developing an energy-saving, compact, low-pressure die-casting system at the 8th Annual Prize for Promoting the Machine Industry. The die-casting system increases energy efficiency by 50 percent or more and is significantly smaller than conventional models. The award will be presented by the Japan Society for Promotion of Machine Industry at the Tokyo Prince Hotel in Tokyo on February 24, 2011.
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"We are proud to receive this prestigious award, which recognizes our efforts in developing an environmentally friendly manufacturing facility," said Sojiro Tsuchiya, senior managing director overseeing DENSO's overall production affairs and Production Promotion Center.
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The energy-saving, compact, low-pressure die-casting system reduces the pressure needed to form metal objects by half. This is done by precisely controlling the temperature of melted aluminum to keep the material hot enough until right before it is forced into a mold. This advantage simplifies the system structure and eliminates the need to make the system as rigid as conventional models, and as a result the system is downsized to 1/6 the conventional size.
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The die-casting system uses a newly developed electric die-casting machine and a small, highly efficient melting furnace that controls the amount of material to be melted in small volumes. In addition, the heat-treating furnace, which is typically located in a separate location from the die-casting machine, is small enough to be connected to the die-casting machine. This close proximity minimizes a temperature decrease of products when they are manufactured. These innovations contributed to the increase of energy efficiency by at least 50 percent.
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The energy-saving, compact, low-pressure die-casting system was first installed at DENSO's Nishio Plant in April 2008. Today, a total of 38 units are used in DENSO's operations worldwide.
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A die-casting, which is a manufacturing process to make metal objects by forcing liquid metal into a mold under high pressure, generally consists of a furnace to melt metals and a die-casting machine to inject liquid metal into a mold. It is often equipped with a heat-treating furnace to reheat molded metal products to increase their hardness and dimensional accuracy. The die-casting is used in many areas, such as for producing components for vehicles, home appliances, and communication devices.
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The Prize for Promoting the Machine Industry is presented by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Machine Industry with support from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and other organizations. To encourage the development of technology in the machine industry, the prize is awarded to companies and engineering researchers that have significantly contributed to the progress of Japanese mechanical technology.
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DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electric, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers. Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 34 countries and regions (including Japan) and employs approximately 120,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, totaled US$32.0 billion. Last fiscal year, DENSO spent 9.1 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development. DENSO common stock is traded on the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges. For more information, go to www.globaldenso.com, or visit our media website at www.densomediacenter.com.
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| Energy-saving compact low-pressure die-casting system |
System configuration: Die-casting machine + melting furnace + heat-treating furnace
Dimensions: 6.5 m long, 5.5 m wide and 1.8 m tall |
