British Plastics & Rubber articles from April 2005

British Plastics & Rubber archives from April 2005

Hipermoulding--reinventing the wheel?(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... A NEC-FUNDED pan-European research programme is under way to make European injection moulding more competitive against Far Eastern competition by developing a mould making process which takes time out of the moulding cycle with improved heating...

How to prevent hot runner leaks.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... One of the most commonly expressed concerns about hot runner moulds is the threat of a leak of molten plastic filling the manifold pocket. There are several reasons for leaks, all of which can be prevented. This article from Husky looks at...

Changing marking inserts doesn't alter the height.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... A new high precision type of locking enables the display of the latest Hasco marking inserts to be set from the front without making an axial height adjustment at the same time. Hasco says that this feature enables good quality to be achieved...

A different pair of eyes picks up cost-saving improvements.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... IT SEEMS that no matter how experienced a moulding company may be, an external organisation can improve the way it operates to save costs. In January we wrote about how PICME--the government sponsored Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing...

Centurion goes back for more.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... CENTURION Safety Products has acquired a further Sandretto machine, a Nove S 220 tonne model, to meet growing demands for its range of safety helmets, in particular the Concept helmet introduced last August. A drier, hopper loader and conveyor...

MiniMolders for clean room medicals.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... MCP Tooling Technologies has supplied a 12/90 VSP MiniMolder with tooling to Tamworth-based NCC to mould clear PC hubs and PP buttons on to canulae and stylettes of epidurals and spinal needles. The company also supplied driers and chillers....

Money Controls adds first floor moulding shop.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... DEMAND from Italy for its control mechanisms for gaining machines has brought a re-structure at Money Controls. The company was moulding components at a satellite site and taking them to its main site near Oldham for assembly. The escalation in...

Automation makes Flexible Lamps more competitive.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... AN ATM six-axis robot has been installed at Flexible Lamps' Harlow plant to load L-shaped pins into recesses in injection moulded housings for commercial vehicle side marker lamps. The object of automating what was previously a manual assembly...

Rosti extends its use of Wittmann sprue pickers.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... EIGHT W602 sprue pickers have been supplied by Wittmann UK to Rosti Technical Plastics (UK) in Larkhall, Scotland. The site was previously part of the Tilling Group and has since had major investment involving the installation of three new twin...

Boy old boy buys Boys from new Boy.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... Boy UK, which was set up by former Spaceminster managing director Bob Wilson to take over sales of the Boy and Biraghi injection moulding machine ranges from Spaceminster, took orders for four Boy machines in its first week of trading. The...

Plastic flexible circuits moulded automatically.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... GERMAN company Quarder Werkzeugbau has developed a fully automated process for making moulded interconnected devices (MIDs). It is building production lines for high volume MID-parts such as door lock housings, gearbox cases or multi media...

Accumulation of knowledge enhances hydraulic circuits: one of the least understood components within hydraulic circuits is also one of the most important, as it can bring a raft of benefits to virtually all hydraulic applications. Andrew Lindgren and Bernd Killing of Parker Hannifin take a back-to-basics look at accumulators.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... ACCUMULATORS aren't rocket science. But they are massively effective in what they achieve. They use the simple interaction of an inert gas (nitrogen) on one side of a moveable barrier and a hydraulic fluid on the other to both store and...

When multi-material means five.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... A five-colour machine has been built by Negri Bossi for an Italian toothbrush manufacturer. The Pentacolour 270 tonne machine installed by Milan-based Ponzini is its first five material machine, although it has purchased machines for two and...

Now 2K at AK.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... AK Industries has added two-component moulding capability with the purchase of an Arburg ST570C 220 tonne machine. This is a continuation of a series of new investments which will see an increase in the range of capabilities and significant...

Nano holes 'glue' plastics to aluminium.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... A PROCESS for moulding thermoplastics on to an aluminium substrate with a high level of adhesion has been developed in Japan. The NMT (Nano Molding Technology) process from Taisei Plas works by etching the aluminium surface to produce holes of...

Sandretto scoops Mega deal at RGE.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... IN A DEAL reckoned to be the biggest single order for injection moulding machines in the UK for 15 months, 16 machines from 485 to 1,000 tonnes have been supplied by Sandretto to RGE Engineering in Yate to make components for Indesit condenser...

EGM removes sink marks where other processes failed.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... THE External Gas Moulding process developed by Cinpres Gas Injection is eliminating sink marks on ABS stand mouldings for Hitachi and Pioneer plasma TV cabinets where more conventional gas injection failed. The components, made in high...

WIT overcomes thickwalled PP problems.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... Battenfeld Aquamould water injection technology (WIT) has been applied to the production of a new children's tricycle by Smoby of France, the third largest toy manufacturer in Europe. The handlebar and front wheel fork are made with WIT....

New ways with rubber from Engel.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... AN asymmetrical rotary table has been introduced by Engel for use on its rubber injection moulding machines--or in any other context where a step in the cycle can be moved sideways to run parallel with injection. By rotating the table...

Bonding agent service ensures rubber sticks to metal.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... Bonding rubber to metal is a potential source of product rejection, but a service is now being operated in this country to overcome the problem. Gotec is a German company with plants in Germany, Poland, Spain and Turkey making bonding agents,...

Piezoelectric force sensor resists high temperatures.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... NEW Type 6411A piezoelectric force sensors introduced by Priamus System Technologies are designed for continuous operation at 200 degC, making them more suitable for use in injection moulds than standard types limited to 120 degC. Force...

Maximum productivity from minimum tool count.(INJECTION MOULDING)
April 1, 2005... A COMPLETE suite of moulds for the production of a flatpack lightweight garden store was produced in less than nine months for Oasis Leisure Products by Mason Pinder Toolmakers. Oasis is one of the leading garden and leisure furniture...

Cheaper route to CBT scheduled for Cyclics' next plant.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
April 1, 2005... THE NEW way of making CBT using cheaper feedstocks being developed by Cyclics Corporation (British Plastics & Rubber, January 2005 p 22) has now reached patent stage. CBT--cyclic butadiene terephthalate--is an extremely low viscosity material...

Pre-coated steel sticks to Santoprene.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
April 1, 2005... Advanced Elastomer Systems and NV Bekaert, a steel wire and metals coating specialist, have developed technology that results in high adhesion of Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanisate to metal. The technique cuts the cost and improves the...

Copolymer modifiers improve orientation of nylons.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
April 1, 2005... NEW amorphous polyamide copolymers from EMS-Grivory are intended as modifiers for semi-crystalline polyamides such as PA6, PA66, PA610, PA612, PA6/66, PA66/6, PA6/12, PA6/69 and PA66/610. In mixtures with these materials, the new...

Vacuum cleaner for granules.(MATERIALS HANDLING)
April 1, 2005... THE Moretto Roto dust separator now available from Summit Systems is intended particularly for suppliers of high quality and technical mouldings for the medical and food industries. It is installed directly on the machine throat and first...

Bag dischargers keep the dust in.(MATERIALS HANDLING)
April 1, 2005... NEW Flexicon (Europe) BFF bulk bag dischargers are for use with pneumatic conveying systems and eliminate the escape of dust. The uppermost section of the equipment contains a spout clamp ring positioned above a telescoping tube allowing...

Delcam links PS-Electrode software to Charmilles EDM control.(TOOLING)
April 1, 2005... DELCAM's PS-Electrode software for the design of electrodes now provides a direct link to the CT Millennium control for Charmilles EDM equipment. With more than 45,000 machines installed worldwide, Charmilles claims to be the world's leading...

High throughput blending with difficult additives.(MATERIALS HANDLING)
April 1, 2005... THE latest Maguire Maxibatch weigh scale blender is intended for high throughput compounding or processing of materials with difficult to handle additives such as wood flour. It has 3,625 kg/hr capacity and a batch size of 30 kg, some 60 per...

New doser and touch screen control.(MATERIALS HANDLING)
April 1, 2005... COLORTRONIC has added the Gravimetric M-G model to its range of loss-in-weight synchronous disc dosing units. Weight loss is measured continuously and compensation for any variation in the process is immediate. Calibration and a mixer system...

Electrodes and nothing but electrodes.(TOOLING)
April 1, 2005... STAND-ALONE electrode design software without CADCAM tools which may be superfluous for some users has been introduced by Cimatron. It is available in two configurations: Electrode Solution, for the complete process of designing and documenting...

Mastercam adds full machine tool simulation.(TOOLING)
April 1, 2005... THE latest version of the Mastercam CAD/CAM package includes full machine tool simulation and collision checking. This allows 5-axis programmers to simulate the machining plan with fully automatic collision checking against any part of the...

Automated system for lid production.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
April 1, 2005... A KIEFEL KMD 75 BFS pressure forming machine with a combined forming/cutting mode and a Mould & Matic Solutions 24 cavity lid mould is the basis of a new production concept for the high speed automated production of snap-on lids now in use with...

Bigger router increases turnover for Lyndhurst.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
April 1, 2005... LYNDHURST Plastic Fabrication has bought a model 6010 CNC router from AXYZ Automation (UK), complementing its earlier acquisition last year of a model 4008 machine. The 6010 has table dimensions of 2,095 x 3,048mm and the 4008 1,466 x...

Dienes adds glass hard shafts for crush cutting.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
April 1, 2005... GLASS hard shafts for crush cutting systems have been introduced by Dienes. The company offers shafts adjusted to respective knives and holders and can provide surfaces with super-finished quality and optional dynamic balancing. The shafts...

Automatic cutting increases safety.(FILM & SHEET PRODUCTION)
April 1, 2005... SAFETY has been improved when handling heavy or gusseted folded films on a new Davis-Standard winder for industrial and agricultural films by fitting an automatic crosscut knife and transfer mechanism. The company says that most turret...

Rubber sheet output improved.(FILM & SHEET PRODUCTION)
April 1, 2005... RETFORD-based Icon Polymer Group has invested 75,000 [pounds sterling] in a Berstorff Rotocure machine to produce rubber sheet up to 1.6m wide. The aim is to improve output and offer customers a greater range of surface finishes and longer...

Inkjet and pad printing introductions from Tampoprint.(FINISHING)
April 1, 2005... TAMPOPRINT has developed a new digital inkjet printing machine and has improved cliche making for pad printers and developed UV curing inks. The new DMD EP 1600 printer has four print heads and can print at up to 1,440 dpi. Speeds up to...

Infrared outpaces hot plates in hot plate welding.(FINISHING)
April 1, 2005... INFRARED heating improves on a heated plate in traditional hot plate welding processes according to CPR Automation. The company says this is particularly so in volume applications using multiple component processing and automatic loading...

Compression cages for testing large objects.(TESTING & INSPECTION)
April 1, 2005... LARGE samples upwards of 400mm in width can be compression-tested with the aid of a tailor-made compression cage from Lloyd Instruments. Compression testing determines key properties such as compressive yield stress, compressive strength,...

Torque system quantifies screw closures.(TESTING & INSPECTION)
April 1, 2005... TORQUE testing is a key tool for measuring the performance of packaging products such as screw closures, caps and lids. Mecmesin's new Vortex-i force and torque measurement system is controlled by the company's Emperor software which allows...

Tactile reference system defines touch.(TESTING & INSPECTION)
April 1, 2005... TOUCH and feel are an important feature of the modern product but it is an entirely subjective matter--there has been no tactile frame of reference for design and marketing. All that is set to change with the introduction of Sensotact, a system...

Thickness gauge processes data in the sensor itself.(TESTING & INSPECTION)
April 1, 2005... ELEKTROPHYSIK has introduced a new wall thickness gauge with applications in plastics in thickness measurements on bottles, containers, mouldings, sheets and large parts. The MiniTest FH 7000 uses sensor-integrated digital signal...

Funailab viscometers now from Metrohm.(TESTING & INSPECTION)
April 1, 2005... THE full range of rotational viscometers from Spanish company Fungilab is now available in the UK from Metrohm UK. The Visco range includes the Visco Basic Plus, Visco Star Plus and Visco Elite models. The instruments offer a range of...

Rapid melting and mixing of less than pure materials.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... A HIGH speed melting system which can process highly filled, mixed, undried and contaminated plastics has been brought to Britain by Orthos (Engineering). The American-built Draiswerke Gelimat is a batch mixer which relies on the high tip speed...

Shredders cut energy costs.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... NEW shredders from Conair Europe have been designed to pre-cut bulky scrap articles prior to final granulation and reprocessing. The shredding process means that smaller granulators with lower energy consumption can be used for the final...

Metal detector overcomes material handling problems.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... MESUTRONIC has designed its new Quicktron 03 E metal contamination detector to avoid difficulties with product bridging or blow back, for which the reject mechanisms of conventional detectors are said to be unsuitable. The unit has a double...

Ferrous particles removed going in and coming out.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... Customised grate magnets were built by Eriez Magnetics Europe as part of a move to maintain cleanliness in reclaimed materials supplied by Prime Polymers & Compounders at Barnoldswick in Lancashire. Two ferrite plate magnets were installed...

Granulators are designed specially to reclaim PET bottles.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... TWO special purpose Nuga CentriCut 44s series granulators are being installed by Texplast, German recycler of used PET bottles and waste material from PET bottle manufacturing operations, to reduce energy consumption and increase throughput....

Remove dust from regrind while it's in transit.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... Pelletron dedusters supplied by Advanced Dynamics can remove dust from reclaim being transported at 10 kg--40 tonnes/hr. The dust is nearly always statically charged because of frictional contact during movement. It is removed during...

What to consider when selecting a melt filter.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... No matter how clean reclaimed materials are made before reprocessing they are still likely to be contaminated. This contamination needs to be removed, and how this is best done depends on many factors such as the nature of the contamination and...

Hydraulic ram clears out contamination.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... A hydraulically-operated power backflush has been introduced by Kreyenborg to reduce the frequency of screen changes. Instead of screens it uses special filter candles consisting of filter elements which meet the filter requirements and resist...

Thermal seals and safer venting on piston filters.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... ECON of Austria has devised a temperature-controlled system for preventing melt leakage from its piston-type filters. The Thermosealer series is fitted with air blowers at the ends of the piston to cool the piston to below the temperature of...

Fully automatic sealing.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... THE latest version of the Contiflow continuous flow screen changer from Industrial Plastics has a fully automatic sealing system. It is available in sizes 50-300 mm and can be fitted to any single or twin screw extruder. ...

Street bollards made from reclaimed rubber.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... Rubber crumb reclaimed from vehicle tyres by IFS Chemicals is being used by Bollards International, an associated company, to make street bollards 'to a previously unattainable standard'. The bollards have the appearance of cast iron and...

Infrared sorts PLA from PET.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... BIODEGRADABLES can be a problem in the plastics waste stream but new research shows that the answer, for NatureWorks PLA polymer at least, is infrared sorting. NatureWorks, a corn-based polylactide, has a unique signature in the near-infrared...

Recresco expands bottle collection.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... Two West Midlands councils are the latest to have adopted a bottle recycling service started by Recresco--part of Midland Glass. The scheme was started in 2003 and Wolverhampton and Walsall have brought the number of councils using it to 14....

Next Tec's export drive.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... STAFFORDSHIRE company Next Tec has signed a 2 million [pounds sterling] deal to supply its Poly-Melt plastics densifiers to the USA. The Poly-Melt technology can reduce 4 [m.sup.3] of waste plastics to a 15 [cm.sup.3] briquette that can be used...

WEEE implementation put back--but you still have to mark mouldings from August.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... INTRODUCTION of the controversial European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive to the UK has been put back to January 2006--it was originally intended to be implemented on August 13 this year. The directive has also been...

Compatible labels can be recycled with the products.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... Labelling electrical goods, whether for recycling or anything else, adds a potential contaminant to the reclaim with a consequent need to remove it. 3M believes it has the answer in the shape of its Foil 8000 product. It was developed some 10...

Project aims to reduce PET recycling cost.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... A NEW recycling project funded by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Programme) will investigate innovative processes for the recycling of post-consumer PET bottles, with the aim of developing a more efficient system for the production of food-grade...

Reclaimed EPDM from powders to granules.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
April 1, 2005... BORDER Associates is now able to recycle EPDM rubber and supply it in a range of grades from granulate to powder. The company says that it is conducting recycling trials on other rubber products. It previously developed a method of producing...

PMMDA members set standards for service engineers ...(PMMDA UPDATE)
April 1, 2005... THE latest publication available from the PMMDA is the Service Engineers Safe Working Procedures. This publication has been created and adopted by a working group of injection moulding machinery suppliers--Arburg, Demag Hamilton, Engel,...

... And monitor service charges.(PMMDA UPDATE)
April 1, 2005... PMMDA members take part in a biannual service charge survey which allows the association to take a look at the average charges being applied in the industry. These figures also allow member companies to assess their own individual charges and...

Guide to granulators.(PMMDA UPDATE)
April 1, 2005... THE PMMDA has a series of publications aimed at providing plastics and rubber processors with a guide to equipment and a code of practice against which equipment specification can be measured. The Guide To... Granulators explains why...

Cool Energy joins the PMMDA.(PMMDA UPDATE)
April 1, 2005... Cool Energy is the newest member of the PMMDA. It supplies process and air conditioning chillers--the Cool Energy, MTA and TAE ranges--and has been selling chillers in the UK for 15 years. Cool Energy is the sole distributor of the whole...

Polymer composites? Enquire within: this month Clive Maier dives into the internet to explore a web site dedicated to polymer composites, and to trawl for that commodity most beloved of internet users, Free Stuff.(SOFTWARE)
April 1, 2005... INTERESTED in polymer composites? You probably are. They cover the entire spectrum from mass market injection moulding to one-off aerospace applications, so they are hard to avoid. A composite is a material composed of two or more discrete...

Free for all.(SOFTWARE)
April 1, 2005... IT has been a while--over three years--since we last looked at what's free and useful on the web. The internet has come a long way in that time and the spread of broadband means that the delivery of complex online services and solutions is now...

Software directory.(SOFTWARE)
April 1, 2005... MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT PlasWare Manufacturing System Plastics Software Ltd (01428 656595). E-mail: sales@plasware.co.uk Web site: www.plasware.co.uk Manages your business from order receipt to invoicing including order...

5 step process software upgraded.(SOFTWARE)
April 1, 2005... THE latest version, 1.12, of Beaumont Technologies" 5 Step Process software now includes one-click e-mailing of results. Users can choose to save or e-mail at the click of a button. Also new is a direct link to the Microsoft Snapshot Viewer...

Delcam acquires FeatureCAM developer EGS.(SOFTWARE)
April 1, 2005... DELCAM has acquired the US-based CAM software specialist Engineering Geometry Systems (EGS), the developer of the FeatureCAM CAD/CAM software line. FeatureCAM will continue as an independent product line, developed in the USA at the EGS base in...

Computer-aided training tracks technology.(SOFTWARE)
April 1, 2005... INTERACTIVE training provider A Routsis Associates has introduced a new and expanded version of its Basic Injection Molding training series. Advances in computer technology have allowed the company to upgrade this training tool with detailed...

Summit systems.(What's New on the Web)
April 1, 2005... Summit has completely rebuilt its website for a clean new look, designed for rapid navigation and easy location of products and information. Flash has been banished and the on-line product catalogue is now completely database driven. The whole...

DSM Arnitel COPE Polymer Center.(What's New on the Web)
April 1, 2005... DSM Engineering Plastics has chosen SpecialChem's Omnexus website platform to promote its Arnitel TPE-E materials. These are high performance thermoplastic elastomers consisting of block copolymers of alternating hard and soft segments...

Dugdale.(What's New on the Web)
April 1, 2005... The new website of PVC compounder Dugdale briefly outlines its ranges of rigid and flexible compounds for moulding, extrusion and blow moulding. Services include rapid colour matching and small lots supply. www.dugdaleplc.com Clive Maier...

Buyers' guide.(Buyers Guide)
April 1, 2005... MATERIALS ADHESIVES Honle UV (UK) Ltd Middlemore Lane, Aldridge, West Midlands WS9 8AN Tel: 01922 457397 Fax: 01922 457398 CONDUCTIVE PLASTICS AND COATINGS TBA Electro Conductive Products PO Box 56,...