British Plastics & Rubber articles from February 2003

British Plastics & Rubber archives from February 2003

A miracle of micro engineering. (Injection Moulding).
February 1, 2003... Compact discs are so much part of our lives, and their manufacture has become such a standard -- if complex -- plastics conversion process, that we may risk taking for granted what is still a miracle of polymer engineering. So as a refresher...

Low cost hot runner for micromoulding. (Injection Moulding).
February 1, 2003... DESIGNED for use in mould bases with centre to centre distances down to 17 mm, the new DME Stellar hot runner system is 'competitively priced' and intended for precision micromoulding applications. It can be run with commodity and engineering...

Cleanroom kit adds value to a moulding service. (Injection Moulding).
February 1, 2003... A LOW cost cleanroom that can adapt non-clean moulding processes into fully validated cleanroom areas within hours at a fraction of the cost of a static cleanroom has been developed by Connect 2 Cleanrooms. The clean enclosures start at...

Battenfeld adds a new sandwich machine. (Injection Moulding).
February 1, 2003... BATTENFELD's TM series of toggle clamping moulding machines has been extended by adding a multi-material version for sandwich moulding. A newly designed nozzle head with optimised flow channels has been incorporated into the TM BM. This is...

Plasma pre-treatment improves adhesive bonding. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... A SIMPLE plasma pre-treatment process has been applied by the Warwick Manufacturing Group of the University of Warwick to improve the performance of adhesives used to bond automotive components such as bumpers. The Group worked with...

Shorter wave IR curing improves productivity. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... USE of a Heraeus Noblelight infrared heating system with fast response medium wave emitters at the Dunlop Precision Rubber factory at Shepshed is credited with significantly increased output and the elimination of combustion risk from solvents...

Araldite glues together truck bonnets. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... ARALDITE 4910 is being used by Polynorm Plastics (UK) to bond a front radiator grille and engine hood assembly for a range of Scania trucks. The company specialises in the production of composite parts for the automotive industry. The...

Forward improves positioning of spin welder. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... FORWARD Technology Industries has introduced its Omega III MCRI positional spin welding system, claimed to ensure the provision of precisely positioned and dependable hermetic seals of high mechanical strength at the joint interface. The 72 and...

Pad printers for awkward surfaces. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... KENT International pad printing equipment with a better specification is now offered by Tampo for application to objects with curved or awkward surfaces and which require good ink opacity, accuracy and high speed for continuous production. ...

Pad printer has quick change operation for short runs. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... A NEW pad printer from Tampo-print is in tended for multicolour printing in short runs, such as the production of premium gifts and golf ball decoration. The 2 - 6 colour Deko Printer can print areas up to 55 mm diameter depending on which...

Extraction system keeps GRP dust under control. (Finishing).
February 1, 2003... INCREASING levels of cutting, buffing and polishing of GRP parts at Production Glassfibre in Kirkaldy created a need for dust capture at source to protect personnel and the factory environment in general. The company already had systems for...

Making GPC/SEC more flexible. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... NEW UTILITIES have been added to Polymer Laboratories' range of gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) equipment for the determination of molecular size and weight. A new sample dilution and injection...

Measure powder flow to prevent production problems. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... AN INSTRUMENT which measures the flow characteristics of dry and wet powders is expected to help manufacturers avoid problems such as batch and source variation of ingredients, caking during storage, bridging in hoppers and sticking during...

New rheometer duo from Magna. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... TWO new rheometers have been introduced by Magna Projects and Instruments -- an extensional rheometer which the company describes as 'unique', and a budget-priced benchtop capillary rheometer which has been introduced to complement its Eta 2100...

Prelux assesses colour addition in opaque parts. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... LIQUID colour and additive supplier ColorMatrix Europe has developed a colour assessment tool to overcome the problem of equating the colour of a bottle preform with the addition level of the colorant. While spectrophotometers have been...

Pendulum more efficient for testing packaging. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... ASSESSING the impact strength of packaging materials has been made more meaningful, according to Ray-Ran Test Equipment, by using a pendulum motion system instead of a falling dart on its Puncture Impact Tester. This takes away subjective...

Collaborative research into nano-composites. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... A PROGRAMME of measurements and mathematical modelling to provide a sound interpretation of the nano-structure and nano-scale performance of polymer nano-composites has been started by The National Physical Laboratory. UK companies are invited...

Bigger BlowPac goes up to 30/60 litres. (Blow Moulding).
February 1, 2003... THE BlowPac series of extrusion blow moulding machines from SIG Blowtec, which is based on the old Kautex KEB range, has been augmented with the model 300. This widens the suitability of the series (which also includes the models 100 and 200)...

Apollo probe for CMMs 'walks on water'. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... THE NEW Apollo touch sensor probe for coordinate measuring machines requires a trigger force of less than 10 mg and is therefore suitable to measure soft plastics, thinwalled components, rubber, foamed and silicone rubber parts and other...

Upgraded mechanical testers cost half that of new. (Testing).
February 1, 2003... RAILKO, which makes polyester and phenolic based composite bearings, has modernised two 20 year old mechanical testing machines with Zwick retrofit packages. The cost involved was half that for new electronic systems. The two existing load...

Turn rubber profiles into finished parts. (Pipe & Profile Extrusion).
February 1, 2003... A NEW extrusion finishing machine is now available from Industrial Automation to make finished or semi-finished parts from endless rubber profile. It is suitable for all rubber section finishing but is said to be particularly useful for the...

Scanning and machining combined for copying. (Prototyping).
February 1, 2003... BY INTEGRATING 3D co-ordinate scanning into a machining centre, Unimatic Engineers has created a one-stop reverse engineering machine. The result is an intelligent machine tool that produces copies of an original piece. Operational...

Amcor bottle-to-bottle expansion reaches 21,000 tonnes capacity in France. (Environmental Issues).
February 1, 2003... EXPANSION of the PET recycling plant at Beaune in France, set up by Schmalbach-Lubeca and now run as part of Amcor PET Packaging Europe/Asia, has been completed. The expansion, started towards the end of 2001, has cost some [euro]18 million and...

Penetrating Insight. (Software Review).
February 1, 2003... In last month's British plastics & rubber, Clive Maier outlined what's new in version 4.0 of Moldflow Plastics Insight. It is a major upgrade with many new features so this month he takes a closer look. BY now, everyone will be familiar...

An extrusion program in your pocket. (Software Review).
February 1, 2003... Extruders of blown or cast film and flexible packaging can now make process calculations on the run with ExtruWiz, a software package designed for hand-held computers and PDAs (personal digital assistants). ExtruWiz is a toolkit of some 30...

Prospector Desktop completely rewritten. (Software Review).
February 1, 2003... MATERIALS information specialist IDES has released version 4.0 of Prospector Desktop. This is the CD version of the massive IDES plastics database of more than 40,000 materials. The company's prime route for delivering database searching,...

Trendpam gets Dipre agency. (Agency Update).
February 1, 2003... Following the retirement of Geoff Turner of Geoff Turner Machine Sales, Dipre of Italy has appointed Trendpam to represent it in the UK and Ireland for its range of granulators, dryers, dosing units, and central vacuum conveying systems. ...

Edlon takes on Hosokawa Alpine. (Agency Update).
February 1, 2003... The sole agency in the UK and Ireland for blown film extruders, film winders and film orientation lines built in Augsburg, Germany, by Hosokawa Alpine has been granted to Edlon Machinery by Hosokawa Alpine or Runcorn. Alpine can supply...

RTS adds BFM. (Agency Update).
February 1, 2003... Bandera agent RTS Associates has extended its remit by becoming UK/Ireland representative for Bandera's printing and bag-making equipment subsidiary BFM. RTS has represented Bandera's complete range of extrusion equipment since 1987. ...

Dryer distributorship extended. (Agency Update).
February 1, 2003... Maguire has extended Summit Systems' exclusive UK distributorship for its low pressure dryer for another year. www.summitsystems.co.uk Factfinder 131

Metal detector improvements. (Metal Detection).
February 1, 2003... The latest metal detector control unit from Eriez Magnetics Europe offers better immunity to electrical noise coupled with improved reliability and easier servicing. The company's new MA 6600 control unit is primarily intended, like the...

Modular conveyor is easily adjusted. (Product Handling).
February 1, 2003... The new PNL range of modular adjustable conveyors from Virginio Nastri is designed to be adaptable to changing production requirements. They can be increased in length on site by the user in increments of 0-5 m, a facility that is said to be...

Linden mixing heads now with shot counters. (Reaction Processing).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Linden Industries of the USA has solved two perennial industry problems with the introduction of a shot counter for its entire range of mixing heads. The new counter offers 'the first reliable method of counting the number of shots delivered by...

Metallocene technology produces tailor-made waxes. (Dispersion Agents).
February 1, 2003... The Pigments and Additives division of Clariant is using the company's newly-developed metallocene synthesis to create waxes with precise property profiles. This is of great advantage because every pigment, filler and additive makes somewhat...

Slip additive for halal and kosher food films. (Slip Additives).
February 1, 2003... Croda has introduced a new vegetable-derived slip additive for halal and kosher-certified food applications. Crodamide VRX is an oleamide manufactured from non-genetically modified vegetable matter and is produced in bead or powder form....

Shell and Sumitomo research Singapore ethylene plant. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... SHELL Chemicals and Sumitomo Chemical are extending their Far East co-operation with a feasibility study into a world-scale ethylene plant in Singapore. Sumitomo and Shell Eastern Petroleum have been cooperating through a joint venture company,...

Dow to shut PET plant because it's too small. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... THE downturn in the global economy has forced Dow Chemical to shut down its PET plant at Pisticci in Matera, Italy, which will be closed by the end of the first quarter this year. Dow says that it needs to concentrate on facilities that offer...

US approval for fungicide additive. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... CIBA Specialty Chemicals' Irgaguard F3000 fungicide has been registered for specific uses under the US EPA's Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) as a material preservative and antifungal agent for use in adhesive films,...

More changes in who sells what. (Materials Marketplace).
February 1, 2003... THE shake up in European materials distribution, started last September when BASF sold its distribution companies to the Ravago Group and Albis, has continued with a new round of announcements affecting distribution majors Ultrapolymers,...

Atofina to double Asian PS production with Chinese buy. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... ATOFINA is to more than double its Asian polystyrene capacity by buying a 100,000 tonnes polystyrene plant in Sanshui, Guangdong Province, China from China Offshore Oil Sanshui Chemical Industry. Atofina already makes polystyrene in Asia, at a...

Materials price rises. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Dow Plastics has increased all its European engineering plastics prices because of the worsening global economy. The price of Magnum ABS, Calibre polycarbonate, and Pulse and Emerge PC/ABS have gone up by [euro]0.28/kg and Tyril SAN by...

Cookson waves goodbye to plastics--at last. (Company Report).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Cookson Group has finally left the plastics arena with the sale of its Precision Products businesses. A year ago the group sold off what was left of its plastics moulding companies, but the manufacture of engineered plastics components remained...

Conair to end UK manufacture. (Company Report).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Conair Europe is to cease UK manufacture as part of a move to improve its costs and pricing. The company makes Churchill temperature controllers at its Wokingham premises but much of the remaining manufacturing is devoted to assembling and...

Moldflow buys French PMS supplier. (Company Report).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Moldflow has bought a French production monitoring systems supplier. Controle Processus Industriels has more than 170 installations, mainly in the French plastics, paper and printing sectors, and has a strong customer base in injection...

Matrix Plastics plans Far East investment. (Materials Marketplace).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... MASTERBATCH and colour compound producer Matrix Plastics is planning to build a factory in Thailand in a [pounds sterling]900,000+ investment alongside a further [pounds sterling]250,000 investment in improving its Slough facilities. The...

Kafrit International. (Materials Marketplace).(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2003... IN LAST month's issue in a report that Kafrit International is planning to buy two Constab plants we referred to Kafrit International as a joint venture between Ravago and Kafrit of Israel and owner of Colloids. We have been asked to make clear...

Wider range of PP from Chemopetrol. (Materials Marketplace).
February 1, 2003... CZECH PP and PE producer Chemopetrol is launching a range of PP materials as part of a new investment in polypropylene production. The new plant, replacing a previous facility, uses the Amoco gas phase process and increases Chemopetrol's...

Conferences & Exhibitions.(Calendar)
February 1, 2003... Additives [New] April 8 - 10 European Coatings Show 2003. Exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany, featuring a Masterbatch Day forum on April 9. Vincentz Verlag, +49(0)5 11 9910 270 (fax +49(0)5 11 9910 279, e-mail schwenke@coatings.de, internet...

Training agenda.(Calendar)
February 1, 2003... DESIGN July 1 - 4 Advanced Plastics Product Design * Polymer Technology, London Metropolitan University (formerly University of North London) [pounds sterling]675 Alison Green, 020 7133 2189 MATERIALS Adhesives...

International Polymer Exhibitions.(Calendar)
February 1, 2003... March 12 - 14 PTS 2003 - 6th International Exhibition of Plastics Processing and Materials. Exhibition in Warsaw, Poland. Biuro Reklamy, +4822 849 6006 (fax +4822 8493584, e-mail biuro_reklamy@brsa.com.pl, internet www.brsa.com.pl). March...

Buyers' Guide.
February 1, 2003... MATERIALS ADHESIVES Eurobond Adhesives Ltd Bonham Drive, Eurolink Industrial Estate, Sittingbourne, Kent, E10 3RY Tel: 01795 427888 Fax: 01795 479685 E-mail: sales@curobond-adhesives.co.uk Web site:...