British Plastics & Rubber articles from February 2004

British Plastics & Rubber archives from February 2004

Why we need to know the rheological behaviour of polymer melts and how we measure it: Dr Robert Marsh of Bohlin Instruments stresses the importance of rheology to the processing of polymers, and describes the two principal means of measuring rheological properties.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... RHEOLOGY is the science of studying the flow and deformation of materials rooted in the laws of elasticity and viscosity proposed by Hooke and Newton in the late 17th Century. Polymers are processed in the main in the molten state, so rheology...

Value viscometer.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... BROOKFIELD Viscometers believes its new computer-controlled model offers the best value on the market. The DV-II+ PRO viscometer is designed for both quality control and laboratory use, and is compatible with Brookfield's established range of...

Build up MFI capabilities with Modular from CEAST.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... THE MODULAR nature of CEAST's latest melt flow instrument range enables users to start with a basic instrument to meet simple requirements, and then build it up in stages for more complex testing. The Melt Flow Modular performs both melt...

Reducing the chore of MFI clean down.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... AN AUTOMATED purge system has been introduced for the Tinius Olsen (formerly Hounsfield) MP600 melt flow indexer at the request of a major polymer manufacturer that uses 40 MP600s for hundreds of daily tests. The aim is to reduce operator...

New rheometer ancillaries enable extended solids testing and automated extrudate spooling.(Testing)
February 1, 2004... BOHLIN Instruments has extended the solids testing capability of its Gemini and C-VOR rheometers. The company's new rectangular torsion fixtures can accommodate solid samples with a free length of 50 mm. Samples can be up to 10mm thick and...

Sheet haul off for lab extruder.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... Thermo Prism has developed a new sheet extrusion haul-off to match its Eurolab 16 Digital twin-screw extruder. The haul-off unit includes let-off rolls for release papers and a controlled wind-Up unit to collect the sheet, and is mounted on a...

Quick change filter improves pigment dispersion test.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... A NEW kind of pressure filter test head has been developed by Dr Collin of Germany for the detection of particles, agglomerates and fish eyes in plastic melts. It consists of a cassette with four positions for the test screen and a bypass...

Brabender increases throughput capability of laboratory extruders.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... The series of extruders built by Brabender OHG for R & D and quality control has been extended by the KE 30, which 'reaches throughputs comparable with high performance extrusion'. The machine can be combined with a range of downstream...

Special automation offer on DSC and TGA.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... METTLER Toledo is running a special offer on automated thermal analysis. The package consists of either a differential scanning calorimeter or a thermogravimetric analyser bundled with a sample robot and the new Mettler Toledo XS balance. The...

Get water vapour transmission rates faster.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... MEASUREMENT of water vapour transmission can be speeded up, says Versaperm, by the use of its WVTR meter which can produce results better than one part per million. The company says that conventional techniques take several days, but the...

PVC thermal stability testing is computer-controlled.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... METROHM claims that its 763 PVC Thermomat is the first fully PC-controlled instrument for the determination of the thermal stability of PVC. Chlorinated plastics decompose at elevated temperatures with the release of gaseous HCl. In the...

Hardness gauges are easier to use.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... Recent improvements to Bowers CV's range of digital and analogue durometars has improved their ease of use. The hand-held instruments test hardness of rubber, plastic, leather and most other 'soft' materials to Shore A and D. Improved accuracy...

DIN abrader tests three samples together.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... THE NEW STM602 DIN Abrasion Tester for elastomers from Hampden Test Equipment enables three samples to be tested simultaneously and fully automatically. Of the three sample stations two are fixed and one has a rotating option. Having three...

Slow speed and low cost universal testers.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... A UNIVERSAL testing machine for testing tough materials at high loads and an 'affordable' universal tester for routine applications have been added to the Lloyd Instruments range. The high performance 30 kN machine is said to operate...

Impact testers with 'vastly superior' resolution.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... TWO impact testers have been added to the Tinius Olsen Hounsfield range. Both use a pendulum which can have interchangeable weights to perform Charpy and Izod tests across a range of energies. The 92T model is an open platform instrument,...

Laser extensometer needs no measuring marks.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... AN IMPROVED method of measuring specimen deformation by laser has been introduced by Zwick/Roell. The optiXtens extensometer is designed for the contact-free measurement of specimen deformation under quasi-static load application in tensile,...

More options for xenon tester.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... Q-PANEL's Q-Sun xenon arc tester is now available in two sizes with options of relative humidity control and water spray. The Q-Sun tests materials for lightfastness by exposing specimens to xenon arc light, which is considered to be the...

What you need to know about colour.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... GretagMacbeth UK is running two-day workshops on The Fundamentals of Colour and Appearance at its Preston Brook Centre near Manchester. Day 1 is The Fundamentals session, focusing on an introduction to colour and appearance. Principles that...

Tantec adds electrical leak detection.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... AN ELECTRICAL leak detection system has been introduced by Tantec for inline application in production fields such as surface testing of moulding and welding joints in medical devices, and extruded film for medical bags. The fully...

PTS defines its own procedures to find the best parameters for two-component moulding.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... MULTI-COMPONENT moulding, typically pairing a hard material with a soft one for the addition of a gasket, or to give an improved tactile finish, is advancing in leaps and bounds, but the assessment of how well the materials bond to one another...

Cap testing machine designed for shop floor use.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... THE LATEST development from Proditec for inspecting caps and closures is the Visilab self-contained, stand alone unit which can be installed either on the shop floor or in the QC lab. It enables fast, non-contact checking of critical dimensions...

Visual inspection systems focus on O-rings.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... ITALIAN vision inspection company DOSS has developed two machines for the automatic inspection of O-rings. The MIGG machine scans the internal and external surfaces of an O-ring mounted on a rotating table for accurate diameter measurement,...

3D vision system is profitable alternative to 2D projection.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... VIRTUALLY instant pay-back is the claim made for a non-contact measuring system which has been bought by a Derbyshire rubber mouldings company. SRM Mouldings has installed Starlite, a newly introduced system from OGP UK which, at less than...

Repeatability and simplicity are keys to Kestrel optical inspection.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... THE REPEATABILTY achievable with a microprocessor-controlled optical inspection instrument is important for consistent standards of inspection of flexible materials. Gambro BCT makes automated blood collection devices, one of which, the...

Vision system checks tactile as well as visual attributes.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... A RECENT Vision Controls commission involved the use of a Linecheck vision system for automated inspection and testing of a moulded instrument panel cover for a central heating thermostat. The Linecheck system is designed specifically for the...

Thickness gauge designed for engineering plastics.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... The Cygnus SE ultrasonic thickness gauge has been specifically designed to measure on all types of engineering plastic, and operates within the velocity range of 1,000-9,995 m/s. An optional 1 MHz probe allows the gauge to be used on many types...

Portable scanner fits into tight corners.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... A PORTABLE laser scanner now available from EuroPac Metrology of Crewe captures data at more than 23,000 points per second enabling real time comparison against a 3D CAD model to an accuracy of [+ or -] 50 microns. The Perceptron Laser...

ColorMatrix sets down a marker for AA testing standard.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... IN LIEU of a standard test for the acetaldehyde (AA) level in PET ColorMatrix has developed its own method. Acetaldehyde has a very low threshold of about 20 ppb which could give rise to an undesired sweet taste in the contents of PET...

Closure torque tester designed for portability.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... To determine the opening torque of screw closures fitted to bottles and jars Mecmesin has introduced the Orbis manual torque tester. The universal gripping fixture is able to accommodate containers with a wide range of sizes, shapes and...

Testing for pipe ring stiffness.(Testing & Inspection)
February 1, 2004... A PARTICULAR problem for plastics pipe used underground is brittle cracking due to incorrect use of material, ageing, land movement etc. However it is important that pipe is made stiff to resist both the internal pressure of what it is...

Thermoplastic elastomer has superior heat ageing.(Engineering Materials)
February 1, 2004... A NEW thermoplastic elastomer ether-ester (TEEE) block copolymer from DSM Engineering Plastics is said to have a much better heat ageing characteristic than competitive materials. It is intended for automotive airducts where the improved...

New stabilisers for medical-grade vinyls.(Engineering Materials)
February 1, 2004... TEKNOR APEX has developed new flexible vinyl compounds that are less prone to discolour or degrade under heat than conventional medical-grade PVCs. Heat stabilisation has been a problem in medical-grade formulations because regulations...

Improved mPPs start with a melt blown grade.(Engineering Materials)
February 1, 2004... NEW catalysts for its Exxpol metallocene-catalysed polypropylene process have enabled ExxonMobil Chemical Co to develop improved polypropylenes, starting with a grade for melt blown fabrics, but with film and injection moulding grades soon to...

Bio-source plastic has electronic product potential.(Engineering Materials)
February 1, 2004... AN engineering bioplastic based on polylactic acid which overcomes the low flame resistance of similar materials has been developed in Japan by NEC Corporation. The material is said to have passed UL94 5V and UL94 V-0 at 1.6 mm testing without...

New name for pressure pipe PE.(Engineering Materials)
February 1, 2004... DOW has devised a separate trade mark for polyethylene used for pressure pipe. It has coined the name Continuum for the bimodal polyethylene it makes for PE 80 and PE 100 pipe and has applied it to two grades so far. Continuum is said to...

Another fluorine polymer for cable covering.(Engineering Materials)
February 1, 2004... THE fluoropolymer materials made by Dyneon for wire and cable applications are being extended with a PVDF grade, alongside existing PTFE, FEP, ETFE, PFA and THV fluorothermoplastic--a polymer of tetrafluoroethylene, hexafluoropropylene and...

Polymer mimics glass.(Packaging Materials)
February 1, 2004... Eastman Specialty Plastics has introduced Its Glass Polymer, an Easter copolyester, as an alternative to glass for packaging cosmetics. The material is said to look and feel like glass, and the illusion is completed by its ability to be...

Laser welding--it doesn't have to be black.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... LASER welding is a process being used increasingly to assemble plastics components where other assembly methods could cause problems from vibration or the creation of particulates, or need time-consuming preparation. In essence the process...

Laser welding 'was the gentlest of them all'.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... Two consecutive laser welding processes are being used to make an infrared distance control system for motor vehicles developed by Continental Temic subsidiary ADC in Lindau, Germany. The challenge was to join the housing, the cover and the...

The principal methods of laser welding polymers.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... Rofin-Baasel offers this description of two main process for laser welding of polymers: contour welding, and quasi-simultaneous welding. In contour welding the laser moves via an axis-system or a robot over the welding contour. In this method...

More flexibility in diode welding systems.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... ADDITIONS have been made to the diode welding systems for plastics built by Rofin-Baasel. The StarWeld Diode laser family comprises diode lasers and diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers. In the StarWeld Diode, two galvanometer-driven rotary mirrors...

Sub-assembling adds value to counter low labour cost competition.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... AS PRODUCTION of plastic mouldings moves evermore towards lower cost manufacturing bases, UK moulding companies are looking to add value to their product. The trend has grown significantly in the last decade, and is now at the heart of...

Bonding fasteners eliminate drilling.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... Jetloc bonding fasteners introduced by Jet Press are for joining metal to plastics and eliminate the need to drill holes. Encasement can be done with PU, composites and GRP. Assembly may be by heat or with Pop rivets through a perforated plate....

Pre-activate two-part adhesives up to 30 days ahead.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... Surface-activated methacrylate adhesives capable of bonding thermoplastics, composites and metals have been added to the Huntsman Advanced Materials Araldite series. The new Agomet range consists of eight adhesives and four hardeners...

Adhesives designed to make door panels more flexible.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... A RANGE of adhesives developed specifically to improve the long term durability of plastic doors has been introduced by Apollo Adhesives. The company has been working with UK door manufacturers for the past couple of years to develop the...

Special purpose adhesives from Inseto.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... INSETO's Delo Glasbond single part adhesives, have a refractive index similar to glass and are UV curable within seconds. The clourless adhesives are intended for glass bonding, but are also suitable for metal to plastics bonding. No yellowing...

Hot air replaces flame deflashing to improve safety.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... HOT AIR welding equipment from Welwyn Tool Co is being used instead of naked flames to remove flash from BMW Mini bumpers at Decoma International. The switch from flame guns has reduced the company's insurance premiums and the need to buy...

'Smallest hot air tool' can be used for staking or bonding.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... WITH a diameter of 15 mm the Leister mini hot air tool is claimed to be the smallest in the world and operates under pressure for plastics to metal bonding and staking work in the automotive and other industries, as well as for drying hoses and...

Branson adds cold staking.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... A HOT AIR/cold staking assembly system has been developed by Branson Ultrasonics to complement its range of ultrasonic welding, hot plate and other assembly equipment. A precisely controlled low velocity jet of heated air is directed at the...

Vertical layout simplifies in-mould labeling.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... BOY has developed a machine system for in-mould decorating based on its 35 VV vertical injection moulding machine By using a vertical machine, the peripheral equipment can be mounted on the machine bed behind the clamping unit, keeping the...

Ionised airknife strips dust from mouldings.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... Fraser Anti-Static Techniques has LC-introduced an ionised air knife to remove electrostaticatly attracted dust from plastics mouldings, sheets and other extrusions. The Model 5500E produces a high thrust beam of ionised air which removes the...

More for your money, says Teca-Print.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... A BUDGET-priced pad prmter new from Teca-Print offers two-colour printing, an 80 per cent increase in print pressure over similar models, and a 150 x 100 mm plate size. The TPE 150 costs 3,700 [pounds sterling] for the basic model and can...

ACT plans to offer more finishing techniques.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... APPLIED Coating Technologies is expanding its plastics coating facilities during this year with more automation and clean room painting capacity. A Staubli 6axis robot is being bought to give more flexibility and repeatability. It will be...

More options added to Tampoprint Concentra series.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... THE Tampoprint Concentra pad printer series is growing, with the original 60 and 90 mm ink cup machines augmented by models with cup sizes up to 150 mm. The machine is currently a four-colour printer, but Tampoprint has plans to increase this...

Isimat adds digital transfers.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... GERMAN screenprinter manufacturer Isimat has set up a company to make systems for digitally printing heat-applied transfers for three--dimensional items. Digicals from IDS--Isimat Digital Systems--are reverse printed on to a carrier film in the...

Riverside puts more colour on its bottles.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... Welsh blow moulder Riverside Plastics has extended its bottle finishing capability by moving into four-colour printing--until now it only had the capability to print in two colours. The company makes bottles mainly for cosmetics and toiletry...

Satin chrome success triggers investment by Borough.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... ANOTHER plating line has been commissioned at Borough of Southend following acceptance of satin chrome plating on plastics mouldings by the automotive industry. Borough has a number of current contracts for interior trim items, but the...

Nylon can be plated and powder coated.(Finishing)
February 1, 2004... A HIGH performance nylon from Ems Chemie has been developed to be both platable and powder coatable. Mineral reinforced Grivory GM-4H is regarded as a substitute for die-cast metals, and has a higher strength and stiffness than traditional...

Flame retardants for glass-reinforced thermoplastics.(Additives)
February 1, 2004... THE Pigments & Additives division of Clariant has produced two new flame retardants specifically for glass fibre reinforced thermoplastics. Both are based on metal phosphinates and are free of halogens. Exolit OP 1311 (TP) and 1312 (TP)...

Flaked glass compounds to be made by AddMaster.(Additives)
February 1, 2004... Compounds based on the flaked glass products made by Glassflake of Leeds are to be made by AddMaster (UK). Glassflake reckons to be the largest Supplier of glass flake products in Europe. Its glass flakes are lamellar fillers made from...

New carbon black for pressure pipes.(Additives)
February 1, 2004... CABOT Corporation has developed an improved carbon black for pressure pipe applications. Elftex P100 has been formulated for significantly better performance in the five key criteria of particle size, compound moisture absorption, microscopic...

K-M adds RIM, casting and panel equipment.(Reaction Processing)
February 1, 2004... AN ENTRY level RIM machine, a general purpose casting machine, and a combined mixing bead and spray nozzle for panel manufacture have been introduced by Krauss-Maffei. The Puromat SP high pressure machines for entry level users are...

Silos let maturing EPS breathe.(Materials Handling)
February 1, 2004... NEARLY 2,500 [m.sup.3] of permeable silo storage has been installed at Vencel Resil in East Yorkshire, which makes Jablite EPS for insulation products. Storage was required at the new site for virgin EPS as it matured at the post expansion...

New dehumidifying driers.(Materials Handling)
February 1, 2004... Sandretto has a new range of Dal Maschio compact continuously cycling dehumidifying driers. Made in stainless steel, they incorporate molecular sieves and various models have capacities from 30 to 600 [m.sup.3]/hr. They may be mounted on or by...

Fast change for FlexWall feeder.(Materials Handling)
February 1, 2004... BRABENDER has introduced the Easy Change variant of its FlexWall Plus flexible hopper feeder. It has a hopper, screw and housing integrated as an exchangeable unit which can be decoupled by means of quick release locks and lifted off the...

Profibus simplifies new slitter construction.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
February 1, 2004... A NEW 3 metre wide slitting machine from Ash Converting incorporates Profibus communication to local drives; individual on-board AC digital drives with built in PLC control for each arm, together with innovations such as dual arms which can run...

Toggle system takes the friction out of die lid adjustment.(Film & Sheet Production)
February 1, 2004... THE NEW Toggle FastGap system developed by Extrusion Dies Industries is intended to eliminate downtime involved in adjusting dies for changes in product thickness. The line operater uses a special wrench, supplied by EDI, to turn an adjusting...

US slitter/rewinders come to Britain.(Film & Sheet Production)
February 1, 2004... AMERICAN slitter/rewinder manufacturer Stanford Products has appointed Jenton International as representative for the UK and Ireland. Stanford has been building machines for 60 years, and in addition to its trademarked line of Doctor Machines,...

More capacity for forming sheet.(Film & Sheet Production)
February 1, 2004... ITALIAN thermoforming sheet manufacturer ILPA-MP3 has installed a new extrusion line to make ABS/PMMA, ABS and HIPS sheets up to 2,400 mm wide and 9 mm thick. The new line will increase production by more than 60,000 tonnes a year. ...

Line scanner keeps track of thin film temperatures.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
February 1, 2004... LAND Instruments International has developed a new high speed infrared line scanner system to measure temperatures during conversion processes, including thermoforming, for thin plastics sheet. It has been developed because the temperature of...

GRP discontinue after experience with PMMA/PVC sheet.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
February 1, 2004... KYDEX acrylic/PVC alloy sheet supplied by Comco Plastics is being used for the one piece bumper and skirt of the Optare Alero single deck 16 seat low floor bus and the bus maker has decided to discontinue the use of painted GRP bumpers. ...

Purpose-built machine must both slit and die cut.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
February 1, 2004... A CUSTOMISED slitter rewinder being built by Emerson & Renwick is for use on a 2.2 m wide converting and packaging line. The machine is intended to replace the current method of production which is extremely labour intensive, involving a...

10 colours now on gearless flexo press.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
February 1, 2004... VALMET Converting has introduced a new 10 colour gearless Rotomec Flexo press which will be available for printing trials early this year in its Converting Technology Center in Italy. The company entered the gearless flexo market some two...

Not husky, not Netstal, but Sandretto.(Injection Moulding)
February 1, 2004... SANDRETTO, not generally thought of as a PET preform equipment supplier, has supplied a system to a Lebanese company to make preforms for 5 gallon cans for potable water. The machine is a Serie Nove T 4000/2650 and the mould, from OMMP, has two...

Free seminars on toolmaking initiatives.(Tooling)
February 1, 2004... The practical outcome of the emould@work project will be presented at a free GTMA seminar towards the end of this month. The two-year project has developed innovative software for on-line mouldmaking management, with the aid of EU funding...

Small sensor gives rapid reactions.(Injection Moulding)
February 1, 2004... PRIAMUS System Technologies says that the advantages of cavity temperature measurement, as distinct from pressure measurement, are just being discovered. The company has introduced a cavity temperature sensor with a diameter of 1 mm and length...

3D modelling predicts flow of gas and plastic.(Injection Moulding)
February 1, 2004... Simulation of plastic and gas flows in gas assisted moulding conventionally uses 2D mid-plane approximations. But there have been limitations on the simulation of gas flows in thick tubular products, and a corresponding need for accurate 3D...

Valve gate pin alignment is protected from the heat.(Injection Moulding)
February 1, 2004... THE NEW Mold-Masters Accu-Valve valve gate is intended to achieve precise pin alignment by eliminating the effect of the thermal expansion of the manifold, and thereby give good cosmetics and 'exceptional' durability. It is of cylindrical...

Demag consolidates its brand and plugs gaps in Eastern Europe.(Injection Moulding)
February 1, 2004... THE Demag Plastics Group, which was set up in November 2002 with the merger of Demag Ergotech of Germany and Van Dorn Demag of the USA, has dropped the use of the Ergotech and Van Dorn names on its machines and in company titles, to present an...

After Omnexus: Clive Maier looks back at the rise and fall of Omnexus, and draws out some pointers for the future of e-business in the plastics sector.(Software)
February 1, 2004... IT WAS launched with a fanfare at NPE 2000. It was backed by the some of the biggest names in the business. They put in, so it was said, $50 million just for starters. It was the internet plastics marketplace that could not fail. It was...

Viton APA.(What's New on the Web)
February 1, 2004... Advanced Polymer Architecture (APA) is a proprietary fluoroelastomer technology developed by DuPont Dew for the production of high performance and speciality elastomers under the Viton brand name. Now this family of materials has its own web...

Clearly medical.(What's New on the Web)
February 1, 2004... A new site by Eastman Chemical Company is devoted to medical applications of its Eastar copolyester materials. The Content consists mainly of case studies. www.clearlymedical.com cmaier@econologyltd.com

Dyna-Purge.(What's New on the Web)
February 1, 2004... Shuman Plastics has created a new web site dedicated to its Dyna-Purge thermoplastic purging compounds. In addition to product and process information, there is a video showing Dyna-Purge in action, filmed through a glass-windowed extruder....

PBPSA.(What's New on the Web)
February 1, 2004... The web site of the Polybutene Piping Systems Association (PSPSA) provides detailed information on the association, its members and on polybutene piping. The new look site has been redesigned to cover more information and make it easier to find...