British Plastics & Rubber articles from January 2008

British Plastics & Rubber archives from January 2008

Conferences & exhibitions.(Calendar)
January 1, 2008... Applications--automotive May 14-18 Plastics-In-Motion. Conference in Prague, Czech Republic. Executive Conference Management, +1 734 73737 0507 (fax +1 734 737 0508). [e-mail] ecm@executiveconference.com [website]...

International plastics and rubber exhibitions.(conferences & exhibitions)(Calendar)
January 1, 2008... March 4-6 Plastics USA 2008. Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Society of the Plastics industry +1 202 974 5235 (fax +1 202 296 7243). [website] www.plasticsindustry.org March 21-23 11th PPPEXPO Kenya. Plastics, printing and...

Anatomy of a robot: Stirling Paatz from robot integrator Barr & Paatz describes the structure of the basic types of industrial robot.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE term robot stems from the Czech word robota, which translates roughly as "dull, repetitive labour." Although robots are indeed often associated with performing highly repetitive, routine applications, today's...

Predictive controller cuts dead time in robot cycles.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... A SELF-OPTIMISING process intended to cut out any dead time in the moulding cycle that might be robot-related has been devised by Wittmann. SmartRemoval monitors all processes of the robot and machine which have an influence on cycle time, and,...

Robot unscrambles random parts for process feeding.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... A NEW feeding system from AA Robotics does away with bowl feeders and instead uses vision system guidance to orient randomly-fed components. GRASP--Guided Robot Automatic Sorting of Parts--comprises a Denso robot, a high resolution Cognex...

Lightweight static charging for IML.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... A STATIC charging system light enough to mount on a robot arm has been introduced by MKS Ion Industrial of the USA (UK agent Webtek UK) for in-mould labelling applications. The model 7020 charging generator weighs 1 kg and can deliver a...

Bespoke IML system beats mould height limitations.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... IN-MOULD labelling combined with product removal was achieved by Waldorf Technik in an application where three sizes of product had to be accommodated and space was limited. The system was developed for the manufacture of 10, 15 and 20 litre...

Extra mould automation cuts IML investment costs.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... INVESTMENT in hardware for an ice cream tub manufacturing cell was reduced for Pavao Industria of Brazil by Wittmann France. Instead needing two machine cells--one for the tub and another for the lid--Wittmann designed a single machine cell to...

ABB extends IRB 6600 series.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... THREE models have been added to ABB's IRB 6600 series, which now encompasses floor-and shelf-mounted robots for injection moulding machines from 600 to 3,000 tonnes. The IRB 6620 compact can be mounted in floor-standing, inverted or tilted...

Beam robots for where space is tight.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... THE LRX series robots from KraussMaffei are beam robots with an "extremely attractive price/performance ratio" in three sizes for 5, 10 and 15 kg payloads. The LRX is compact for use where space is tight and has its control unit located in...

PET bottle robot is uprated.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... THE PCE Automation take-out robots for single-stage PET blow moulding machines are intended to reduce damage to the bottle surface that may occur with free-drop ejection and to increase the stability of the bottles when they are transferred to...

Sepro co-operates with Staubli.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... SEPRO Robotique is now offering 6 axis robots through a deal with Staubli Robotics. Sepro is a specialist in 3 axis beam robots, with a range stretching up to suitability for 5,000 tonnes injection moulding machines. But it was lacking 6 axis...

Higher-speed multi-axis robot reaches down.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... A HIGHER speed shelf-mounted robot has been introduced by KUKA for use on injection moulding machines from 100 to 500 tonnes, augmenting the company's bigger shelf-mounted range. KUKA says the KR 16 KS-S (16 kg payload) is 20 per cent faster...

Robot slashes costs in GRP finishing.(automation & robotics)
January 1, 2008... AUTOMATING the trimming of GRP baths at the Coventry factory of Carefree Bathing is saving 10,000 [pounds sterling] a month, and the cell has paid for itself in the first four months of operation. The walk-in bath shells were previously...

What to see at the Dublin show.(plastics innovations exhibition preview)
January 1, 2008... Plastics Innovations 2008 will be held at the RDS Centre in Dublin, Ireland on February 6 and 7. The RDS Centre is situated in the heart of the city in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Opening hours are 10 to 5 on the first day and 10 to 4 on the second....

Acrylic film can be bonded to polyolefin sheet.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A TIE layer material designed specifically to bond an acrylic layer on to a thermoplastic polyolefin substrate for use in thermoforming has been developed by Solvay Engineered Polymers in the USA. Solvay says the ability of Addhere to bond...

Improved nylon for food films.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A NEW nylon terpolymer enabling down-gauging of food films without losing functionality has been introduced by Ube Industries. Terpalex includes PA6, 6.6 and 12 in the same chain, which Ube says gives it high shrinkage, excellent thermoforming...

If you can't get at it, flush it.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A PURGING agent designed specifically for blown film and profile extrusion has been produced by Eurobond Adhesives. Europurge is a non-abrasive, thermoplastic purging compound designed for extruders that have limited access to screen-changers,...

Extra air ring improves film stability.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... THE Magicflow air ring from Plast-Control has been augmented with a design using an additional air ring to stabilise the melt flow. The Magicflow Duo is independent of the machine's IBC system, contributing to ease of retrofit--in fact the...

New melt path speeds blown film change-over.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... ENCAPSULATED Feed Technology is a new design concept for spiral mandrel dies developed by Gloucester Engineering for barrier film production. The company says that it gives up to 65 per cent faster polymer changeover times and yields superior...

Yield control reduces waste and improves productivity.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... FLEXFILM makes polyethylene film on a 2 acre site at Winsford in Cheshire, and has been using Maguire gravimetric blenders for 8 years. Recently it installed Maguire yield control technology which has improved product quality and...

Improved cooling brings higher thin film output.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A 3 m stretch film line has been introduced by Gloucester Engineering with its output width fitting between existing equipment to make 2/2-5 and 4 m film. The Cast 3000 builds on the standardised line concept developed for the Cast 2020 four...

Blowing downwards has a lot to commend it.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... BRAMPTON Engineering of Canada has delivered its ninth AquaFrost downward blown film line since it introduced the design in 2001 .The water quenching process is claimed to produce soft film with high optical quality and the equipment requires...

Reifenhauser winds up a record.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A WORLD record for winding cast PP film is being claimed by Reifenhauser for its K2007 display. Cast PP film was produced at a speed of 460 m/min and wound on a Midex rotary arm winder. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the Midex the two...

Coex bubbles 'are lighter and last longer'.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... TORNINOVA has developed the Coex Bubble co-extrusion line for the production of bubble film. An internal layer of PA6 in the film provides higher air retention than a thicker mono layer film, giving longer term cushioning performance. The...

IRD solves PE contamination problem in APET scrap.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... THE IRD infrared dryer from UPM has been used to solve a problem of what to do with thermoforming scrap in modified atmosphere packaging. APET sheet used for MAP often has a thin PE film laminated to it prior to thermoforming a food...

Stretch film equipment for producers and converters.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... CONVERTERS as well as producers are intended customers for the new Adtech Provera Compatech 100 co-extrusion line for stretch film production. It can produce two hand rolls directly slit in line with a total net output up to 600 kg/hr. Floor...

Extrusion control is added by K-Tron.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A LOSS-IN-WEIGHT control package for extrusion has been developed by the K-Tron Process Group and was tested at beta sites in Europe and the USA during last year. An installation would typically include a K4G feeding and blending station...

DMT cuts the cost of simultaneous stretching.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A TECHNOLOGY for the biaxial orientation of film which works in a single step has been patented by Franco-Austrian orientation specialist DMT. Unlike conventional systems--which are also made by DMT--in which the machine direction stretching is...

11 layers from Brampton.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Claiming already to have installed 15 nine layer and two 10 layer blown film lines, Brampton Engineering of Canada has now supplied an SCD-3 11 layer line to a major blown film producer. [website] www.be-ca.com

Cast film extrusion and coating laboratories to rent.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... US flat die manufacturer Extrusion Dies Industries is adding laboratories for die development which it will rent to processors and converters to use in product development and process testing. It has bought a factory about half a mile from its...

Lasers can perforate individual layers in packaging films.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... ROFIN StarScribe laser systems enable an individual layer in a co-extruded packaging film to be scribed while leaving other layers intact. It is thus possible to provide easy tear lines for consumers to open a package while the remaining layers...

Japanese food film price rise shock.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... PRESSURE on film prices in Britain seems almost Zimbabwean compared with Asahi Kasei Home Products Corp in Japan. The company has finally decided after absorbing higher material and fuel costs that it must now increase the price of its Saran...

Sheeter improves accuracy of cut film at Cadillac.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... SHEETING machines are generally used for cutting paper-based materials from reels into sheets, but they are used in some plastics applications, such as cutting floor coverings, X-ray film and book binding materials. A sheeter supplied by...

TFT increases forming speed.(film & sheet production)
January 1, 2008... A20 per cent increase in dry cycle speed compared with the previous model has been achieved by TFT with its new Speedmaster FC780E form-cut-stack thermoforming machine. The latest type has a new three tie bar forming station and clamping force...

Heavy duty welder for fabricating tanks and drums.(film & sheet conversion)
January 1, 2008... THE latest Leister welding extruder, the Weldplast $2, has been developed for heavy duty welding in the fabrication of polypropylene and polyethylene tanks, drums and pipework. It can handle up to 2.5 kg of welding material per hour. The...

Huhtamaki sells Portadown plant.(film & sheet conversion)
January 1, 2008... HUHTAMAKI has sold its Portadown thermoforming plant in Northern Ireland to the Kingspan building products company and has called for 40 voluntary redundancies from the 105 staff there.. Kingspan will move in operations of its Titan...

Vita toughens up PLA sheet.(film & sheet conversion)
January 1, 2008... BIODEGRADABLE PLA-based sheet introduced by VitasheetGroup is said to offer greater impact resistance and improved processability than normally expected from PLA. ViForm Bio 9100 and ViPrint Bio 9100 offer the traditional benefits of PLA...

Thermoformer designed for easy cleaning.(film & sheet conversion)
January 1, 2008... MULTIVAC Thermoform of Germany has paid special attention to ease of cleaning in the design of its new range of thermoforming machines. With the requirements of food processors in mind, the first model in the range, the R535, has angled...

Web cleaner wouldn't fit, so Meech made it fit and sold more.(film & sheet conversion)
January 1, 2008... A CUSTOMISED web cleaning system from Meech International has improved the production of toothpaste packaging at Colgate-Palmolive at Guangzhou in China. Dust contamination on the web surface was causing poor print quality on a Kopack...

More functional PMMA and PET sheet from Quinn.(film & sheet conversion)
January 1, 2008... THE QUINN Plastics acrylic and PET sheet ranges have been extended. Cast Beaute is designed to better withstand chemicals than standard PMMA cast material, while Cast Anti-Bac incorporates anti-bacterial additives. Cast Beaute is said...

Private equity owners put machine makers in a spin.(injection moulding)(Company overview)
January 1, 2008... WHEN he was asked about the future of the Demag Plastics Group at a meeting at the K2007 exhibition, chief executive Klaus Erkes said it was inevitable that Demag would be sold "because private equity does that". Well, despite in his words a...

First SkinForm system to go to Korea.(injection moulding)
January 1, 2008... A KOREAN automotive components manufacturer has become the first customer for KraussMaffei's SkinForm process for making injection moulded interior automotive trim with a reaction moulded polyurethane surface. IL Kwang, which supplies the...

Husky co-operates with Conair in PET.(injection moulding)
January 1, 2008... HUSKY and Conair have started collaborating to provide complete systems for PET preform production. The deal marries Conair's new EnergySmart PET dryer with Husky's HyPET injection moulding equipment and tooling to produce a system whose...

More injection moulding control from Priamus.(injection moulding)
January 1, 2008... SWISS injection moulding monitoring and process control specialist Priamus System Technologies has introduced a new Pass Controller and a compact 8 channel version of its Fill & Cool system. The Pass Controller monitors and controls...

New deal in hot runners.(injection moulding)
January 1, 2008... GAMMAFLUX, who used to provide the hot runner controllers for Husky hot runner systems but found itself adrift after Husky bought Moldflow's MSI controller business, has now tied up with Synventive Molding Solutions. The two companies have...

Nylon replaces metal for kitchen hinge.(design)
January 1, 2008... LATIGLOSS reinforced polyamide compounds from Lati Industria Termoplastici have been used to replace metals in hinge systems for premium-range kitchen cabinets. The new hinge, for vertically-opening doors on wall units, was designed and...

DSM extends life sciences/materials sciences integration.(biopolymers)
January 1, 2008... ANOTHER step in biopolymer technology has been taken by DSM with a joint operation with French starch and starch-derivatives company Roquette. The two companies are to develop a fermentation process for making succinic acid from renewable...

Cereplast anticipates having the world's largest biopolymer plant.(biopolymers)
January 1, 2008... AMERICAN biopolymers producer Cereplast is expanding its capacity by around 223,000 tonnes with a new plant in Indiana in the US Midwest--the country's main grain growing region. The plant will start operating this month, and the site will be...

A little goes a long way.(additives)
January 1, 2008... A FLOW-enhancing additive for polyolefins for use at low dosages has been introduced by Axel Plastics Research Laboratories in its MoldWiz series. A loading level of just 1 per cent of the new INT-41FPE in a compounding or moulding mix is said...

Flame retardant gets EU approval.(additives)
January 1, 2008... THE brominated flame retardant Deca-BDE, which has been under a health risk assessment by the European Union since 1994, has been approved as safe by the EU Competent Authorities for chemicals policy. This will provide a complete basis for...

Ceramic additives tag products for security.(additives)
January 1, 2008... SECURITY additives to protect plastics products against counterfeiting have been introduced by Honeywell. They are based on a library of more than 200 ceramic compounds which create an invisible coded authentication mark. This mark...

PC/ABS grades formulated for automotive demands.(engineering materials)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NEW filled and reinforced PC/ABS grades from Bayer MaterialScience are intended for automotive components. Mineral-filled Bayblend DP T90 MF-20 and DP T95 MF are intended to replace sheet moulding compound for...

Transparent TPE sticks to PC and ABS.(engineering materials)
January 1, 2008... "EXTRAORDINARY transparency" is claimed for a new series of thermoplastic elastomers for over-moulding from Kraiburg TPE. The new Thermolast materials are based on hydrogenated styrene block copolymers (HSBC) which also brings high levels of...

Perrite peps up PP for Panasonic.(engineering materials)
January 1, 2008... A FLAME-retardant polypropylene has been developed for a Panasonic application and is being evaluated by the company for possible worldwide introduction. The material is a halogen- and antimony-free low smoke V0 (1.6 mm) homopolymer PP and was...

Vamac Ultra raises performance and processability.(engineering materials)
January 1, 2008... THE performance and processability of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Products' Vamac ethylene acrylic elastomers has been increased with the introduction of the Ultra series. Vamac Ultra IP offers reduced mould fouling and scrap, and...

Distrupol names Matrix as colour compounder.(colour management)
January 1, 2008... DISTRUPOL and Matrix Plastics have joined forces to supply colour compounds for sale throughout Europe. Distrupol has closed its Ronmar site in Wolverhampton and moved its colour compounding business to the Matrix Plastics site in Slough....

Bright colour effects designed for PCR polyolefins.(colour management)
January 1, 2008... HIDING reclaimed polyethylene in the middle of a co-extrusion because it doesn't have the visual appeal of virgin material is no longer necessary according to Clariant Masterbatches, which has produced bright coloured masterbatches to overcome...

'Business as usual' at Boston Matthews after Global EPP crash.(pipe & profile)
January 1, 2008... THE failure of Nylacast Materials in December (page 31) only three months after being relaunched as Global EPP pushed extruder manufacturer BM Plastics Machinery into administration with an unpaid bill in excess of 1 million [pounds sterling]...

Teknor Apex drops lead stabilizers.(pipe & profile)
January 1, 2008... US PVC compounder and TPE producer Teknor Apex, which also owns Chem Polymer in Britain, is dropping lead stabilisation from its PVC wire and cable compounds from July 31. Where it already has non-lead stabilised alternatives, the change will...

Energy-saving calibrator goes into production.(pipe & profile)
January 1, 2008... AUSTRIAN downstream equipment manufacturer Technoplast is starting series production of its energy-saving TC One calibration system after trials at Deceuninck. In the TC One the dry calibrator is replaced by a tube with a wall thickness of...

Fine tubes for microsurgery.(pipe & profile)
January 1, 2008... TUBING finer than a human hair with minimum tolerances of 0.0508 mm can be produced with the Guill Tools MedifFlow extrusion system for medical products. The new head and in-line dies have been specifically engineered for the smallest medical...

European Hipermoulding project launches software.(tooling)
January 1, 2008... THE three-year European Hipermoulding project has culminated in the launch of the new Hipermoulding software for thermal management in injection moulds. This R & D project, steered in the UK by the GTMA, aims to make substantial cuts in...

Central dryers are uprated.(materials handling)
January 1, 2008... MORE powerful new Wittmann Drymax E drying systems have two desiccant beds to provide a constant dry air supply from 180 to 1,200 [m.sup.3]/hr. Energy saving functions include counter airflow regeneration, SmartReg and dewpoint-controlled...

Feeder interface is compatible with old and new.(materials handling)
January 1, 2008... THE NEW K-Vision operator interface for K-Tron Process Group feeders can be used with all current K-Tron feeder controllers and the now obsolete K10S controller. It replaces the current KSL operator interface that currently handles up to eight...

System controls for vacuum loading.(materials handling)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TWO configurations are available for new Conair ELC vacuum loading system controls. The ELC-M is for use with self-contained loaders and the ELC-16 for single-pump central vacuum systems with up to 16 receivers. ...

US recycler to build British plant-its biggest yet.(reclamation & recycling)
January 1, 2008... AMERICAN plastics recycling specialist MBA Polymers is linking with European Metal Recycling to build its biggest plant so far, which will be sited in Britain. The company already has plants in the USA, Austria and China. The British plant will...

De-bulking bulk containers makes them candidates for recycling.(reclamation & recycling)
January 1, 2008... REDUNDANT industrial drums are now more likely to be recycled through a development by a company in Bradford. The bulk of these drums makes them uneconomic to collect for recycling, and millions end up in landfill every year. Oak Environmental...

Singapore plant to turn waste plastics to diesel fuel.(reclamation & recycling)
January 1, 2008... WHAT is claimed as the world's first large-scale commercial plastic-to-fuel plant is to open in Singapore this year. The Enviro-Hub plant will process 30,000 tonnes of plastics waste a year. The waste is heated with a catalyst at 350 degC when...

Raise the quality of waste, and it ceases to be waste.(reclamation & recycling)
January 1, 2008... THE Environment Agency and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) have put together proposals which they say could free a third of all plastics consumption from waste regulations to encourage more recycling, and encourage greater use of...

Mixed plastics recycling for concrete replacement.(reclamation & recycling)
January 1, 2008... PLANS to build a string of recycling plants to reclaim mixed plastics household waste in concrete-replacement products have been proposed by Revalue Technologies of Birmingham. The company has been testing its E-Kerb replacement for concrete...

Nampak secures extra supply of rHDPE for milk bottles.(reclamation & recycling)
January 1, 2008... NAMPAK is augmenting its plan to produce milk bottles containing recycled HDPE in the North East with an agreement to buy an annual 6,000 tonnes of food grade recycled HDPE from Greenstar (WES) of Redcar. Nampak's intention is to reprocess...

New polyester has '100 times better barrier'.(blow moulding)
January 1, 2008... A POLYESTER with a gas barrier "100 times higher than that of PET" is to go into production in the USA with its initial target as use in multi-layer PET bottles. Kureha Corporation of Japan is building the plant to make polyglycolic acid (PGA)...

Milk bottles to lose handles and save weight.(blow moulding)
January 1, 2008... SAVINGS of around 5,000 tonnes a year of HDPE are being targeted by the WRAP Waste & Resources Action Programme with a new design of milk bottle which will have no handle and will be 10 per cent lighter. WRAP is liaising with Dairy Crest to...

Corpoplast joins KHS at Klockner-Werke.(blow moulding)
January 1, 2008... GERMAN steel conglomerate Salzgitter has bought SIG-Beverages, which includes the Corpoplast PET stretch blow moulding machinery business, from SIG Group of Switzerland. Salzgitter moved into the beverage packaging business last year when it...

Moldflow offers even better advice.(software)
January 1, 2008... TEN years ago, Moldflow Part Adviser transformed injection moulding CAE. The programme launched, neck and neck with C-Mold's 3D QuickFill, at NPE '97. In the intervening years, C-Mold succumbed to Moldflow, Part Adviser became Moldflow Plastics...

Free MiniMagics software for STL inspection and compression.(software)
January 1, 2008... STL specialist Materialise has released MiniMagics, a free software package for manipulating surface geometry files in STL format. The aim is to provide design and production professionals, particularly in rapid prototyping and manufacturing,...

Upgrade for Sidel efficiency improvement tool.(software)
January 1, 2008... BLOW moulding and packaging equipment specialist Sidel has released version 5.0 of its EIT line monitoring system. EIT--the name stands for efficiency improvement tool--consists of a range of modules designed specifically for packaging lines,...

Software directory.(software)(Directory)
January 1, 2008... CoDA (Composite Component Design Analysis) National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Contact: Anaglyph Ltd Tel: 020 8987 6056 E-mail: sales@anaglyph.co.uk Web site: www.anaglyph.co.uk CoDA assists in the preliminary stage of...

Free Delcam CAD software training on iTunes.(software)
January 1, 2008... FREE CAD training is being offered by Delcam as a series of podcasts downloadable from the iTunes web site. The complete programme comprises 27 tutorials, covering all stages from basic sketching through to solid and surface modelling. The...

Materials data sheets on your web site.(what's new on the web)(Website overview)
January 1, 2008... IDES has developed a tool to help plastics companies add links from their web sites to summary data sheets from the IDES Prospector resin database of 70,500 plastic materials. One company to make use of the facility is rapid injection moulding...

BPF-Teknor Apex TPE primer.(what's new on the web)
January 1, 2008... The 'About the Industry' pages of the BPF web site provide a wealth of information about plastics--history, processing, materials, additives, applications, process costs and abbreviations. Among the materials entries is an extensive primer on...

Recent price increases.(materials marketplace)
January 1, 2008... recent price increases Material Manufacturer Increase Effective date Thermoplastic moulding materials Polyethylene Dow Europe 50...

Eastman to sell Workington PET plant.(materials marketplace)
January 1, 2008... EASTMAN has agreed to sell its 155,000 tonnes PET plant at Workington to Asian polyester producer Indorama. The sale includes Eastman's PET and PTA facilities at Rotterdam in the Netherlands and is valued at around 226 million [euro]. The...