British Plastics & Rubber articles from July 2004

British Plastics & Rubber archives from July 2004

Lasers interact with the film structure for scribing and perforating.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... Ease of opening is a primary concern when designing packaging, but achieving this with traditional mechanical means may not be as effective as desired, particularly when using modern film laminates. Rofin-Baasel builds laser systems for...

Tech service centre for PC film development.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... A technical service centre for polycarbonate films has been opened by Bayer MaterialScience at Leverkusen in Germany. The former centre at Dormagen has been transferred and new equipment installed. The centre will be used to develop new...

Plastic films '100 per cent safe' as food packaging.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... A testing programme to check for chemical contamination of foodstuffs has again given plastics packaging films a clean bill of health. The programme is a three-year study by the Food Standards Agency to detect monomer migration in food and...

First European film to justify compostable logo.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... Amcor Flexibles is the first flexible packaging company to be awarded a licence to print the Compostable logo on PLA (polylactic acid) film supplied to the fresh produce market A in the UK and Europe. The biodegradable film is made from corn...

Slit shrink film lets products breathe.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... A tweak on the production line enabled BPI Packaging Services to extend the shelf life of one of its customers' products with only a slight increase in cost, The customer is a garden supplies company which makes bamboo and willow...

Innovations to keep slitter knives sharp.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... DEVELOPMENTS in knife technology from Dienes of Germany bring time monitoring to prevent knives outrunning their service life, and an improved method of sharpening. Replacing slitter knives at the right time is important to maintain the...

Budget price machine makes in-house slitting more affordable.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... COMPANIES who cannot justify an in-house slitting operation may now find it cost-effective with a budget-price slitter just introduced by P W Merkle. The MSR 1500/C slitter-rewinder can accept parent reels up to 1,500 mm wide and 750 mm...

Rewinder runs at 700 m/minute.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... FASTER set up times are claimed for the new Ashe Sapphire [S.sup.2] inspection rewinder and editing machine. It has a maximum speed of 700 m/minute and incorporates 'shaftless female knife positioning' which allows spacers and knives to be...

New slitter keeps the web away from the floor.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... THE new WT Wickeltechnik Slitmaster twin spindle slitter from Engelmann & Buckham is suitable for working widths up to 1,650 mm and incorporates a driven shaftless unwind stand for 1,000, 1,250 or 1,500 mm rolls with lift-in device and...

New technology gives higher ion output.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... TWO static elimination specialists have improved the power and range of equipment for use on film webs. Arrowquint claims that new patented technology used in the Eltex Blue Bar system allows an ionising bar to produce greater quantities of...

Static controller has monitoring and data logging.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... SCREEN-based performance monitoring and treatment data logging are included in a static control package for film and electronic component production newly introduced by WLT. The Simco PerforMAX comprises a double group of D bars and can...

Compact coater is an alternative to a full line.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... THE RF compact coating system has been introduced by Weko UK for the precision coating of various printing improvement agents and other surface treatments used in plastics film production and converting. The rotor coating system is said to be...

Panel saw eliminates manual feeding.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... TM Machinery Sales has supplied a Striebig Control vertical panel saw to Seaborne Plastics to cut ABS, HIPS, PC and PMMA sheets from 1 to 30 mm thick which are then fabricated or glued together. Speed of cutting can be controlled and...

New flexo press improves printing at Supreme.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... DEMAND for more sophisticated process printing, and the flexibility to handle short-run jobs quickly, has led to Supreme Plastics installing a Bielloni 10-colour flexographic printing press at its Lincoln factory. The Theorema 10 Stealth...

Advanced features on new CI flexo press.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... IMPROVEMENTS in both control and machine operation have been incorporated in the latest central impression flexo press, the 16S-10, from Fischer & Kxecke (UK distibutor Edlon Machinery). Flexpress View is an internet-based service and...

Simplified system for getting dust off webs before printing.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... AN uprated electrostatic web cleaner for flexographic printers is being introduced by WLT. The Simco type DD web cleaner is more compact than the earlier model and now has its own integrated power supply which avoids the need for external...

Non stop treater can be installed anywhere.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... The Enercon TL Max surface treater treats metallised and non metallised substrates without stopping the press. Changing rolls is achieved by actuating a switch and quick setting is made possible by the hinged and pivoted electrode assembly. CIP...

In-line application for stripes and tapes.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... A NEW 300 mm stripe laminator from Forward +Thompson is capable of running at 30 m/minute and has up to four friction unwind and powered rewind stations as standard. Two slitting stations are fully removable and the spreader deck has 16 quick...

Big treater for BOPP coating line.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... ONE of the largest treating equipment systems ever supplied by Sherman Treaters has been delivered to an undisclosed user. The free standing double sided reverse airflow corona treater was designed to customer specification to treat BOPP film...

Electric thermoformer makes cooling tower parts, could make fridge doors.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... AN electrically actuated thermoforming machine for the production of parts for cooling towers has been developed by Italian manufacturer Rigo. It has a table size of 1,060 mm square and a closing force of 60 tonnes. Quartz heating elements are...

More flexible control for quartz thermoforming heaters.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... AWCO has developed a new half wave switching technique for rapid response short and medium wave quartz infrared heaters. It has been applied to open and closed loop systems on thermoforming machines and other applications including adhesive...

Cutting rules OK.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... FOUR new cutting roles are available from Sandvik. DieHard Xtreme is intended for cutting PET and laminated boards and has a fine ground edge, a hard body and good bendability. Deep edge hardening gives a long life. Dieflex Brite has a...

Top of the class.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... Formech, which supplies thermoforming machines for educational use, has introduced the 300XQ, "the most energy efficient vacuum forming machine of its class'. Quartz heaters permit the machine to be used without waiting for warm up and four...

Servo machine makes fistula pouches.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... CM Machinery's new fistula pooch manufacturing line feeds from a roll, indexing it through a number of stations to perform the welding, cutting and placing operations required to make the end product. External components are fed from on board...

Hot air welder has more impermeable case.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... LEISTER's Varimat 230V automatic hot air machine for roof welding now has a hard rubber housing providing IP54 ingress protection for all connectors and is weatherproofed to IP67. The former metal housing has been replaced and a carrying handle...

IR resistance and high light transmission in one sheet.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... TWO polycarbonate sheet products said to bring the highest available combination of infra red blocking and light transmission have been introduced by GE Advanced Materials. Plastic solar-control glazing has normally used a screen-printed...

Barkston stocks Perspex.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... BARKSTON has been appointed as a sub stockist by Perspex Distribution, which is expanding the regional availability of its acrylic sheet materials. Barkston will focus on the retail merchandising, signmaking and point of purchase markets and...

Doeflex extends potential of printable PP sheet.(Film & Sheet Conversion)
July 1, 2004... FURTHER colours and effects and a series of perfume-integrated materials have been added to the VTS Doeflex Polypro range of printable polypropylene sheet. VTS Doeflex reckons to be by far the market leader in the production of this type...

Eurograv now sells Kiefel film lines.(Film & Sheet Production)
July 1, 2004... EUROGRAV of Byfleet in Surrey, which represents several companies in the flexible packaging equipment sector, has become UK agent for Kiefel Extrusion of Germany. Kiefel makes blown film lines and winders, with emphasis on its Kirion range of...

Film thickness tolerance can be half as good again says Kuhne.(Film & Sheet Production)
July 1, 2004... EXIST1NG film thickness tolerances can be improved by at least 50 per cent with its new PreCon profile control system, claims Kuhne. The system operates by means of individually controlled heater cartridges in the film blowing head around and...

Cast film line for hygiene films.(Film & Sheet Production)
July 1, 2004... A line for the production of melt embossed and breathable cast film has been supplied by SML to a European customer. The maximum output from the 150/33 and 90/33 extruders is 1,000 kg/hr for melt embossed film and 1,200 kg/hr for breathable...

Edge reclaim pelletised in-line.(Film & Sheet Production)
July 1, 2004... THE new Macchi Recotrim reclamation system for blown film edge has a hopper into which the trim falls and where it is grasped by a twin co-rotating screw extruder. Material is melted and plasticised and extruded through a special multiple...

Nylon 6 for food wrap film moves upstream to agriculture.(Film & Sheet Production)
July 1, 2004... A SPECIAL grade of its Akulon nylon 6 has been formulated by DSM Engineering Plastics for use by an Italian producer of agricultural films. Agriplas needed a film that was strong enough to resist puncture by stones and stubble, wide enough for...

Thickness scanner has optional control feedback.(Film & Sheet Production)
July 1, 2004... THE latest film thickness scanner from Scantron is for continuous monitoring of web materials. The MasterTrak is said to measure soft, fragile, abrasive and highly polished materials regardless of line speed and vibration. The analysis is...

Latest plastics/metal integration combines hydroforming and injection moulding.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... THE integration of plastics and metals long ago moved on from the simple encapsulation of inserts to a more complex integration of the functions of the metal and plastic components. Of late this has translated into a dual process, with the...

Injection compression makes entire door interiors for new Proton.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... INJECTION-compression moulding has been adopted for all three sections of the inner door panels of a new Malaysian can Malaysian component supplier USRA Tampi has achieved increased output and product quality while cutting its manufacturing...

Plastic scalpels and equipment for internet monitoring of drug treatment are on the stocks at Rosti.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... A PROCESS for hardening the surface of a plastic moulding to give it a surgical cutting edge has been developed by Rosti and put into the portfolio of its newly created Rosti Medical Plastics Business. Hard-Plas achieves a surface hardness...

NB adds heavyweight series.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... TWO PLATEN hydraulic/electric machines from 1,800 to 6,000 tonnes are being introduced by Negri Bossi. Their design is based on that of Vector Series machines in the medium tonnage range and their appearance is similar. The in-line...

Hot nozzles for temperature sensitive materials.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... NEW hot runner nozzles from Hasco are intended for use with engineering materials which require temperature control within close limits. The Z3310 series nozzles incorporate heat transfer pipes and have been designed for optimum thermal...

Arburg toughens tiebars--and turns them black.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... ARBURG has made its clamping and injection unit tiebars more corrosion resistant with a new plasma nitriding process. In the Arnox (Arburg no oxidation) process tiebars are plasmanitride hardened in vacuum ovens and then gas nitrated so that...

Integrated systems from the Sacmi Group.(Injection Moulding)
July 1, 2004... SACMI Group subsidiaries Gaiotto Automation and injection machine manufacturer BM Biraghi have joined forces in Italy to develop Roboplast integrated systems for the manufacture of various products. A system comprises an injection moulding...

Suction blow added to ST range.(Blow Moulding)
July 1, 2004... MEICO/ST of Italy has started building 3D suction blow machines--in which vacuum draws the parison into a complex mould before blowing. The first off the line, for the production of automotive parts, is a single material machine, but the...

Testing and cleaning units for caps and bottles.(Blow Moulding)
July 1, 2004... WLT of Bradford, which specialises in static control, has developed two new systems for the bottling market. One is a plastics cap verification system and the other a means of cleaning out debris from inside bottles. The cap verification...

More for your money with Bekum.(Blow Moulding)
July 1, 2004... BEKUM has doubled production on its co-ex machines to a level it says was only previously possible on wheel machines. It has developed a tandem blow process, blowing from both top and bottom, so that a BM series machine that previously produced...

Medical polycarbonates face tougher environments.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... THREE polycarbonates with improved characteristics for medical applications have been added to GE Advanced Materials' Lexan series, with two more on the way. The new grades have been formulated to meet a number of increasing demands on...

Flexible polycarbonate could make safer air bag doors.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... A MATERIAL which can bridge the conflicting requirements of low temperature strength and flexibility has been introduced by GE Advancd Materials specifically for automotive applications, and with the air bag door as a particular candidate. ...

Arnitel airbag covers for Rolls Royce.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... SIDE door airbag covers for the Rolls Royce 2003 Phantom are now manufactured from Arnitel TPE copolyester elastomer from DSM Engineering Plastics. This is the first use of Arnitel TPE for automotive airbags. It employs a grade designed for...

DSM develops new grades for automotive markets.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... DSM Engineering Plastics has announced new grades of engineering plastics that will particularly interest automotive suppliers. One development was made in close collaboration with Automotive Lighting and Coco Werke, and concerns the...

Flame retardant polyamides free of halogens and phosphorus.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... RHODIA Engineering Plastics is supplementing its conventional flame retardant polyamides with new grades that are free of red phosphorus and halogens. The materials have been developed with specific markets in mind. For example, Technyl A...

Amino moulding compounds kill SARS and MRSA.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... NEW Polygiene antiviral and antimicrobial amino moulding compounds from Perstorp kill viruses and bacteria on contact. This includes the deadly SARS virus, justifying the company's 'Safe to touch' marketing slogan. A patent-pending...

MuCell foamed TPV promises weatherseal improvements.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... WEATHERSEALS will be the first to benefit from an exclusive long-term licence agreement between Advanced Elastomer Systems and Trexel, the developer of the MuCell microcellular foam process. Under the agreement, Advanced Elastomer Systems will...

Vita adds flame retardant TPEs.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... VITA Thermoplastic Compounds has developed flame retardant thermoplastic elastomer compounds for its Vitaprene and Dryflex product lines. Vitaprene grades are compounded principally for extrusion applications while Dryflex compounds are...

Perfluoroelastomer O-rings withstand aggressive media.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... IN comparative testing against 14 other perfluoroelastomers, Simriz 495 from Freudenberg Simrit showed outstanding O-seal performance. All the materials met FDA requirements and had very high temperature resistance. Tests included ISO 815...

Thermoplastic alloys make sheet for aircraft interiors.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... NEW acrylic/PVC alloys for aircraft interiors are the result of a collaboration between Lucite and Spartech. The alloys provide a cost-effective way to create sheet materials with fire retardancy, low smoke emission and low toxicity- for...

Additive-free LDPE controls cable costs.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... EXXONMOBIL Chemical has developed a new low density polyethylene for medium voltage wire and cable use. The material is known as LD 100MED and is absolutely free of additives. It is intended for in-house compounding with crosslinking agents and...

Lightweight glasses made in a fraction of the time.(Engineering Materials)
July 1, 2004... A NEW methacrylate casting resin for ophthalmic use from Degussa is cured by UV rather than heat, with a 90 per cent reduction in processing time. Visiomer enables the manufacture of very thin glasses with a refractive index of up to 1.6,...

Antistatic polystyrene for vending cups.(Packaging Materials)
July 1, 2004... BP has developed a new antistatic GP polystyrene for the outer layer of dairy packaging and vending cups. Empera 153 A combines heat resistance--a Vicat softening temperature of 98 degC--with good flow characteristics demonstrated by a...

Copolyester keeps things together for high tech perfume packaging.(Packaging Materials)
July 1, 2004... EASTMAN's copolyester Glass Polymer plays a key role in the bottle for Just Cavalli, a new perfume from Robert Cavalli. The simplicity and apparently minimal design of the bottle conceals a technically complex object consisting of glass and...

More OPP films for labelling.(Packaging Materials)
July 1, 2004... EXXONMOBIL has extended its range of Label-Lyte Lithor anti-static oriented polypropylene films. For in-mould labelling, the company has produced a new thinner 45 micron grade for rotary printing applications. Label-Lyte XI447 complements the...

Is your desiccant dryer causing process instability?(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... DESICCANT BED dryers are widely used to dehumidify air for drying plastics granules, but according to Eastern Plastics Machinery they may be the source of process variation. A desiccant dryer is basically a batch unit. As the desiccant...

Get instant tax relief on dryers for compressed air.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... COMPRESSED air dryers from Quantech Industrial now qualify for Enhanced Capital Allowances under the terms of the Climate Control Legislation, enabling purchasers to write off 100 per cent of the cost of the dryer and any associated...

Motan keeps Bespak fed and de-watered.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... Bespak's latest clean room opened in November last year is fed from a Motan central drying and conveying system. This incorporates the company's patented Drying Organiser which prevents thermal damage to the polymers, and gives visual...

Continuous or batch feeder prevents waste of expensive additives.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... THE new K-Tron Micro Feeder Model MT12 is available for feed rates from 20 g/hour to 2,000 g/hour, depending on material and installation environment. Loss-in-weight and volumetric feeder types can be used for continuous or batch operation. ...

Modular Gravimix has just the model you need.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... THE scope of the Gravimix gravimetric blender from Ferlin Plastics Automation in the Netherlands has been extended to 20 models covering the throughput range from 5 to 2,500 kg/hr which, with the permutations of material hoppers that can be...

Batching system handles up to eight ingredients.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... K-TRON Feeder group's new KGIW gain in weight batching system can handle up to eight materials and 100 recipes. Batch sizes can be between 5 and 800 kg. Weigh hopper volume is from 80 to 750 litres. Each material is sequentially and...

Positive displacement feed for volumetric blenders.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... THE Colormax Multi Flow volumetric blender is now also based on the screwless plug-flow technology of the Posimax additive feeders and K-Tron Bulk Solids Pump. These devices use discs rotating in the vertical plane to compact the product into a...

Feeder range covers from 15 grammes to 5 tonnes an hour.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... THE NEW lab line range of feeders from Colortronic are the smallest feeders available from the company in single and twin screw configurations. Throughputs are down to as little as 15 -20 g per hour. More production-sized throughputs are...

Additive feeder cuts consumption.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... The new Junco ColorSave gravimetric additive feeder is claimed to cut masterbatch consumption because of the close parameters it provides. It can be set to dose additive by percentage of virgin material or in kg/hr. The quantify dosed is...

Chronos focuses handling systems on new controller compatibility.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... THE latest in the Chronos range of control systems for materials handling is the Quantium Controller. This is a PC-based system, which uses open-system software packages in conjunction with leading brand PLCs. Quantium has the capability to...

Plastomers offer improved processing and performance.(Compounding)
July 1, 2004... A NEW series of Affinity polyolefin plastomers (POPs) from Dow Chemical is intended for polymer modification and hot melt formulation. Affinity GA POPs use a novel chemistry that combines high flow and low crystallinity. Two products are...

Improved performance for nylon compounding.(Compounding)
July 1, 2004... HIGHER performance and lower cost in nylon modification are claimed by DuPont for a new polymer modifier, which also has application as a coupling agent, compatibiliser and impact modifier. Fusabond AEB-560D is a chemically modified...

Goldschmidt adds dispersing agent for colour masterbatches.(Compounding)
July 1, 2004... A DISPERSING agent formulated to make colour masterbatches for polypropylene micro fibres and technical polymers has been added to the Goldschmidt Tegomer series. Tegomer 141 is said to bring high colour yield and a reduction in agglomerate...

Automatic programming of drying parameters.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... CUSTOM-built materials handling system supplied by Mann+Hummel ProTec was designed to interface with a PC carrying a database of the materials used by the company which enabled the controller to set drying temperatures and residence times...

Low cost option for emptying drums when dust is not a problem.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... FLEXICON (Europe) says that where dust generation is not a concern, it can offer a low cost method of discharging bulk solid material from drams. The drum lift assembly is raised electrically until material discharges on to a chute and then...

Deduster removes particles down to 1 micron.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... JENCO is now selling the Pelletron DeDuster system from the US. Dust and fines down to 1 micron can be removed from plastics granules and regrind with units capable of throughputs up to 100 tonnes/hr. The equipment is intended for producers...

Dryers grow as you need more capacity.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... THE Dry-Flex range of dryers from Colortronic are mounted in cabinets which are more compact than previous designs, while allowing the air flow and hopper capacities to be expanded using standard modules. This enables the dryer to grow to meet...

Quick switching valve reduces layering.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... TWO granular components can be proportioned into a hopper loader with an off-the-shelf proportioning valve introduced by Colortronic. The ZKW-E uses a seal-less system with a sliding piston to proportion the materials at the desired...

No need to calculate mixing times with new valve.(Materials Handling)
July 1, 2004... TO supplement its range of robots and sprue pickers, Apex Robot Systems has introduced the VR2 virgin/regrind mixing valve with a maximum throughput of 300 kg/hr. The mixing chamber is made in cast aluminium with a wear resistant anodised...

Need more output? 'Get a bigger single screw'.(Pipe & Profile)
July 1, 2004... INCREASING output without excessive capital expenditure is what Plastic Extruders says is behind a growth in orders for large single screw extruders. 'When the trade extruder finds it hard to justify the price and maintenance costs of...

ELFier rubber processing.(Pipe & Profile)
July 1, 2004... THE ELF (Elastomer Leakage Free) feed section developed by Davis-Standard is claimed to eliminate scrap problems arising from rubber bleed and leading to feed roll bearing failure. Rubber shavings are scraped from the feed roll and delivered...

Cincinnati claims even more performance from new conical twin screws.(Pipe & Profile)
July 1, 2004... A NEW series of conical twin screw extruders has been introduced by Cincinnati Extrusion. The Konos series machines are shorter than their predecessors, despite having longer processing units. As well as reducing the overall length of the line,...

Abrasive wheels for grinding rubber.(Finishing)
July 1, 2004... GRINDING wheels suitable for rubber have been introduced by Phoenix Abrasives to overcome the build up of rubber on the Pace of the grinding wheel which makes grinding difficult. Friction generated by rubber to rubber contact as the wheel cuts,...

Fasteners on-line and in print.(Finishing)
July 1, 2004... SELECTION guides to moulded-in fasteners have been produced by two UK suppliers. Fitsco Industries has published a pocket-sized product selection guide to its standard and special inserts for plastics, wood and metals. As well detailing...

Linx inks.(Finishing)
July 1, 2004... LINX Printing Technologies has added 1405 ultra fast drying ink and 2036 black ethanol ink. 1405 is tree of MEK and intended for high speed production lines on which surfaces may come into contact with each other after printing. Ethanol 2035...