British Plastics & Rubber articles from June 2002

British Plastics & Rubber archives from June 2002

Cut cycle times by blitzing with cold air. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The concept of chilling blow air to reduce cycle times has been with us for many years. More recently it has been extended to drying the air as well as chilling it. One specialist in this area is Beko Technologies of Germany which began...

PA/HDPE bond helps reduce fuel tank emissions. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... AS FUEL vapour emission regulations become tighter -- particularly in California -- there is a growing need to prevent permeation from parts of the vehicle fuel system that previously may not have been seen as a problem. One area that is...

Closure shows whether contents have been tampered with. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A TAMPER-EVIDENT closure intended to give consumers reassurance that the product is not adulterated or bootlegged has been introduced by Dragon Plastics specifically for the oil, fuel additive, brake fluid and related sectors. In many...

Vertical clamp preform moulder now makes more. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE Petform 56 is the latest vertical clamp machine developed by Krauss-Maffei in conjunction with Mold & Hotrunner Technology for the production of PET preforms for carbonated soft drinks bottles. The mould has four rows of 14 cavities to...

ASB increases output and broadens application. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... NISSEI ASB has uprated its ASB-70DPW machine to produce 50 ml containers at a rate of 5,800/hr. It was originally designed for an output of 4,500/hr. Larger machines have been improved for outputs of about 10,000/hr. Containers can be made in...

More bottles per hour from Aoki. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... AN output of 11,200 PET bottles per hour is achieved by the Aoki SB3-350-40 machine producing yoghourt drink containers in a 14 cavity mould on a 4.5 second cycle. The containers have a neck diameter of 24 mm, body diameter 38.4 mm, height 74.5...

Sidel wears a single hat. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE restructuring of the Sidel Group, started last year has resulted in an integration of the group's operations, concentrating on the core business of packaging food liquids. All of the companies in this business, including Sidel, Gebo,...

Corpoplast gets more from its two stage equipment. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... PRODUCTIVITY improvements have been made to SIG Corpoplast's preform moulding and reheat stretch blow moulding machines. The Premax injection moulder has been increased to handle 64 cavities in the same 320 tonne moulding machine with...

Increased capacity for PET trigger spray bottles. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... NEW tooling for PET trigger spray bottle preforms has gone into action at Owens-Illinois Plastics as part of a [pounds sterling]6 million investment being made this year at the Chalgrove, Oxfordshire plant. The tooling runs on one of the...

Blow/fill system extended to carbonated soft drinks. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... SIDEL has extended the application of its Combi system to carbonated soft drinks. The Combi was introduced in 1997 to make, fill, and cap PET bottles within a single enclosure, and there are 60 of these machines in operation for applications...

Static eliminator stops bottles falling over. (Blow Moulding).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Meech Static Eliminators has installed a number of static eliminator bars at RPC Containers to overcome problems arising from static build up on multi-layer bottles during moulding and conveying. Charged bottles arrived at the final packaging...

Bottle to bottle reclaim ramps up to serious quantities. (Blow Moulding).(Cleanaway installs new plastic recycling facility in Rostock, Germany)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A NEW recycling facility for Cleanaway Plastic Recycling has been installed at Rostock, Germany, to convert up to 15,000 tonnes a year of post consumer PET beverage bottles into food grade material for new containers. The main contractor,...

Conformity checks on every bottle. (Blow Moulding).(for plastic soft-drink bottles used by Coca-Cola)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE conformity to specification of every bottle from an American blow moulder supplying a number of Coca-Cola bottling plants is being checked by a pair of Agr*TopWave PETWall systems. Southeastern Container is a seven-plant co-operative...

O-I adds [CO.sub.2] retention to long life oxygen barrier bottles. (Blow Moulding).(Owens-Illinois)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A PERFORMANCE-enhanced version of its PET barrier technology has been developed by Owens-Illinois to cover the [CO.sup.2] loss problem opened up by the extended shelf life it is already able to achieve. The company's CPTX312 material was...

Cabot combines ESD with impact strength. (Blow Moulding).(advertisement)
June 1, 2002... CABOT has introduced an HDPE-based conductive compound for blow mouldings which require high impact strength as well as permanent protection against ESD (electrostatic discharge). Known as Cabelec 4730, it is intended for drums and other...

Inblow Form adds Meico/ST... (Blow Moulding).(from Henry Lenox Industrial)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... SLOUGH-based trade blow moulder Inblow Form has taken delivery of a Meico/ST TA 500 accumulator head machine from Henry Lenox Industrial to meet demand for large technical mouldings. The machine has a 70 mm extruder, 5 litre accumulator...

... And Limerick buys Extrusion. (Blow Moulding).(Limerick Blow Moulding)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... LIMERICK Blow Moulding, which makes around 40 per cent of Ireland's plastic milk containers, has bought its second Extrusion blow moulding machine. The company bought its first CT500 machine in 2000 to make 1,920 1 pint or 500 ml handled...

Double deckle stops melt leakage. (Film & Sheet Production).(Extrusion Dies Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... EXTRUSION Dies has developed a die for cast film production derived from a design for extrusion coating to prevent melt leakage at the deckled portions of the die gap. The company says that leakage is a persistent problem with deckles moveable...

Twin-walled PP sheet 3 m wide. (Film & Sheet Production).(polypropylene sheets from Omipa)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... AN extrusion line capable of making twin walled polypropylene sheet up to 3 m wide has been developed by Omipa of Italy. Two lines have been sold to the David S Smith group company Kaysersberg plastics, one in France and the other at the Correx...

Polyester for printed shrink film. (Film & Sheet Production).(from Eastman Chemical Co.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Embrace is a new shrink film copolyester from Eastman which allows attractive graphics to be printed. Eastman says that the shrink film industry is recognising the importance of packaging as an advertising vehicle and that Embrace can be used...

Infra red heating improves PVC calendar temperature control. (Film & Sheet Production).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... MATERIAL is being saved and finish improved at Teesside-based Armstrong DLW Europe after two Heraeus Noblelight carbon medium wave infra red heating systems were installed for the production of household vinyl flooring. Surface temperature...

Endless-belt polishing gives extra scope for transparent PP. (Film & Sheet Production).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2002... SML's Sleeve Touch technology for transparent polypropylene films has been devised to bridge the gap left by calendering and casting. The company classifies PP film production into are three broadly defined production methods which are...

Eight colour press is part of [pounds sterling]2.6 million investment. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Supreme Plastics Group)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... SUPREME Plastics Group has invested [pounds sterling]2.6 million at its Lincoln site, more than doubling existing factory space with a new building housing an eight-colour printing press with solvent abatement to limit emissions. The new Axioma...

Higher polymer prices to trigger further film price hikes. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... FURTHER polymer price rises expected over the next month are almost certain to force film prices higher, warns the Flexible Packaging Association. PE and PP prices rose around 30 per cent between January and the beginning of May, while film...

Compact CNC trimming machine takes the bottleneck out of aircraft seat part production. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... VOLUME production of vacuum formed ABS aircraft seat parts has been made more cost-effective, and flow line production enabled, by the introduction to the line of a CNC trimming machine. BE Aerospace (UK) in Leighton Buzzard is one of a...

Sharp interpack is back. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(name resurrected by MY Plastics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... MY Plastics has resurrected the name Sharp Interpack along with the Sharpak brand name as the next stage of the company's development following its buy out from the Malbak Group. Sharp Interpack is currently undergoing a [pounds sterling]7...

Sheeting machine overcomes obstacles of working with plastics. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Film-Master sheeter from Valmet Paper Machinery Group)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE GROWTH in plastic labels as alternatives to paper led to the development by Valmet of a dedicated sheeting machine to convert reels to sheets for printing. A problem with printing labels on the reel, says Valmet, is that the final...

Biodegradable bag production draws closer. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE COLLABORATION between Environmental Polymers and Anwil of Poland to make biodegradable plastic film, bags and heavy duty sacks in EPG's depart PVOH has come on another step and the two companies are anticipating starting production in...

Web cleaner retains more rubbish. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(advertisement)
June 1, 2002... A NEW web cleaner designed to eliminate static and dust prior to printing has been introduced by Simco. Styled DD, it has a new vacuum and dust collection system and is more compact than an earlier model in spite of incorporating its own power...

Roll lifting trolleys. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(advertisement)
June 1, 2002... ENGELMANN & Buckham now supplies Italian-made Besco roll lifting trolleys. Three electronic models are capable of handling rolls up to 1,500 kg, 1,200 mm in diameter and 1,700 mm wide. Battery chargers are built in and options include side...

More feed speed. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... US FEEDER manufacturer Spartanics claims to have increased the speed of its equipment for die cutting or blanking by 20 per cent. Its models 224 and 234 with two axis correction now run at up to 600 mm/sec and 760 mm/sec respectively....

Villa distributor. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2002... RYE CMS has been made sole UK and Ireland distributor for Villa thermoforming machines, made by an Italian subsidiary of CMS. The range includes manual sheet loading vacuum forming machines with frame dimensions from 1,500 x 2,000 mm to 3,000 x...

Leeways buys new Illig. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Leeways Packaging Services Ltd. purchases thermoforming machine)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... AN Illig RD 53 fully automatic roll fed pressure thermoforming machine has been installed at Leeways Packaging's new purpose built facility at Churcham, Glos. The company supplies the food industry and the new machine complements a range of...

Cutting the cost of web inspection. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Product Announcement)
June 1, 2002... AN IMAGE-PROCESSING web inspection system which works on off-the-shelf computers has been developed by Shelton Vision Systems. The WebSPECTOR records images of every defect using digital frame grabbers which acquire, pre-process, and...

Slitter covers wide gauge range. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(new product from Dusenbery)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... DUSENBERRY has introduced a new slitter capable of handling materials from 23 micron polyester film to heavy laminates in response to demand for a single machine to deal with a variety of electrical insulation products. The model 281 will slit...

Reduced cutting pressure extends die life. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(advertisement)
June 1, 2002... TRI-PACK Plastics has specified Sandvik Steel Dieflex G12 die cutting rule for cutting solid and fluted PP. Dieflex G12 has been developed for cutting difficult materials and has a fine ground edge to give good sharpness. Bend-ability has been...

New air shaft design is 37 per cent lighter than before. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Con-Ex by Rimor)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE Con-Ex range of extruded aluminium lightweight air shafts made by Rimor has been extended to included a 6 in/150 mm as well as a 3 in Ultra-Light version. The 6 in Con-Ex has eight continuous lugs equally distributed around the...

Thermoformable nylon 6. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(from Sustaplast)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... NYLON 6 is now available in a thermoforming sheet form from Sustaplast of Germany and according to Bayer, which is supplying its Durethan material for extrusion of the sheet, this is the first time nylon 6 sheet has been commercially available....

Holographic surface. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(HoloPro by G + B pronova)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... NEW options for advertising, presentation, information and interactive communication are claimed for HoloPro, a transparent holographic surface for rear projection made by G + B pronova in Germany which can be used irrespective of lighting...

Less rewinding. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... IMPROVED tension consistency has reduced the number of reels needing rewinding by a claimed 80 per cent at Field Packaging (Portsmouth) as the result of fitting Elite Cameron differential shafts on a Titan centre winder. Another pair of shafts...

Indian bagmaker comes to Britain. (Film & Sheet Conversion).(Mamata Machinery)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Indian-based Mamata Machinery has appointed Optimation as its UK agent, and recently demonstrated its Vegaplus 800 universal bag maker at Optimation's Derby premises. The Vegaplus has three-axis servo control of film index, dwell control...

Fewer but bigger moulders in Germany. (Injection Moulding).(injection molding)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... GERMAN injection moulders have declined in numbers but increased in output, according to a new survey from Applied Market Information. Since it last reported on the sector four years ago, AMI says that more than 300 companies have gone, while...

Berry bought. (Injection Moulding).(Berry Plastics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... BERRY Plastics, the US packaging moulder which has bought three European moulders including two in the UK in recent years, has been sold by its parent, buy out specialist First Atlantic Capital, to private equity banker Goldman Sachs. ...

Research forecasts brighter outlook for injection machine sales. (Injection Moulding).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... SALES of injection moulding machines in the UK are forecast to grow from around [pounds sterling]125 million a year now to just short of, [pounds sterling]140 million by 2005, according to a report from Research Solutions. The company says that...

Twin shot debut. (Injection Moulding).(Streamstown installs equipment)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... IRISH injection moulder Streamstown mouldings of Mullingar has expanded into twin shot moulding with the installation of a Netstal 1750 HP. The company operates 23 machines in a newly built factory between Mullingar and Athlone and also has a...

Lego sells another mould shop. (Injection Moulding).(Lego Werkzeugbau)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE German mould making plant operated by Danish toy manufacturer Lego has been bought by Wentworth Technologies of Canada. Lego Werkzeugbau was set up in Hohenwestedt in 1956. It has been renamed AMTEC -- Advanced Mould Technologies -- and...

Improved control system for Staubli robots. (Injection Moulding).(CS8 programmable contraller)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A NEW controller has been introduced for Stijubli robots which the company says 'brings the simplicity and ease of use normally associated with PC systems into the management of the robot control interface'. The CS8 is an additional...

Apex centralises UK robot sales. (Injection Moulding).(Advertisement)
June 1, 2002... SALES of Taiwanese-built Apex robots in the UK and Ireland are being centralised in a new company, Apex Robot Systems UK, spun off from used Boy machine specialist STV. Apex machines had for a long time been sold by Spaceminster, but in recent...

High speed measurement of thermocouple signals. (Injection Moulding).(by Priamus System Technologies)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A UNIVERSAL temperature measurement unit for type N thermocouples from Priamus System Technologies is said to be particularly suitable for fast cycling multi-cavity moulds. The Temp DAQ Junior operates at up to 1,000Hz and can be used for...

Mega monster moulds agricultural packaging. (Injection Moulding).(Arca Systems adds Sandretto Industrie's Mega HC ES 4,500 injection molding machine)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A 4,500 tonne machine has been delivered by Sandretto to a Swedish packaging moulder. The Mega HC ES 4,500, and a 2,300 tonne machine of the same series, have been installed at Perstorp subsidiary Arca Systems to produce agricultural containers...

New ejector makes more MUD space. (Injection Moulding).(Master Unit Die)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... LATEST mould inserts for MUD units have a new ejection system design which maximises the available insert core and cavity surface area. This allows more room for pockets and additional clamping surface area. A multi-purpose guide post...

Full line up from Milacron. (Injection Moulding).(Ferromatik Milacron's Electra line)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... FERROMATIK MILACRON has fleshed out both its electric and hydraulic machine ranges in pursuit of its 'full-liner' concept -- to be able to provide a machine for all requirements from 30 to 3,000 tonnes. In particular, it says its now...

Mould coupling tolerates misalignment. (Injection Moulding).(Staubli SPC quick release coupling for mould cooling circuits)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE new Staubli SPC quick release coupling for mould cooling circuits is good for up to 1 million connections and can compensate for connector misalignment up to 0.5 mm, says the company. It has a form of preguiding combined with an elastic...

Single robot services two machines for saw production. (Injection Moulding).(ATM Automation's ES 1000 three axis Cartesian robot used at Speed Saws)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... ATM Automation has applied a single ES 1000 three axis Cartesian robot to two machines at Speed Saws to automate the production of a handsaw handle. Previous methods involved a large amount of manual intervention and down-time because of...

Collapsible core and quick change cavities. (Injection Moulding).(Frank B. Hall and Company of Florida's Z 3600 collapsible core)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A NEW collapsible core from Hasco is suitable for single- and multi-cavity moulds. The Z 3600 is intended for demoulding internal threads and undercuts in cylindrical shaped mouldings. It is compact in design and several cores may be fitted...

New Sandrettos on line. (Injection Moulding).(Mainetti adds six Sandretto Nove Series S injection moulding machines)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... MAINETTI has installed six 300 tonne Sandretto Nove Series S injection moulding machines at its Jedburgh garment hanger plant. It already has a 130 tonne version of the Nove S, which was introduced last year with an emphasis on energy saving....

Nitrogen follow up to gas injection gives extra cooling. (Injection Moulding).(Cinpres Gas Injection's new Gas Cool process)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... This automotive door panel is an early example of the use of Cinpres Gas Injection's new Gas Cool process. This involves the injection of two fluids from two sources. The first to be injected cores out the channel within the melt and the second...

Weigh belts could replace loss-in-weight feeders. (Materials Handling).(K-Tron's Smart Weigh Belt)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... K-TRON claims that the improved performance of its Smart Weigh Belt feeder makes it possible for processors to use weigh belt feeders where loss in weight equipment was previously the only option. The range of feed rates that can be handled by...

Stand-alone components can be centralised. (Materials Handling).(Spaceminster's Plastek line)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... SPACEMINSTER says that the high cost of replacing existing materials handling equipment with a fully centralised system can be avoided by using Plastek products which it now supplies. Components, including single loaders and driers operating on...

Silo tubes aid material blending. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Braby has developed a materials blending system incorporating a system of internal tubes for its aluminium and stainless steel silos. The available energy of the filling system combines with gravity so that the material flows through the tubes...

'Screwless' screw makes more room for material. (Materials Handling).(Hosokawa Micron designs tapered screw for its new CT drier)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... HOSOKAWA Micron has designed a special tapered screw for its new CT drier which ensures constant motion of material and provides good wall contact to encourage good heat transfer from the vessel wall to the material. The unit is recommended for...

Higher throughput means smaller valves can be used. (Materials Handling).(Coperion Waeschle ZXD rotary blow through valves)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... HIGHER throughputs of Coperion Waeschle ZXD rotary blow through valves are claimed to enable investment costs to be reduced because smaller sizes of valve can be employed for specified conveying capacities. Rotor housing geometry and inlet arid...

Universal monitor warns of load cell problems. (Materials Handling).(Applied Weighing's Intelligent Junction Box)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Intelligent Junction Box introduced by Applied Weighing gives a warning of load cell failure. It continuously monitors cell performance and detects any slight imbalance or damage. This causes an alarm identifying the fault to be set off....

K-M to buy Elastogran's PU machinery business. (Reaction Processing).(Krauss-Maffei to buy Elastogran's polyurethane metering business)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Elastogran is rationalising its polyurethane activities and pulling out of machine manufacture, It is to sell its metering equipment business to Krauss-Maffei, and as a result, will eventually close its Schwarzeheide, Germany, plant. Two firms...

PEEK displaces magnesium alloy in aircraft seats... (Metal Replacement).(Feronyl uses Victrex PEEK polyarylketone in aircraft seats)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... BELGIAN processor Feronyl has used Victrex PEEK polyarylketone to replace magnesium alloy for functional components in commercial and military aircraft seating. As well as providing maximum comfort for passengers and crew, aircraft seats...

... And Forton takes wing. (Metal Replacement).(Ticona's Fortron polyphenylene sulphide fiber reinforced composites)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... FIBRE reinforced composites based on Ticona's Fortron polyphenylene sulphide are literally at the leading edge of aircraft development. The material will act as the matrix for light and strong composites used to form the wing leading edge nose...

Acetal meets strength demands for thin section loudspeaker grille. (Metal Replacement).(HB Plastic uses BASF Ultraform POM copolymer to make VW Golf triangular door mirror base module)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... PART of a triangular door mirror base module, a loudspeaker grille for the VW Golf, is being made by Austrian moulder HB Plastic in BASF Ultraform POM copolymer. The intricate component combines the low weight of plastics, fast assembly and...

Tower of Babel -- CAD style. (Software Review).(differing formats in CAD)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The Bible had a monstrous tower, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had a fish you stuck in your ear. Now CAD users have a pay-as-you go on-line service. All were designed to make monoglots polyglots. Clive Maier explains. IT IS always...

Resin source -- a google for grades? (Software Review).(IDES)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... EACH time we report on IDES the numbers get bigger. In March of this year, the company's massive Prospector plastics database stood at 38,000 grades. Now the figure is in excess of 39,500 grades from some 390 suppliers worldwide. IDES...

Mattec software upgrade. (Software Review).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... MATTEC Corporation has rolled out release 3.0 of its ProHelp Millennium realtime production and process monitoring system. It runs on Open UNIX 8, an operating system from Caldera for Intel PCs. The system supports a range of hardware and...

Inspect against prototype files. (Software Review).(Delcam's PowerINSPECT inspection software )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... THE latest upgrade of Delcam's PowerINSPECT inspection software adds support for triangle files. Users can now inspect components, prototypes and tooling against geometries in formats such as the STL files used in rapid prototyping and Delcam's...

infor:PLASTICS adds tool management. (Software Review).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... infor:PLASTICS business management software for plastics moulders now includes a complete tool management suite. Job management and labour bookings within the tool shop are integrated with the main manufacturing control system. Association...

GPC/SEC software handles six channels at once. (Software Review).(VISCOTEK)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... VISCOTEK has introduced a new software package for multiple detection analysis of GPC/SEC (gel permeation chromatography/size exclusion chromatography). Known as OmniSEC, the package is said to be the first GPC/SEC software to comply fully with...

DuPont advanced automotive electrical/electronic venture. (What's New on the Web).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Cars and trucks of the future face a power shortage. Today's 14-volt electrical systems cannot cope with the power demands that will be created by the drive for greater fuel economy, cleaner burning engines, 'infotainment' devices and...

Extrusion spares. (What's New on the Web).(Regis Machinery )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Regis Machinery has launched a new site dedicated to its range of spares for twin-screw extruders. The company handles spares for Kreyenborg and BKG equipment and has just taken on the product lines of German company CA Picard. Picard...

DSM Somos. (What's New on the Web).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... DSM Somos has launched its new web site in five languages -- English, French, Spanish, Italian and German. The content is devoted to the company's ProtoFunctional rapid prototyping materials and it is no mean effort. The site includes more than...

Autotype International. (What's New on the Web).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Screen printing and coating specialist Autotype International has revamped its web site to include an online discussion forum where users can exchange tips and comments about anything in the Autotype product range. The forum is intended to...

Gabriel-Chemie Masterbatch Magazine. (What's New on the Web).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Gabriel-Chemie has put the company's Masterbatch Magazine on its web site. It is a dual-language German-English production and is downloadable from the site in PDF format. www.gabriel-chemie.com/GC-englisch/htm/f_news.htm

Not patently obvious.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... PATENTS are beginning to puzzle the lay person, a category in which I firmly place myself. Once it all seemed so clear but now patents are being awarded to what can seem like givens. Take human genes. Simple fellow that I am, it seems to me...

Conductive blacks for power cables. (Carbon Blacks).
June 1, 2002... Two new conductive carbon blacks from Cabot have been designed specially for the manufacture of semi-conductive bonded or strippable power cable shields. Hitherto, carbon blacks have failed to meet key requirements of smoothness and...

Sandretto now distributes Corema chillers. (Agency Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... UK distribution of the Italian-built Corema chiller range has been taken over by Sandretto (UK). Corema builds chillers from beside-the-press units to full mould shop systems. Factfinder 102

New cooling company from ex GWK MD. (Agency Update).(IsoCool Ltd., Nigel Hallett)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A new company specialising in process cooling has been set up by former GWK (UK) managing director Nigel Hallett. IsoCool is selling equipment sourced mainly from Italian manufacturer Frigomeccanica Industriale. As well as equipment sales,...

New polyolefin elastomers. (Elastomers).(from DuPont Dow Elastomers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... DuPont Dow Elastomers has introduced five development grades of Engage polyolefin elastomer. In contrast to the existing ethylene octane Engage materials, the new grades are based on ethylene butene. These are designed to offer an improved...

New foam range in the UK. (Foams).(Porocell from Foam Techniques)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Italian-made Porocell EPDM met-allocene foams are to be available for the first time in the UK exclusively from Foam Techniques. The range was originally developed for the white goods industry but the properties of the foamed materials have...