British Plastics & Rubber articles from March 2004

British Plastics & Rubber archives from March 2004

New application development--GE says X marks the spot.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... GENERAL Electric Plastics--or GE Advanced Materials as it is now known--has a long history of making what it can sell, rather than trying to sell what it can make. In the early days of the plastics boom many of the international conglomerates...

New TPEs have better heat and oil resistance.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... THERMOPLASTIC elastomers with enhanced heat and oil resistance have been developed in Japan by Kuraray. The new Septon V series are hydrogenated styrene thermoplastic elastomers with an extra crosslinkable block in the polymer chain. ...

Conductive elastomer forms simple EMI shielding grommet.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... A MEANS of creating an EMI shield in multi-way connectors using a conductive grommet has been developed by Marlow-based Parker Hannifin company Chomerics using its CHO-SEAL 6370 conductive silicone elastomer. The two-part assembly is...

Glass-filled nylons give a finish smooth enough for plating.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... A SERIES of glass-filled nylons modified to give a surface finish suitable for electroplating has been introduced by Frisetta, for applications such as car door handles where they substitute for diecastings, giving the high gloss lustre of the...

Nylons modified for overmoulding adhesion.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... IMPROVED adhesion in overmoulding is claimed for a series of Ems Grilon nylon 6 materials available from Performance Plastics. The patented modification allows a chemical bond between the TPE and the nylon, which creates an adhesion which the...

TPE bonds to acetal copolymer.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... A GRADE of Thermoflex TPE for adhesion to Hostaform acetal copolymer has been developed by PTS in co-operation with Ticona. The hard/soft combination of Thermoflex bonded to Hostaform for loudspeaker assemblies has resulted in an improved sound...

Plastics could hold the future for digital data.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... Plastics could play an even greater role in digital data storage in the future through two current developments. Clive Maier reports how the ability to change the conductivity of an inherently conductive plastic creates a switching device,...

Zotefoams makes mouldable foam from PEEK.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... Foamed versions of Victrex PEEK have been developed by Zotefoams. Initial grades have densities down to 650 kg/[m.sup.3] and greater reductions in density are thought feasible. The process uses Zotefoams' nitrogen saturation technology to...

SPS enables baking pans to be injection moulded.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... DOW Chemical has developed food-contact grades of its Questra crystalline polymer family. Questra polymers are produced by polymerising styrene monomer with a metallocene catalyst to create a highly ordered semi-crystalline structure that...

Compounder stays on top of euro-legislation.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... FLAMMABILITY and environmental protection are probably the two legislative requirements affecting the use of plastics that have been subject to the severest upgrading in recent years. For instance, IEC 60335-1, which deals with the safety of...

Nylon washing machine pulley replaces aluminium.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... AN injection moulded pulley has replaced the cast aluminium version across the full range of Hotpoint washing machines. The pulley is one of the first of its type in the world and offers lower costs than the metal pulley without degrading...

New PS is intended for TV cabinets.(Engineering Materials)
March 1, 2004... LACQRENE 855 is a new halogen-free flame retardant polystyrene developed by Atofina specifically for the production of television cabinets. It has achieved UL94 V1 at 3 mm and has the additional benefit of being drip-free. Lacqrene...

Additive protects PET package contents from UV.(Additives)
March 1, 2004... MILLIKEN Chemical has developed an additive that protects beverages, foods and other consumer products packaged in PET containers from the harmful effects of UV light. ClearShield is an FDA-compliant homogeneous polymer additive that provides...

Flame retardant for electrical applications.(Additives)
March 1, 2004... GREAT Lakes Chemical Corporation has developed a brominated polystyrene flame retardant specifically for electrical components. Firemaster BP411 confers cost-effective flame retardancy to standard or glass reinforced engineering thermoplastics...

Lower volume masterbatch service aims at niche markets.(Additives)
March 1, 2004... TO meet the demands of niche markets and small runs, Colour Tone Masterbatch has lowered its minimum quantity for masterbatch in previously-approved bespoke colours, from 25 kg to standard lots of 10 kg or 15 kg. The offer applies both to...

New aluminium pigment 'is the brightest'.(Additives)
March 1, 2004... BASF claims that its Variocrom Magic Silver K 1000 pigment is far superior to conventional aluminium pigments used for plastics. The new pigment is said to be the brightest aluminium pigment available and less prone than any other to show...

Brand name change for polymeric plasticisers.(Additives)
March 1, 2004... HYPERLAST has consolidated all its polymeric plasticisers under the new brand name of Dioplex, replacing the old Diolpate and Reoplex brands. Dioplex polymeric plasticisers are high molecular weight long chain polyesters ranging from...

Airblast coolers supercede cooling towers.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... MOULDERS are turning to airblast coolers according to Sandretto, which has surveyed its customers' plants to ensure that there is sufficient cooling capacity before the hot summer months arrive. It has found that airblast coolers are...

New fluid controllers and a flow regulator from Sella.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... NEW water and oil units have been added to the Italian-made R Sella temperature controllers sold by Colortronic. To meet the need for a relatively small unit capable of working with diathermic oil at a temperature of 250 degC, Sella has...

What you need to know about temperature sensors.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... The Labfacility Temperature Handbook for 2004 is an augmented, updated, reference book for users of thermocouples, PRTs and thermistors and associated instrumentation. It contains basic theory alongside the reference data so is suitable as a...

Enhancements to Wittmann temperature controllers.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... THE Wittmann Tempro series of water and oil temperature controllers is being enhanced with direct and indirect cooling options and a new range of oil heaters has been added, taking maximum temperature up to 250 degC. The Tempro direct 120...

Wide chiller range can be tailored to special needs.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... RITTAL has extended its range of process chillers to include both small 'Mini' units with useful cooling outputs of 1 to 4.5 kW, larger TS8 enclosure units up to 50kW and the SK Series with outputs from between 5 and 350 kW. Recool units...

Don't cut corners with temperature control: Gordon Crouch, processing manager at Sandretto UK, argues for careful sourcing and trialling of prospective temperature control equipment.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... INJECTION moulding is a process that requires careful control over numerous parameters to obtain optimum component quality. This is understood by most, however, one area that is often not fully understood is the control of the mould...

High quality water saves moulders money: Craig Reynolds from Husky Injection Molding Systems explains why it is worth making efforts to ensure that cooling water is as pure as possible, and how to go about it.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... GOOD cooling is essential for the efficient operation of process equipment. For this reason, cooling water quality has a significant impact on profitability for plastic moulding operations. Poorly controlled process water systems can have a...

Hot runner connection box has built-in thermocouple protection.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... THE mould memory device introduced last year (British Plastics & Rubber May 2003, p11) by Fast Heat for storing setting data in the mould/hot runner junction box has been augmented by the Smart Mold Box, which prevents thermocouple and control...

Hot runner controller for portable applications.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... THE latest hot runner controller from Athena Controls offers 'go anywhere' portability. The Model RMC/P is a single-zone, micro-processor based, self-tuning controller with a control accuracy of 0.1 degC depending on the total thermal system...

Wireless networking cuts the cost of controlling multiple hot runners.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... PMS Systems has cut the cost of running multiple hot runner systems. Its touch screen hot runner controller now allows a single console to run virtually unlimited numbers of hot runner control cabinets using the TCP/IP network protocol. Control...

Cables for use at high temperatures.(Temperature Control)
March 1, 2004... A 550 degC temperature rated cable has been added to the Radix range of beater cables. Duraflex 550s reduces the cost of cabling by eliminating the thermal protection (glass sleeves, ceramic insulators etc) added to 450 degC wire to enable...

Kistler adds to process optimisation.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... ADDITIONS to the Kistler range of process control devices for injection moulding area melt temperature sensor and a smart charge amplifier which can switch a machine from injection to holding pressure automatically. The new melt...

In-line plasma treatment could improve 2K moulding.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... GERMAN technology transfer company New Materials Furth is researching inline plasma treatment to improve adhesion during multi-material injection moulding. The company has a Krauss-Maffei 2C manufacturing cell KM125-390-160CZ fitted with a...

X-ray equipment makes NDT of gas injection more feasible.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... WHEN gas injection is used in structural mouldings it can be important to inspect the formation of the gas channel, but how to do this without destroying the part is a challenge. Cinpres Gas Injection says that film X-ray inspection has been...

Milacron patents multimedia for machine control.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... MILACRON has been granted a US patent (6,609,038) covering the integration of multimedia capabilities into plastics machine controls. A few years ago the company patented the use of personal computers for machine control, and successfully sued...

Robot painting cell more than halves reject levels for computer monitor surrounds.(Finishing)
March 1, 2004... INCREASING demand for LG's LCD computer monitors has led to the installation of a robot painting cell at injection moulding and finishing company Yu Sung (UK) which has increased productivity and reduced rejects. Yu Sung (UK) was set up in...

Mini Fanuc is for micro moulding.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... A 5 TONNE clamping force model has been added to the Fanuc Roboshot S-2000i Series for the production of miniature and micro precision parts. The machine's digital AC servo motors have a higher rate of acceleration than previous Roboshots,...

Two-stage cleanroom houses two-component moulding process.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... ASSEMBLY and disinfection stage have been eliminated in the production of a baby bottle teat by making the whole thing in a two-component moulding process housed in a dual clean room. The disposable teat, which has an integrated screw top,...

Cleanroom is key part of 25 [pounds sterling] million CD-R plant extension.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... A 70,000 sq ft, 25 million [pounds sterling] addition has been completed at the Europa Magnetics optical disc plant at Cramlington, near Newcastle. Around 60,000 sq ft of this is clean room and support areas for CD-R manufacturing. The clean...

Engel expands in electrics and adds a hybrid ranqe.(Injection Moulding)
March 1, 2004... ENGEL is expanding its offering in electric injection moulding machines with an extension of its e-Motion all-electric range, and a hybrid of the c-Motion and Victory hydraulic machines. The e-Motion series is being taken up to 350 tonnes...

New Scara robot is faster all round.(Automation)
March 1, 2004... THE new Toshiba Machine TH-650 Scara robot is claimed to be at least 1.4 times faster than previous models on every axis. It has the same footprint as the previous model but a larger working envelope. Axes one and two combine to provide a...

Servo robot aims to compete with pneumatics.(Automation)
March 1, 2004... A THREE-SERVO pick and place robot intended for moulding machines up to 200 tonnes has been introduced by Sepro. Known as the Axess, it is priced at around 15,000 [pounds sterling] and offered as a cost-competitive alternative to pneumatic or...

'First commercial' extensional rheometer for fluids.(Testing & Inspection)
March 1, 2004... THERMO Electron's CABER, described as the first commercially available extensional rheometer for fluids, is now available in the UK from Thermo Electron (Stone). The rheometer handles materials such as polymer solutions, melts, adhesives and...

Malvern extends its free seminar programme.(Testing & Inspection)
March 1, 2004... MALVERN Instruments, a specialist in particle characterisation, extended its reach to rheology with the acquisition of Bohlin Instruments in October of last year, Now the company has recast its seminar programme to reflect the full scope of its...

Thermal analysis is automated.(Testing & Inspection)
March 1, 2004... METTLER Toledo's latest [STAR.sup.e] systems autornate thermal analysis testing with a range of features including 34-place autosamplers, automatic gas switching, and data evaluation. The company's [DSC822.sup.e] system is equally suitable...

Synchronised video replay for materials testing.(Testing & Inspection)
March 1, 2004... The latest version of the Nexygen MT software from Lloyd Instruments records and plays back materials tests. The new Video Capture feature records live tests and synchronises playback with the results analysis. Video is recorded by a vldeo...

Pressure pipe testing at higher temperatures.(Testing & Inspection)
March 1, 2004... IMPACT Laboratories, an independent testing and consultancy service company, has upgraded its plastics pressure pipe testing facility. A major capital investment has extended the temperature of ISO 1167 pressure testing by water or air up to...

Temperature lab gets UKAS accreditation.(Testing & Inspection)
March 1, 2004... HART Scientific has gained UKAS accreditation for its European primary standards temperature laboratory in Norwich, and reckons now to be Europe's premier commercial temperature laboratory. The facility, which opened in June 2003, offers a...

Plastex adds heavy duty haul off.(Pipe & Profile)
March 1, 2004... PLASTIC Extruders has introduced a heavy duty haul off which has four main support pillars with pneumatically operated pressure and flow/speed control for the top boom. This has controllable minimum clamp pressure which allows the booms to open...

New coiler follows merger between winder manufacturers.(Pipe & Profile)
March 1, 2004... CABLE winding system manufacturer Reelotech, which was once the market leader, has been bought by competitor Autoreel. The plan is to integrate both companies, but for the time being they continue to operate side by side. Since the...

WTL offers a way into wood.(Pipe & Profile)
March 1, 2004... A THREE-year relationship between Heywood Williams Group and WTL International has prepared the way for other extrusion companies to enter the wood-plastic composites market. Three years ago WTL International Ltd was approached by Heywood...

Pipes business booms in southern Europe.(Pipe & Profile)
March 1, 2004... MAJOR changes have taken place over the past few years in the structure of the pipe extrusion business in Europe, according to a new report from Applied Market Information. The company has identified the 50 largest independent plastics pipe...

Screenchanger prevents air entrapment.(Pipe & Profile)
March 1, 2004... THE NEW Contiflow 100 continuous flow screen changer from Industrial Plastics filters the polymer without interrupting the melt flow, and any air is expelled from the breaker plate. A special sealing system and patented heating devices are...

Software enables communication with weigh scale blenders.(Materials Handling)
March 1, 2004... SUMMIT Systems has developed software to provide direct communication between a server and one or more Maguire weigh scale blenders. The G2 server package provides information on the weight of materials processed, sending and retrieval of...

Automated dosing of minor ingredients.(Materials Handling)
March 1, 2004... THE DosiBox system for fully automated dosing of additives and minor ingredients introduced by Azo is said to transfer all types of bulk material from drums, FIBCs or bags, giving hygienic storage with minimal material loss, and exact stock...

Try the benefits of dense phase vacuum conveying.(Materials Handling)
March 1, 2004... Pneumatic Conveying Systems is promoting dense phase vacuum conveying (DPVC) systems which, it says, ate not new but have not been fully exploited before now, Positive pressure dense phase pneumatic conveying is most often associated with...

New machine for faster laser sintering of metals.(Tooling)
March 1, 2004... THE latest EOSINT M270 laser sintering machine from EOS offers rapid sintering of metal powder, and is equally suitable for manufacturing tooling or making components in series production. The machine uses a 200 W Yb fibre laser that can be...

Technology options for feeding and blending.(Materials Handling)
March 1, 2004... THE NEW K-Tron K4G gravimetric blender, designed for compounding and other extrusion applications, can be equipped with any of a variety of types of K-Tron BSP (Bulk Solids Pump) feeder, which greatly extends the number of materials which can...

MMS feeds production monitoring into your ERP system: Clive Maier gets to grips with Moldflow's new Manufacturing Solutions package, which brings the company into an already well-populated field, but does so in the context of its history in machine monitoring and the acquisition of a company well-experienced in the integration of production management with ERP .(Software)
March 1, 2004... WHEN version 1.0 of Moldflow Manufacturing Solutions, or MMS, was launched last year (British Plastics & Rubber, June 2003), it was too soon for the newly acquired Controle Processus Industriels CPI2000 system to play a part. We picked out the...

Moldflow--the moulder's Microsoft.(Software)
March 1, 2004... For most people, the name Moldflow means moulding simulation the way Hoover means vacuum cleaning. The software put plastics moulding on a scientific footing and changed the way an industry works. But crucial though it is, this is just one...

The essentials.(Software)
March 1, 2004... MMS/Production Monitoring is a real-time production monitoring system. It can handle virtually any type of cyclic discrete manufacturing equipment and can be interfaced to work with any ERP system. In addition to monitoring, MMS/Production...

Software directory.
March 1, 2004... BLOW MOULDING/THERMOFORMING Accuform T-Sire, B-Sire Accuform, +420 677 210465 Symbolic Systems, 01227 738892 Single user price: 4,000[pounds sterling]-16,000[pounds sterling] Simulation of blow moulding and thermoforming,...

CAMPUS adds easy data updates by internet.(Software)
March 1, 2004... VERSION 5.0 of CAMPUS, the free plastics materials database supported worldwide by a consortium of plastics manufacturers, has just been released. The program puts data for thousands of grades of plastics on your desktop but once there, the...

New morphing options for Delcam's PowerSHAPE.(Software)
March 1, 2004... MORPHING, or whole-model editing, allows rapid styling changes to be made in a single operation that would otherwise require extensive and time-consuming modifications of the separate elements in a CAD model. This makes it ideal for the what-if...

Spirex Corporation.(What's New on the Web)
March 1, 2004... Spirex, a leading manufacturer of screws, barrels and nozzles, has reorganised and simplified its web site. Visitors are now met by an uncluttered screen offering immediate click-throughs to process optimisation, plasticating systems, Twinshot...

Atofina to restructure UK operations.(Company Report)
March 1, 2004... Changes are to be made to the structure of Atofina's UK companies as part of a wider reorganisation of the French company's chemical operations. The UK petrochemicals businesses (styrene, polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene) are to be...

Tool and pattern making heavyweights combine.(Company Report)
March 1, 2004... 'The world's biggest' in pattern making and toolmaking have joined forces with the purchase of a 55 per cent stake in NPL Technologies by Arrk Product Development Group. Arrk's parent Arrk Corporation of Japan says it is the world's largest...

Toolmaker goes back to its roots.(Company Report)
March 1, 2004... West Yorkshire toolmaker Wilson & Royston has changed its name to WR Tooling following a management buy-out earlier this year. It was part of the JL French UK group, formerly Morris Ashby, which decided to sell it to concentrate on core...

Dawson adds hose producer.(Company Report)
March 1, 2004... Belting and hose specialist Fenner Group has bought Indico (Europe) which makes rubber hoses for commercial vehicles, for 2.8 million [pounds sterling]. Indico, based at Poynton near Manchester, will become part of Fenner's James Dawson...

Interplas to be revamped and rescheduled.(Update)
March 1, 2004... MAJOR changes are being planned by the organisers of the Interplas exhibition to counter criticism that the cost of exhibiting is no longer justified by the returns likely from the British market, particularly in injection moulding machinery....

DuPont Fluoroproducts has increased global prices for all grades of Teflon FEP fluoropolymer resin by $2.00/pound in the dollar based markets and by 2.00 [euro]/kg in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... DuPont Fluoroproducts has increased global prices for all grades of Teflon FEP fluoropolymer resin by $2.00/pound in the dollar based markets and by 2.00 [euro]/kg in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The increase reflects growing demand for...

Dow is planning to increase prices for its polyurethane and epoxy materials.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... Dow is planning to increase prices for its polyurethane and epoxy materials. From April 1 European prices for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and flexible polyols will go up by 100 [euro]/tonne. Prices for MDI and rigid polyols will increase by 150...

BASF has raised the price of its styrene copolymers.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... BASF has raised the price of its styrene copolymers--Styrolux (SBS), Luran (SAN), Terluran (ABS), Luran S (ASA), Terlux (MABS) and Terblend N (ABS/PA)--by 100 [euro]/tonne, because of worsening profit margins.

Borealis has increased the European price of its polyethylene and polypropylene by 100 [euro]/tonne.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... Borealis has increased the European price of its polyethylene and polypropylene by 100 [euro]/tonne to 'sustain our investments in innovation and technology'.

Bayer has belatedly announced increases for its Therban hydrogenated acrylonitile-butadiene rubber and Buna EP EPDM.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... Bayer has belatedly announced increases for its Therban hydrogenated acrylonitile-butadiene rubber and Buna EP EPDM. Therban went up by 1 [euro]/kg on January 1, and the price of Buna EP EPDM by 0.1 [euro]/kg on February 1, both increases the...

Dow has implemented the third price increase for its Lighter PET this year.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... Dow has implemented the third price increase for its Lighter PET this year. The price increased 60 [euro]/ tonne on January 1, 100 [euro]/tonne on February 1, and 100 [euro]/tonne on March 1. The company says that supply for PET remains tight...

Albemarle has raised the price of its Saytex CP-2000.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... Albemarle has raised the price of its Saytex CP-2000 flame retardant globally by 10 per cent.

Great Lakes Chemical is to further increase the price of its TMS.(Materials prices)
March 1, 2004... Great Lakes Chemical is to further increase the price of its TMS, Timonox, Trutint and Microfine antimony trioxide flame retardants in line with higher prices for antimony. Prices were increased $550/tonne In Europe towards the end of January,...

EC restricts use of rubber extender oils in tyres.(Update)
March 1, 2004... THE European Commission is imposing limits on the use of some extender oils in tyre manufacturer as a safeguard to public health. It says that extenders can contain high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogenic, and is...

More than just training.(Update)
March 1, 2004... POLYMER Training--the former plastics processing industry training board--has a new image to go with what it sees as its expanded role. From February 1 it has been trading simply as PTL, and is offering services beyond its traditional role...

BASF joins Toray in Malaysian PBT plant.(Materials Marketplace)
March 1, 2004... BASF is increasing its investment in Malaysia with the setting up of a joint venture with Toray Industries of Japan to make PBT. The butanediol feedstock will be sourced from the BASF Petronas joint venture plant which was commissioned in...

Fortron to boost PPS output.(Materials Marketplace)
March 1, 2004... FORTRON Industries, the Ticona/ Kureha Chemicals PPS joint venture, is planning an expansion of its capacity in two moves. The first will be a two-stage debottlenecking operation at its Wilmington, USA plant to add 25 per cent more output, and...

Distrupol adds TPU.(Materials Marketplace)
March 1, 2004... DISTRUPOL has been appointed sole UK and Ireland distributor for Elastogran's Elastollan thermoplastic polyurethane. www.distrupol.com Factfinder 121

Ethylene elastomer plant starts up.(Materials Marketplace)
March 1, 2004... EXXONMOBIL Chemical has started up its new metallocene ethylene elastomer manufacturing facility in the USA, with a capacity of more than 90,000 tonnes Included among. the products made on the plant are the Vistamaxx speciality elastomers...

Buyers' guide.
March 1, 2004... MATERIALS ADHESIVES Eurobond Adhesives Ltd Bonham Drive, Eurolink Industrial Estate, Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 3RY Tel: 01795 427888 Fax: 01795 479685 E-mail: sales@eurobond-adhesives.co.uk Web site:...