British Plastics & Rubber articles from November 2004

British Plastics & Rubber archives from November 2004

Systems for DVD boxes and in-mould labelling.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... HUSKY, best known for making systems for PET bottle preforms, has entered two other high volume markets with complete systems. It has tied up with two automation specialists to produce systems for DVD packaging and in-mould labelling. For...

Big buckets fully automated and two at a time.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... MOULDING 11 litre paint buckets two-up with in-mould labelling and downstream automation is not something you see every day. In fact, according to Stork Plastics Machinery there are only three such systems in Europe--and Stork built two of...

New clamp hydraulics and magic injection on billion packaging range.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... THE new Chronoma packaging machine from Billion will replace the company's Hercule Plus series from next March and is targeted at the top end of the range to compete with the likes of Netstal and Husky. It brings a number of design innovations...

Novel container lid shows the next step in injection moulding as a full manufacturing process.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... ONE OF the most widely reported highlights at the K2004 exhibition was Foboha's twin cube stack mould, with the moulding cell assembled by Ferromatik Milacron to run it. The cube stack mould is a fairly recent development and its...

BMB harnesses electric energy saving for packaging production ...(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... A COMBINATION of its patented outwardly-opening KW toggle clamp and direct drive electric actuation has been adopted by BMB for a new series of packaging machines designed to return 30-40 per cent lower production costs. On the eKW series...

... and Toshiba is also saving power in packaging.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... ENERGY savings over hydraulic machines of as much as 80 per cent are now claimed by Toshiba for its all-electric machines for fast cycling packaging production, which it sees as a growing market for electric machines in Europe. A system based...

Two-platen manufacturers go down the size range.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... NEW smaller versions of existing two platen machine ranges have been introduced by Sandretto and Cincinnati Milacron. Sandretto has extended its Mega H two-platen machine series (1,300-5,500 tonnes) downwards with models at 600, 750, 850,...

More moulds on the Maxima.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... An additional mould carrier plate is now available for Cincinnati Milacron's Maxima large size two platen machines to enable two moulds--similar or dissimilar, conventional or stack moulds--to be used. The carrier is mounted on the machine's...

Small two-platen range is uprated, and forms the basis for a novel two-component system.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Krauss Maffei's small-medium sized two-platen C range is being phased out and replaced by the CX which has an improved--faster--hydraulic system, the new MC5 controller, better access to the clamp unit, and the option of electric or hydraulic...

Rotating core creates molecular alignment for extra strength.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... SOLVAY Advanced Polymers has patented a process for increasing the strength of a part by forming a 'molecular belt' within it. This entails injecting material on to a rotating instead of a stationary core to form cylindrical or conical sections...

Sandretto opts for hydrostatic clamping on new electric.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... A HYBRID electric/hydraulic machine has been introduced by Sandretto, initially in four sizes from 40 to 110 tonnes. Sandretto describes the machine as 'oil free', but in fact it uses a patented hydrostatic system to apply clamping and nozzle...

Mitsui revamps UK representation.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... THE representation of Fanuc Roboshot machines in the UK has been restructured. Mitsui Machine Tool Europe-Fanuc Division UK has become Mitsui-Fanuc (UK Division) with a move from Sheffield to Daventry, and Andy Sargisson, who for some years has...

Cast quartz/epoxy base stiffens new Negri Bossi.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... AN UNUSUAL method has been adopted to improve rigidity on Negri Bossi's new 70 tonne Elma VE70 all-electric machine. The base has been cast from polymer concrete, as used in the machine tool industry. After mixing to a homogeneous mass, the...

Three-platen electric from K-M.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... DESPITE its policy of adopting two-platen clamping across its machine range, Krauss-Maffei has gone back to a three-platen design for its new all-electric EX-series. The company's previous all-electric machine, the Eltec, used a two-platen...

Ferromatik helps Battenfeld build a better machine.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... IN A RARE example of two heads being better than one, Battenfeld has enlisted the help of one of its competitors to improve its product range. The EM all-electric series has been redesigned and extended with the aid of technology from...

The new ELION range--fully-electric and entirely Netstal.(Injection Moulding)(Advertisement)
November 1, 2004... NETSTAL has introduced its first fully-electric injection moulding machine for standard applications under the name of ELION. The ELION range, initially covering the clamping forces 500-1,750 kN, is the result of customer-oriented development...

Fast-spinning two component machines.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... NEW machines of 120 and 200 tonnes have been developed by Nissei to make two colour/component mouldings. The DC Series models have two injection units and a rotating table. Fast mould rotation is by means of a servo motor and in the case of the...

Further flexibility--and touch screen control--from Arburg.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... THE LATEST in Arburg's growing series of all-electric machines is the 320A (Alldrive), a 320 x 320 mm tiebar clearance machine with clamping force options of 50 and 60 tonnes. The two machines already in the series are the 420 A and 520 A with...

Boy targets more micro moulding.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Boy is pushing to increase its share of the micro moulding market with a 12 mm screw installed on its 12 tonne machine. Boy says the smaller diameter and optimised screw geometry of the 12 mm screw halves the dwell time of the material in the...

Robot cell adds novelty value.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... A ROBOTISED moulding cell is helping Cornish plastic novelty manufacturer Characteristix compete with moulders from the Far East. The company makes 33,000 mouldings a day which include birthday card badges, stand up figures, pendants,...

Stork revives retractable tiebar technology.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... If you had wondered what happened to Hemscheidt/HPM's retractable tiebars--apart from the use of a similar system by Battenfeld--the answer is they are alive and well at Hengelo in Holland. Stork Plastics Machinery has started building...

Silicone stuffed.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... BOY is now offering a stuffing device for soft, low tensile strength elastomers such as solid silicone. It sits above the injection cylinder to feed material evenly into the machine under constant conditions to assure fully-automatic moulding....

Individual locking control counters offset clamping.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... AN injection-compression machine capable of moulding parts measuring 1,500 x 1,100 x 1.5 mm thick is being sold by Meiki with potential for parts such as automotive glazing, engine covers, fabric covered trim parts and computer chassis with...

Less headroom needed for rubber machines.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... MAPLAN has developed a novel concept to reduce the overall height of its large rubber injection moulding machines. Clamping units of the company's new Ergo series offers full platen support as well as low working height but the whole of the...

Linpac extends Plantmaster use.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Linpac Materials Handling at Winsford has installed a BarcoVision Plantmaster production monitoring and scheduling system to provide real time production monitoring, job scheduling and quality control with full historical reporting across 26...

Sandretto users buy more.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... SANDRETTO Nove S machines have recently been bought by two British moulders. A Nove S 300 tonne model has been installed by TT Ninefields to increase its production of protective mouldings for scaffolding and a Nove S 220 tonne model has been...

New ideas and improved standard products from Mold-Masters.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... MOLD-MASTERS has applied new thinking to a number of aspects of hot runner production, producing new techniques on the edge of commercialisation. Colour change time can be halved with a new melt optimising gate--available as a valve gate...

All the benefits without all the cost.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... THE NEW low cost LEC 24 zone hot runner temperature controller from Gammaflux combines the company's phase angle control and PI[D.sup.2] control algorithm and is claimed to offer the advantages of more expensive TTC controllers to users of...

Better mixing and less wear.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Improvements have been made to Husky's hot runner systems. The UltraFIow melt mixing technology, which uses a static mixer to homogenise the melt as it flows through the nozzle tip, has been refined to allow processors to use a wider range...

Spy in the mould tracks hot runner history.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... A DATA tracking device to show the operating history of a mould has been devised by German mouldmaker Otto Manner. The aim is to provide mouldmakers with actual operating data for use in the event of a dispute with the owner of a mould or a...

Portable system for machine optimisation.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... INJECTION moulding rejects can be very nearly eliminated by using its new PiCo signal conditioner and Dataflow software on a laptop computer, says Kistler. Out of specification mouldings can be minimised and inspection time reduced by mould...

Tweaking temperature for consistent moulding.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... EQUIPMENT for controlling sequential gate opening and achieving even temperature distribution across multiple cavities has been introduced by Priamus System Technologies of Switzerland. Where large parts are injected sequentially and melt...

Manifold designed to have smooth melt path.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... THE new Hasco H4010 hot runner manifolds are made from a special steel alloy to provide a superior melt channel surface with no grooves or defects to give a smooth material flow path with no dead spots, hang up areas or sharp corners. Channel...

New control technology, take it or leave it.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Giving a sign that moulding machine control systems have gone just about as far as they can go, Demag has succeeded its NC4 control with the NC5, which does no more than the NC4 could do, but just does it in a more computer-modern way. The...

Improved screw designs from the USA ...(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... NEW company, Plastics Processing Technologies, has been formed in the US to supply proprietary and patented screw and screw tip designs with claimed superior performance to general purpose components. It has developed a Screw Melt Quality Index...

... And from the Netherlands.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... KLUIN Wijhe claims that its Maxi Melt screws enable melt quality to be improved by overcoming inhomogeneity which creates a wide temperature range in the moulded part and sets up different internal stress layers the area with the highest stress...

Beat polycarbonate black spots.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... AN ANSWER to corrosion problems when moulding optical polycarbonate parts is claimed by Milacron's service parts organisation ServTek. Volatiles produced when moulding polycarbonate can attack the chrome or nitrided surface of the machine...

More PET, less AA.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... A NEW screw for Husky's HyPET and Index PET preform systems is said to help boost melt throughput by 15 per cent. The HyFLO screw is also said to improve mixing and help eliminate hot spots on the barrel, which reduces acetaldehyde levels...

Cinpres takes over Alliance technologies.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... CINPRES Gas Injection has extended a co-operation agreement forged earlier in the year with its American competitor Alliance Gas Systems, further integrating the operations of the two companies. In the early summer the two companies agreed...

Water injection cuts dipstick cost.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Dipstick guide tubes bent in three dimensions ate being made for BMW 2 litre diesel engines by Schneegans Silicon of Austria by water injection moulding in a Kendrion mould on an Engel machine using a grade of DuPont Zytel nylon 66 developed...

Trexel safeguards MuCell/ Optifoam clash ...(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... IN A move to ease the adoption of microcellular foam technology in injection moulding and extrusion, Trexel is to grant a special MuCell license to users of Sulzer's Optifoam technology. A similar stance was taken three years ago to protect...

Gas cooling cuts cycle times.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... INDUSTRIAL gas specialist Linde of Germany has developed techniques for improving cooling in injection moulding. One uses C[O.sub.2] for spot cooling to augment conventional water cooling, and the other extends the flow of nitrogen in gas...

Husky now pushing second generation Thixomolding ...(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... THIXOMOLDING is back at Husky, and this time the company says it has got it right. Thixomolding is a means of injection moulding magnesium alloy--or other metals, but magnesium is favoured for its light weight. The machine is fed with...

... And planning more production plants.(Injection Moulding)
November 1, 2004... Husky is planning to move production of its small injection moulding machines up to 160 tonnes from Canada to China. It is currently building a plant in a solo operation--no Chinese partner--which should start producing machines in the first...

By the press machine is quieter and cooler.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... NOISE suppression features of the new Cumberland 40100 by the press granulator include a double walled hopper and sound attenuated base. Cool operation is afforded by the 'open wing' design. The cutting chamber entry measures 406 x 1,016 mm and...

Slow running sprue granulator can be cleaned quickly.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... FAST clean-down is a feature of the Matsui MGFL-100 low speed sprue granulator recently introduced to the UK by Eastern Plastics Machinery. The company says that the machine can be cleaned in just a fifth of the time taken to clean similar...

Shredder in tune with the needs of polymer reclaim.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... GENERAL purpose shredders built to handle wood or general waste are not sufficiently in tune with the properties of polymer materials, according to Rapid, which has produced what it says is the world's first shredding granulator for polymers....

Heavy duty granulator order.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... ITALIAN granulator manufacturer Bruno Folcieri is now represented in the UK by Evolution Projects, which is to supply a heavy duty machine with ancillary equipment to an undisclosed company in Wales to process a wide range of recyclable...

New look at Wittmann from the smallest to the largest.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... Smaller Wittmann screenless granulators now incorporate screw feed. The Sumo Minor 1 model, intended for use under the mould space of a machine, has a screw feed height of 565 mm and can deal with 7 kg/hr of scrap. Bulky runners in engineering...

Blow moulding granulator range is extended.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... TRIA has added the BM60-42 and BM90-42 granulators for blow moulding scrap to its range. Figures indicate feed cutter aperture sizes in cm. Bulky parts up to 80 litres can be reclaimed and the design of the cutter housing and rotor ensures that...

TSP buys Adler machines.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... SP Group of Liverpool has bought three Adler AD90 granulators from Adler's new UK agent, Thermoforming Solutions. The purchase is part of the TSP's 1.3 [pounds sterling] million investment plan to increase its extrusion capacity. Adler also...

Vision systems spot potential contamination in reclaim.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... TWO reclamation lines incorporating vision systems have been installed by Wittmann UK at Becton Dickinson's Plymouth site where virgin crystal PS is moulded to make laboratory ware. Reclaimed material from scrap products is sold on the open...

Disc compactor is more portable.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... A SMALLER model has been added to the range of disc compaction systems for low density materials made by German company Plato. These machines increase the bulk density of films, fibres and foams by raising their temperature by friction to a...

Optical sorting simplifies window frame recycling (pt 2).(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... ANOTHER plastics reclaim company has discovered the potential of removing contamination by optical sorting. In April (page 24) we reported how Penfold Plastics had given up sawing out the parts of reclaimed PVC windows containing seals, and...

Increased sensitivity for metal detection.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... S+S Machines and Recycling of Germany has improved its metal detectors with the introduction of the Genius Quattro which uses four field frequencies instead of the usual one or two to increase sensitivity. The company says this is the optimum...

Reclaimed rubber flooring problem floored.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... ERIEZ has solved a metal contamination problem at Interfloor, which makes floor covering and underlay. Large bales of foam rubber scrap are regranulated for conversion into underlay but pieces of tramp metal entered the process and damaged the...

Metal detector is easier to install.(In-House Reclamation)
November 1, 2004... The E-Z Tec 9000 high sensitivity balanced coil metal detector introduced earlier this year by Eriez has been joined by a version which can be split into two parts for installation without needing to cut the conveyor belt. The E-Z Tec 9000...

New company plans to capitalise on lorry tyre dumping ban.(Reclamation & Recycling)
November 1, 2004... A START-UP company in Plymouth has been awarded a 145,000 [pounds sterling] grant by Selective Finance for Investment to recycle lorry tyres. Crumb Rubber will operate from premises at Airport Business Centre in Estover, Plymouth and will...

Austrian recycling plant focuses on WEEE scrap.(Reclamation & Recycling)
November 1, 2004... AN AMERICAN company has joined forces with an Austrian company to build a plastics recycling plant in Austria with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes a year from equipment reclaimed under the European WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment)...

Cross-linking compound for low voltage wires.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... Scapa Polymerics has developed a new cross-linking compound for insulating low voltage wires at up to 200 degC. Megolon XLi710 is a silane-grafted material designed to meet the hot-set requirements of the BS7211 standard. The new grade is...

New PP cuts the cost of plumbing.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... A RANDOM copolymer PP which brings a 'step change' in the design of hot and cold water pressure pipe has been introduced by Borealis. PP-R has been used for hot and cold water pipe systems for more than 20 years, but according to Borealis, over...

Thermal coating takes Amodel to new temperature heights.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... A NEW thermally reflective coating has improved the heat performance of Solvay's Amodel polyphthalamide by up to 110 degC. The coating was developed by Tech Line Coatings of Murrieta in California, which was formed to transfer the advantages of...

PU seals perform at low temperature.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... FREUDENBERG Simrit in Germany has developed a polyurethane that improves the low temperature performance of hydraulic seals. The problem has been the loss of seal flexibility and resilience that leads to hydraulic leakage at low temperatures....

Performance Plastics adds PPS and LCP.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... PERFORMANCE Plastics has strengthened its relationship with Toray Industries with the addition of Torelina PPS and Siveras LCP to its distributor portfolio of engineering plastics. The Torelina polyphenylene sulphide range includes impact...

Microfiller saves weight in PP applications.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... A 10 per cent loading of a micro-scale filler in the new Borcom WG 140AI microcomposite grade of PP from Borealis is said to significantly reduce moulding weight. Weight savings of between 8 and 24 per cent are claimed over traditional PP...

Hybrid chemistry key to performance of new silicone elastomer.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... A HYBRID organic/inorganic thermoplastic silicone elastomer which has a property profile 'previously unseen in either thermoplastics or silicones' is one of several new silicone elastomers introduced by Wacker. Geniomer is a...

Santoprene gets faster, silkier and greener.(Engineering Materials)
November 1, 2004... ADVANCED Elastomer Systems has improved its Santoprene thermoplastic elastomers with a grade that will process faster and another that's nicer to touch. The 25 per cent reduction in processing time over other grades is the result of...

Add a security fingerprint with Microtaggant particles.(Additives)
November 1, 2004... MORE security is claimed for the latest Microtaggant Identification Particles from Microtrace of the USA by combining several identification techniques in a single particle. Microtaggants are microscopic encoded particles which act as...

Better brightness for expandable microspheres.(Additives)
November 1, 2004... AKZO Nobel has added three new types to its Expancel range of expandable thermoplastic microspheres. The microspheres consist of a polymer shell encapsulating a gas and are used as blowing agents or as weight-reducing fillers. When heated...

Omya to market Burgess kaolins.(Additives)
November 1, 2004... US company Burgess Pigment has appointed Omya UK as sole distributor for UK and Ireland of its range of functional calcined and hydrous kaolins. The agreement covers all non-paper applications. In the plastics and rubber industries, kaolin...

Sugar baskets soak up aldehyde off-tastes.(Additives)
November 1, 2004... A NEW way of preventing off tastes and odours from plastics packaging materials penetrating food and drink has been commercialised by Wacker Specialities in association with Cellresin Technologies of the USA. The process is based on...

Masterbatched additives intended for food packaging.(Additives)
November 1, 2004... ISRAELI company Tosaf Compounds, which is partly owned by Ravago, has released new masterbatches for food packaging applications. Its new antifog masterbatch is supplied in three forms, with fast, medium or slow rates of migration to the...

Fluoropolymer processing aid for polyolefins.(Additives)
November 1, 2004... DYNEON has drawn on the latest fluoropolymer technology to create a new processing additive for polyolefins. Dynamar PPA FX 5922 eliminates melt fracture in blown LLDPE films at relatively low dosages of 200--800 ppm. The additive also...

BOPP film material looks and processes better than before.(Packaging Materials)
November 1, 2004... Improvements in gloss and transparency in BOPP films are claimed for a new series of PP terpolymers from Borealis which will replace existing Borseal materials. As well as improved gloss and transparency the new grades are said to significantly...

HDPE for downgauged films.(Packaging Materials)
November 1, 2004... ExxonMobil Chemical has developed a high density polyethylene specifically for use as a blend partner in coextruded or monolayer films. The stiffness and water vapour barrier properties of ExxoMobil HDPE HTA 108 support film downgauging,...

Drier heaters are located in the desiccant.(Materials Handling)
November 1, 2004... THERMAL efficiency of new AEC ASD HiCore Series driers is enhanced by the location of the heating elements within the hollow cores of the desiccant canisters. They are available with throughputs of 0.42, 0.85 and 1.7 [m.sup.3]/minute and...

Weighing system has screw and pneumatic conveying.(Materials Handling)
November 1, 2004... FLEXICON (Europe) has introduced a bulk bag weighing system which feeds materials into a central weigh hopper at mezzanine level by four flexible screw conveyors and transports weighed batches to a downstream blender by a pneumatic conveying...

Humidity transmitters show trends for a year.(Materials Handling)
November 1, 2004... SIX models in the new series of Vaisala Humicap HMT330 humidity and temperature transmitters cover the full humidity range from 0 to 100 per cent RH. Temperature ranges are between -70 and 180 degC and pressure ranges between 0 and 100 bar...

Slurry injection puts intumescent fire retardant in sandwich panels.(Reaction Processing)
November 1, 2004... A METHOD of incorporating expandable graphite for fire resistance in poly-urethane sandwich building panels has been developed by Cannon. The use of insulated sandwich panels for building is growing because of their outstanding thermal...

PU golf balls have better ballistic balance.(Reaction Processing)
November 1, 2004... A system for making polyurethane golf balls has been developed by Krauss-Maffei in association with its automation division Neureder. Thermoplastic cores are inserted into a mould consisting of three sections, where they are encapsulated as two...

Castable elastomer for sound deadening.(Reaction Processing)
November 1, 2004... A NEW castable elastomer from Chemical Innovations, Duothane QG710 A/B, is suitable for making moulds and sound deadening pads. It is a non toxic two component castable PU elastomer based on polyether polyol and has a durometer measurement of...

Tooling rethink cuts cost, weight and energy consumption.(Pipe & Profile)
November 1, 2004... A TECHNIQUE for cutting the cost and weight of extrusion tooling is being evaluated by Austrian toolmaker Technoplast. In an exercise of lateral thinking the company has asked why vacuum calibrators are machined from solid blocks of steel, when...

Milacron extrusion soon to rejoin the world.(Pipe & Profile)
November 1, 2004... MILACRON extrusion's five year confinement to the USA after its Austrian operation was sold to SMS in 2000 is nearly over, and the company is planning to be back in worldwide extrusion machinery sales from early next year. Over the past...

Direct drive motors now on D-S extruders.(Pipe & Profile)
November 1, 2004... DAVIS-STANDARD extruders are now available with direct screw drive. The compact torque motors used have hollow shafts with water cooling. Machine noise is lower than with geared drives and screw speed capability is from 200 to 300 RPM. A...