British Plastics & Rubber articles from November 2005

British Plastics & Rubber archives from November 2005

Space Puzzle Molding--it's what's left out that counts.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... AN INJECTION mould tooling development process which can make production components during the final tooling of the approved design is now being promoted in the UK. Space Puzzle Molding has been in use in Germany for 20 years, with more than...

Try a static mixer for a month.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... Sulzer Chemtech UK is offering its static mixer nozzles on a 28 day sale or return basis so that moulders can try them out for themselves. The company claims that the nozzles can reduce the use of masterbatch by up to 40 per cent, and halve the...

Auxiliary injection unit powers In-Mould Assembly.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... Sandretto has supplied TRW Engineered Fasteners & Components with a Series Nove Multi 220/860/185 two component machine fitted with a Windsor PlugXPress WKT 0.6 unit to make automotive air grilles using TRW's patented In-Mould Assembly process....

Milacron to revamp plastics machinery businesses to cut costs.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... A SHAKE-UP is expected in the Milacron plastics machinery businesses in both Europe and North America. Double-digit growth in sales and orders over the third quarter last year in North America were offset by a 6 per cent decline in orders in...

Toshiba builds-in Priamus Fill.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... TOSHIBA machines may now incorporate the Priamus Fill system in their standard controls so that no additional computer is required. The system, for use with hot runner moulding, measures cavity temperatures and adjusts nozzle temperatures so...

Bigger Boy insert machine reaches Britain.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... BOY's new 55 tonne vertical insert moulding machine made its UK debut at the recent in-house exhibition at Boy's new offices in Milton Keynes. The 55 MVV extends the capacity of the existing 22 and 35 tonne machines. It is equipped with...

Demag opens Indian expansion.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... DEMAG's joint venture in India, L & T-Demag Plastics Machinery has opened its new plant in Chennai. The company is already market leader in India and its new plant has increased its assembly capacity to 600 machines. Its range covers...

Milacron to migrate Mosaic control from electrics to hydraulics.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... FERROMATIK Milacron all-electric Elektra Evolution machines now have swivel touch screens and Mosaic control, which will also be progressively introduced on high performance hydraulic K-Tec and Maxima models up to 4,000 tonnes. Mosaic...

Stork adds large capacity packaging machine.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... A 1,000 tonne model has been added to Stork's S range of packaging machines. Tiebar spacing on the S1000 is said to be suitable for multi-impression tools making buckets, thin walled packaging, caps, closures and crates. A new control...

Big Billion gets a new lease of life.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... THE 10,000 tonne machine built by Billion in 1980, which has been running continuously since at Plastic Omnium in Langres, France, has been rebuilt for a further period of service and was out of use for only 14 weeks. It has a new control...

KM builds a turntable into the CX.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... KRAUSS-Maffei has introduced multi-component versions of its CX series machines. These have an electric turntable which can rotate as the mould opens. Parallel movements shorten cycle times significantly, says the company. The patented...

Chinese plant will give Engel large tonnage capacity in Asia.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... ENGEL has released more details about the injection moulding machine factory it plans to build in Shanghai, China, work on which should start before the end of the year. It will complement the company's Korean plant, which builds small capacity...

The China syndrome.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... Like it or loathe it, China is now a significant influence on injection moulding in Britain. Chinese companies are competing with British moulders for work, and in the same way competing with British toolmakers but in ways which can benefit...

UK contact for ISO 14001 moulder.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... Lucky Star (Holdings), an injection moulder with two factories certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, is working through a UK liaison office in Lancashire. The company's manufacturing space totals 43,000 [m.sup.2] and it employs 800 people. Its...

Straight from the shoulder pricing clinches Haitian sale.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... HAITIAN, the injection moulding machinery company which has a joint venture operation in China with Demag, also sells its own-brand machinery in this country through Premier Moulding Machinery. PMM, itself a moulder, operates a "working...

China First holds your hand until you're ready to deal solo.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... ASSISTANCE for companies planning to buy mouldings from China for the first time is offered by China First Plastics. Language difficulties, time delays and the Chinese culture are often seen as the major barriers to establishing a...

China is not the only 'Chinese option'.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... NOT ALL is rosy when dealing with China, according to AKI Industries. It says that some companies have found that the real costs of the exercise were not as advantageous as they had at first thought. The hidden costs of mistakes, technical...

Chinese link up lets Mason Pinder concentrate on complex tools at Doncaster.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... Toolmaker Mason Pinder is turning to China U to provide a 'global best value' for individual complex tools and one-off non-complex tools and multi-tool suites. It has linked up with toolmakers in Shenzhen, Changping and Fungwing in...

Cascade moulding without surface marking.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... PORTUGUESE moulder Interplastico is using a Synventive Dynamic Feed injection system to produce a bumper grille insert so that the component can be assembled directly from the mould with no finishing. It is said to be the first application in...

Edge gate nozzles for side gating.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... TWO NEW Ultra edge gate hot runner nozzles from Husky are suitable for moulding polyolefin parts with side gating. Minimum pitch is 44.5 mm and there is a wide range of standard housing lengths. Two- or four-gate nozzles are available with 15...

Powdered metal guide eliminates valve pin wear.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... GUNTHER has tackled the problem of wear to cavity insert gates caused by hardened and coated valve pins. In co-operation with the Dutch company KeyTec, it has developed a needle guide made in powdered metal that is claimed to eliminate valve...

Ceramic insulation maintains critical temperature control.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... CERAMIC insulation is used by Manner of Germany on its new hot runner nozzles to ensure the precise temperature control valuable for critical materials and low shot weights involving long melt dwell times in the runner and nozzle. The...

Electric actuator adds precision to valve gate control.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... An electric servo actuator for injection valve gate control has been introduced by Tol-O-Matic of the USA as a replacement for bulky hydraulic valve manifolds. The new ServoGate eliminates variables in fluid power systems and delivers precise...

Metal injection moulding increases the scope of winkle gates.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... DMS now makes a range of winkle gates in single pieces by metal injection moulding which are then hardened and polished. The company says that conventional winkle gates restrict injection speed and freeze off prematurely because of the long...

Horizontal hot tips for direct side gating.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... THE NEW Mold-Masters Melt-Disk hot runner system provides simple horizontal hot tip processing for direct side gating applications such as for pipettes, syringe barrels and needle shields. The controlled heating element on the disc portion...

Hot runner manufacturers open plants in China and Brazil.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... HOT RUNNER systems supplier Synventive Molding Solutions has opened a manufacturing plant in China. The new facility at Suzhou will make the MultiZone and Kona XP product ranges and will become Synventive's headquarters for its expanding Asian...

Synventive improves multi-cavity nozzles.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... Small 04L and 06C nozzles for multi-cavity moulding have been introduced by Synventive to replace its 10 years old CA nozzle. Replaceable heaters are incorporated for quick maintenance. All commonly used materials, including abrasive reinforced...

HR controller can have automatic fallback from thermocouple failure.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... THE new DMS-Diemould HRCX series low cost hot runner controller can run six or 12 zones and incorporates many features of the company's MTS control. Graphs for temperature values over the previous 5 to 60 minutes can be displayed. ...

Modular design of hot runner makes application of angled gates simpler.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... MODULAR design of new MHT hot runner systems is claimed to confer various advantages. Manifolds are made of individual carrier bars and can easily be converted to the requirements of individual moulds. Extensive freedom in the application of...

Small parts go into production sooner.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... SMALL parts previously made in multi-cavity tools on a standard injection moulding machine can now be brought into production much sooner on a Babyplast machine at Hereford-based AKI. The company has found that the ability to make micro...

Negri Bossi adds chillers to complete total supply package.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... THE last link in Negri Bossi's machinemould-material handling-automation-cooling chain has been added through a strategic alliance with Aqua Cooling Solutions to provide chiller systems. This now enables Negri Bossi to provide complete...

40 Ferromatiks for the Playmobil people.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... GERMAN toymaker Geobra Brandstatter, which makes the Playmobil series of toy figures, has placed a single order for 40 Ferromatik Milacron machines. The single- and multi-component small tonnage K-TEC hydraulic clamping machines will be...

Cascade filling is improved with new control units.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... LATEST HCS-TS hot runner control units from Manner have pin monitoring and sequential pin control for valve gate nozzles. Manner says that it was previously difficult to fill cavities evenly and workarounds included setting individual...

MES system automates reporting to FDA requirements.(INJECTION MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... A MANUFACTURING execution system not immediately recognisable as focused on injection moulding has been implemented by a major international (but publicity shy and therefore anonymous so we'll call it Company X) manufacturer of moulded...

Portola puts down pencils and picks up Plantmaster.
November 1, 2005... Portola Packaging has outgrown the manual production monitoring and scheduling system at its Doncaster plant and has ordered a Barco Plantmaster with the aim of improving factory efficiency and reducing scrap. The plant makes caps and...

Leonardo is 'the fastest roto moulding machine in the world'.(ROTATIONAL MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... ITALIAN manufacturer Persico has introduced a fully automated rotational moulding system that works without an oven, and one of the first machines has been installed at a British moulder. The machine, named Leonardo after Leonardo DaVinci,...

In-die embossing cuts cost by switching from injection moulding.(PIPE & PROFILE)
November 1, 2005... The cost of a component used in car roof racks has been reduced by 40 per cent by converting it from an injection moulding to an extrusion using the Markram in-die embossing process. The rubber strip component on the Thule roof-mounted...

Dual coiler keeps pipe more manageable in the field.(PIPE & PROFILE)
November 1, 2005... MAILLEFER has developed a fully automatic dual pipe coiler with intermediate strapping for large coils. The company says that large coils with only exterior strapping are difficult to handle in the field on account of their length. A coil 1,300...

PU battery cover is stronger than metal sheet.(REACTION PROCESSING)
November 1, 2005... GERMAN PU moulding specialist Thieme has produced a battery compartment cover in Bayer's Bayflex for American fork stacker manufacturer Crown. The cover, intended for a pedestrian controlled unit, is made as one piece with three moulded collar...

Quick change pipe system now from Cincinnati.(PIPE & PROFILE)
November 1, 2005... CINCINNATI EXTRUSION is the latest extrusion equipment company to offer a quick change system for pipe diameter. Its IntelliChange system works out around 5 per cent cheaper than buying a set of dies and reduces the downtime for each pipe...

Wood extrusion packages from Milacron and Reifenhauser.(PIPE & PROFILE)
November 1, 2005... Collaborations to produce packages of equipment for wood extrusion have been put together by extruder manufacturers Cincinnati Milacron and Reifenhauser. Cincinnati Milacron has joined forces with B & P Process Equipment of the USA to...

KM to expand its rapidly growing reaction processing division.(REACTION PROCESSING)
November 1, 2005... KRAUSS-MAFFEI is to add tooling to its Reaction Process Machinery division to become a full system machinery supplier. At present it makes mixing heads, metering machines and production plant for polyurethane processing. Initially the company...

Mould design project aims to reduce forming times and costs.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
November 1, 2005... A PROJECT is being undertaken across Europe to develop a predictive mould design and manufacturing system intended to reduce throughput times and enhance right-first-time production. The target is to cut thermoforming throughput times by 40 per...

Cutting rules intended for deepcutting applications.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
November 1, 2005... DIEFLEX Hard High cutting rules augment the range from Sandvik Diecutting Products and are intended for deep cutting applications such as sandwich packs, food, cosmetics and toy packaging. They are available with bevel edge configurations...

Feedback control for the forming process.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
November 1, 2005... AUSTRIAN thermoforming automation and tooling specialist Mould & Matic--a spin-off from Greiner Packaging--has developed a new control system for thermoforming. Sensors around the machine feed data back to the Mould-Control-System to enable...

Knife holder thrust is calibrated to reduce knife wear.(FILM & SHEET CONVERSION)
November 1, 2005... SIMPLEX-Turbulo is UK agent for new Mario Cotta Gold Series pneumatic knife holders for cutting flexible materials up to 450 g/ms at speeds up to 1,450 m/min. Minimum slitting width is 50 mm with a standard 150 x 80 circular knife. The new...

Polishing rolls have adjustable crowning.(FILM & SHEET PRODUCTION)
November 1, 2005... Bruckner Formtec has developed JuBo adjustable crowning technology to enable polishing rolls to be adjusted for film and sheet production in a wide range of materials and thicknesses. High line pressures are required for polishing which cause...

Macchi adopts AC direct drive motors.(FILM & SHEET PRODUCTION)
November 1, 2005... MACCHI now equips its COEXFIex coextrusion lines with AC synchronous direct drive motors. Advantages include the elimination of losses incurred with mechanical power transmission, long drive life because of the low motor speeds and no need for...

New adhesives for film lamination.(FILM & SHEET PRODUCTION)
November 1, 2005... LOTADER 4403 and 4503 are two new multi-purpose adhesives produced by Arkema for extrusion lamination. Granules are insensitive to moisture and bonds can be made to polar and non polar materials including plastics, metals and woven and non...

New heavy duty machine from Hellweg.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... A HEAVY duty granulator has been introduced by Hellweg Maschinenbau as the new top end of its range. The new 600 series-Mega Mill has a rotor machined from a single piece of steel with optional formats depending on the machine's purpose. An...

Rear feed gives granulator access for clean-down.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... FEEDING the granulator from the rear has enabled UPM to build an integrated system for use on blow moulding machines at Polimoon's Thetford and Beccles sites. A Dynacon modular belt conveyor is installed under the blow moulding machine to...

Optical sorter also include a metal detector.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... AN OPTICAL colour sorter developed by S+S Inspection is primarily intended for the separation of coloured PET from PVC reclaim, and for other granular or shredded plastics with a particle size less than 5 mm. The Spektrum is claimed to have...

Granulator design influences energy consumption.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... Energy saving has become more than a watchword, it is becoming vital to company survival. It makes sense then, when material has already had energy put into it in processing, that it should have the minimum amount of energy added to get any...

Granulators for press-side or central applications.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... THE Wanner Technik granulators now available in the UK from Jenco are intended for in-line recycling of production waste from injection moulding and extrusion processes and can be equipped with either the standard hopper, a robot in-feed chute...

Dreher pitches at blow moulders--at least for now.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... THE latest Delta 2641 granulator from Dreher has been designed for blow moulding use, with a low slung cutting chamber to enable bulky scrap to be fed. The slow speed rotor has a helical cutting action and Dreher says it has been 'dynamically...

When Wittmann rotors stop they stay stopped.(PROCESS SCRAP RECLAMATION)
November 1, 2005... A SAFETY brake is fitted as standard on Wittman's Master MC granulators, built by CMB Wittmann in France. Over the course of use and maintenance--and when granulator blades are being removed and replaced--imbalances can be created in the...

Coke and Boots put RPET bottles on the shelves.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
November 1, 2005... PACKAGING containing recycled PET is now being used by Boots and Coca-Cola Enterprises as part of a project to evaluate the technical feasibility and customer acceptance of recycled PET in retail packaging. The project is funded by WRAP,...

Brominated FR polymers could and should be separated from WEEE scrap.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
November 1, 2005... AN INTERIM report has been published showing that polymers containing brominated flame retardants in mixed waste electrical and electronic equipment would be better separated and treated to remove the additives than for them to be disposed of...

Reclaim line dedicated to toner cartridges.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
November 1, 2005... A COMPACT line for the reclamation of toner cartridges has been developed by Herbold Meckesheim. Material is transported to a primary shredder on a belt conveyor with a hydraulic pushing device and coarsely reduced in size. Metals can be...

Tyre crumb ousts polyurethane for street bollard production.(RECLAMATION & RECYCLING)
November 1, 2005... Reclaimed tyre rubber is now being used exclusively by Bollards International to make street bollards. Bollards are moulded by pouring an elastomer around a steel core in a mould and they are then finished with polyurethane paint. Details such...

Amcor assesses biodegradable bottles.(BLOW MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... THE potential for compostable bottles made from polylactic acid com-based polymer has been increased with the possible entry of Amcor into the market. Amcor, one of the world's largest packaging producers, has joined with NatureWorks which...

Mini preforms meet anticipated demand for single serve bottles.(BLOW MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... ITALIAN legislation, expected to be copied in the rest of the EU, now requires restaurants and bars to serve water or other drinks in exclusively sealed containers and no longer simply in glasses. To meet the demand by drinks suppliers for 200...

Bottle bagging companies combine.(BLOW MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... THE two principal players in the automation of bottle handling for dairies have become one, with the take over by Dassett Process Engineering of BottleTech Solutions. Both companies make bagging and automation equipment, but Dassett has...

Plasma treatment could bring more cost-effective barrier coatings.(BLOW MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... BARRIER COATING of PET bottles through the application of an external silicon oxide coating is under development by Plasmatreat, the international specialist in open air plasma surface treatment. The Plasmatreat process is widely used for...

What a difference a gram makes.(BLOW MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... WITH an annual production of 120,000,000 PET bottles, reducing the bottle weight by a single gram will result in savings of 144,000 [euro] in material costs alone. That was the impetus for SIG Corpoplast's Bottles & Shapes service to devise...

Kautex Maschinenbau pulls out of the UK.(BLOW MOULDING)
November 1, 2005... GERMAN blow moulding machinery manufacturer Kautex Maschinenbau has closed its UK subsidiary Kautex Machinery Sales (UK) in Milton Keynes. The company has not confirmed how support for its machines in Britain will be continued, but it is...

Polycarbonate makes more headway in vehicle glazing.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... APPROVAL from the US Department of Transportation for the use of Bayer/GE's Exatec polycarbonate glazing in cars opens the way for worldwide acceptance of the system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has approved Exatec 900...

Frosted acrylic can be moulded or extruded.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... EW grades of Altuglas Frosted acrylic materials have been produced by Altuglas International. They have an opal-like appearance and can be moulded or extruded. Resistance to scratching and fingerprints is high. Hiding power and light...

Engineering foams range is broadened.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... ZOTEFOAMS is working on an energy-absorbing viscoelastic foam as an addition to its Zotek series. Zotek is the company's engineering plastics version of its crosslinked foam sheet materials made by high pressure impregnation of nitrogen into...

Rosehill pitches at synthetic grass.(ENGINEERING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... ROSEHILL Polymers of Sowerby Bridge has invested 1.5 million [pounds sterling] over two years in a high capacity extrusion line to manufacture a thermoplastic vulcanisate for use as a granular infill and topping for synthetic grass pitches and...

No minimum order for Clariant Omnicolor masterbatches.(COLOUR MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2005... CLARIANT Masterbatches UK has joined forces with its local distributor Colourmaster of Oldham, to offer its Omnicolor masterbatch product with no minimum order level. Omnicolor universal stock colour masterbatches are manufactured by a...

GretagMacbeth puts colour matching on-line.(COLOUR MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2005... GRETAGMACBETH has launched online versions of its recently-introduced Color iMatch and Color iQC colour formulation and quality control software. These new editions provide centralised colour data management with secure shared access from...

'No limits' liquid colouring from Degussa.(COLOUR MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2005... NEW developments in liquid colouring are being promoted by Degussa Colortrend. There are three graduated solutions for plastics colouring, comprising Polytrend 7-Series Liquid Colors with the Colormat Metering Unit, Polytrend Color Infusion and...

Universal masterbatch for 1-2 per cent let down.(COLOUR MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2005... The new UniColor range of universal masterbatches from RTP can be used to colour all polymers, including engineering plastics, in concentrations typically of 1 to 2 per cent. The masterbatches are based on a proprietary carrier which RTP says...

In-line colour quality control system does away with sampling.(COLOUR MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2005... THERMO Electron Corporation has developed an in-line quality control system for colour inspection in the plastics industry. The system is integrated into the new Haake PolyLab OS torque rheometer platform that was introduced earlier this year....

Blue is the new black.(COLOUR MANAGEMENT)
November 1, 2005... SHEPHERD Color has added a blue shade of black to its Arctic line of infrared reflecting pigments. Black 10P922 is compatible with all polymer types, disperses easily and can be used in almost any system. It is thermally stable enough to be...

New technologies improve PP and PE.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... BOREALIS is expanding the property potential of its polyolefin materials with an agreement to use metallocene single-site polypropylene technology and a new multi-modal polyethylene tailoring process. The metallocene PP agreement is with...

Wake up and smell the chocolate.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... A package that releases the smell of the contents from the surface of the lid has been developed by Eastman Chemical in association with compounder Rotuba from the USA, scent manufacturer Eurofragrance from Spain, and South Korean moulder EJ...

Polyolefin packaging innovations from Basell.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... BASEL has introduced a clutch of new polyolefins to serve a broad spectrum of film, blow moulding and injection moulding applications. The new grades expand the existing performance profile normally associated with polyolefins and are said to...

Sabic claims first for high impact clear PP.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... SABIC has introduced a range of high impact clear polypropylenes that is said to be the first of its kind in the market. SABIC PP CPC Clearpact combines the transparency of a random copolymer with the impact performance of a block copolymer....

Lower-cost Ticona COCs for flexible packaging.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... A NEW and more cost-effective grade of Topas COC (cyclic olefin copolymer) for packaging applications has been introduced by Ticona. This second-generation COC--Topas 8007F-100--provides a broad processing window and can be used as a blending...

Dow film grades offer better processing and performance.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... DOW Chemical Company has produced two new grades in its Versify line of plastomers and elastomers which offer film converters better processing and improved product performance. A novel catalyst technology, used with Dow's Insite polymerisation...

DuPont lights the way to new packaging concept.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... Self-illuminating packaging has been devised by DuPont, combining know how from its electronics and packaging materials businesses. It is intended for use in the cosmetics industry to add shelf appeal Conducting, insulating and luminescent...

New food packing grades from Nova.(PACKAGING MATERIALS)
November 1, 2005... NOVA Chemicals has introduced two new materials for food packaging. The first is an addition to its Zylar line of clear acrylic copolymers. Zylar EX 720 provides clarity and a toughness at low temperatures said to be unmatched. The combination...