British Plastics & Rubber articles from October 2003

British Plastics & Rubber archives from October 2003

Engineering materials are better to use and better in use.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... IMPROVED flow achieving faster mould filling and thinner wall sections features among a number of new grade introductions from DSM's Engineering Plastics division. The high flow grades of Stanyl nylon 4.6 and Akulon nylon 6 introduced two years...

Flame retardant PBT is effective in thin walls.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... TICONA has introduced a range of flame retardant polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) materials distinguished by better performance and easier processing. Grades in the Celanex 14 Series provide flame retardancy in significantly thinner wall...

Increased range and capacity for nylon compounds.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... New speciality nylon compounds from Frisetta are pitched at the automotive business, with glass filled grades which can be chrome plated (such as for door handles) and a metallic masterbatch which does not show weld lines. Frisetta has...

Solar panel concepts from Bayer.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... The sun Is not a renewable energy source but it will last rather longer than oil reserves so attention is turning again to solar power and how to make it cheaper and more efficient. Bayer Polymers has been working on the problem with the...

Polyphthalamide picked for reflow soldering.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... AMODEL polyphthalamide from Solvay Advanced Polymers is the material of choice for a 190-pin header connector in an under-bonnet application. The connector forms part of a power module that is mounted in the vehicle engine bay to control and...

TPE cuts air bag splinter danger in cold weather.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... AIR BAGS to absorb impact and prevent injury in the case of a collision are filling more and more crevices in modern motor cars. From the driver's air bag located in the steering wheel they have migrated to the passenger side of the dashboard,...

Flexible vinyls are free from plasticisers.(Engineering Materials)
October 1, 2003... TEKNOR Apex has introduced the first plasticiser-free flexible vinyl compounds to result from its proprietary alloying technology. Tiffs uses specially developed compatibilisers to blend PVC with normally incompatible polyolefin elastomers. The...

Improved nylon 6 gives easier to use barrier properties.(Packaging Materials)
October 1, 2003... THE latest nylon 6 barrier material for multi-layer polyethylene films from DSM is now on sale. Akulon XP has better processing characteristics than previous grades, which DSM says enable higher throughputs on existing lines. Its melt...

Natural gas a viable feedstock for polypropylene.(Packaging Materials)
October 1, 2003... AN alternative to petroleum feedstocks for making polypropylene has reached commercial possibility with Lurgi's methanol-to-propylene process. PP has been made with the process by Borealis and formed into drinking cups. Until now propylene...

Organic pasta comes in organic packs.(Packaging Materials)
October 1, 2003... ACCORDING to a recent study conducted in Europe and the USA by Grapentine, a large group of consumers is not only interested in naturally-derived packaging but is willing to pay more for it. This may be one reason why Biorigin, the Italian...

Masterbatch gets the needle.(Additives)
October 1, 2003... The new Mexithen PP Masterbatch range from Gabriel-Chemie was developed expressly for Injection moulded single-use hypodermic needles and similar medical applications, The emphasis in development was on easy processing. Most of the colours...

Low viscosity plasticiser for NBR and PVC cuts blooming.(Additives)
October 1, 2003... NEW low-viscosity polymeric plasticiser based on phthalic acid has been introduced by Bayer primarily for use in applications such as the manufacture of NBR-based printing rollers. It helps produce highly flexible rubber articles with no...

Atofina adds modifiers for engineering polymers ...(Additives)
October 1, 2003... ATOFINA has introduced the first two of a planned range of acrylate-based impact modifiers for engineering polymers. Additives in the Durastrength 400 range combine excellent weathering performance with outstanding impact resistance at...

Nickel-free UV masterbatch for greenhouse films.(Additives)
October 1, 2003... CABOT Corporation has added three new products to its Plasadd line of anti-UV masterbatches for greenhouse film. The application calls for high performance additives because the constant exposure to UV radiation is accompanied by high...

Certified pigments for polypropylene fibre producers.(Additives)
October 1, 2003... FIBRE producers using solution dyed polypropylene can cut out incoming quality control by using BASF FP pigments with certified low filter pressure values. The filter pressure test has been adopted by the fibre industry to determine how...

... and for PVCs.(Additives)
October 1, 2003... ALSO in the Atofina Durastrength product line, hut intended this time for use with PVC, is a new bifunctional acrylic modifier. Durastrength 529 combines the functions of an impact modifier and a process aid. It is intended for PVC formulations...

New flip flop range.(Additives)
October 1, 2003... GABRIEL-CHEMIE has developed a new range of 36 colour shift masterbatches based on a new generation of effect pigments. The majority of the range shows brilliant silver and metallic shades as well as multicolour effects. ...

Visual inspection of caps and closures at production speeds.(Injection moulding)
October 1, 2003... INSPECTING every closure produced by a machine at production speeds gives obvious benefits in 100 per cent quality assurance. When production rates are more than 1,000 a minute this becomes a daunting task. Proditec of France builds the...

Who's looking over your shoulder?(Injection moulding)
October 1, 2003... Customers for injection mouldings will be monitoring their suppliers' machines themselves within five years, according to consultant John Goff. He told a conference on medical moulding hosted recently by Battenfeld UK that this was being...

Mould-based chute automates closure moulding: automation doesn't automatically mean robots. A Mortazavi and B Catoen of Husky's Automated Systems Group describe a closure moulding process in which the closures are folded by an in-mould swing chute.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... THERE is substantial growth in the 'wet wipes' market. In addition to traditional baby wipes, wipes are now used as household cleaners, laundry stain removers, automotive products, or for skin care and personal cleansing. About 100 types of...

Static pinning outperforms vacuum for IML.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... IN-MOULD labelling is the placing of a printed plastic film in a mould and injecting the container or component against it. The melt fuses with the film label, making it an integral part of the moulding, with a surface unbroken by the step...

IML can be a lot more than just labelling.(Injection moulding)
October 1, 2003... In-mould labelling has a lot more to offer than just applying surface decoration. Swedish Electro Static, which is in the process of setting up a UK operation, is at differing stages of development of a range of insert moulding processes using...

Injection and clamp improvements from Toshiba.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... SOMETIMES all-electric machines are just too good. Toshiba has incorporated a modification on its new EC-N series which makes the injection process more like that of a hydraulic machine. This Virtual Hydraulic Circuit is a software...

Second machine added to Demag's all-electric series.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... THE second in Demag Ergotech's initial planned offering of four sizes of its all-electric IntElect machine has been added. The machine was introduced at the Plast exhibition earlier this year (British Plastics & Rubber, June 2003, page 32)...

Negri customers vote confidence in all-electrics.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... ALL-ELECTRIC machines from Negri Bossi have been installed by trade moulder R W Simon of Torrington in Devon and Bognor Regis moulder and toolmaker M H Group. R W Simon is a supplier to a number of medical/healthcare companies and had long...

Ewikon extends HPS III hot runner range.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... NEW tips and nozzles have been added to the Ewikon range of hot runner systems including a slimline nozzle for gating distances of 22 mm. There are three new versions of externally heated multi-tips for horizontal and vertical gating. The...

TandemMould expands in potential and take-up.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... THE TandemMould concept which has been shown at a number of plastics exhibitions in the past year has now been expanded. New options are a multi-component version, a Simplex version, and the ability to rebuild existing tools as TandemMoulds....

Technology updates enhance Husky hot runners.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... IMPROVED mixing and heating techniques are among improvements to Husky's Ultra hot runner systems. The new UltraFlow technology has improved the performance and range of applications for the Ultra 750 nozzles, extending the range of...

Lifter system doubles mould undercuts.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... The new DME VectorForm lifter system is said to have double the undercut capacity of previous types, enabling mould undercuts twice as deep as formerly possible to be provided of for ejection strokes to be halved for existing geometries. ...

Daisy chain makes hot runner controllers more flexible.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... A MEANS of linking two small hot runner controllers to manage one big mould has been produced by Gammaflux, giving greater flexibility and reducing the need to buy, and then under-use, a big controller for an occasionally-used mould. Two of its...

Site licensing cuts the cost of MeltFlipper technology.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... BEAUMONT Technologies has introduced a site licensing option for its MeltFlipper technology. Hitherto users had to licence the system anew for each individual mould in which it was incorporated. The new site licence will prove significantly...

Six-axis and beam robots work together at McKechnie.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... TWO automated manufacturing cells have been installed at McKechnie Plastic Components' Stamford Bridge plant by Hi-Tech Automation in its role as a systems integrator for ABB's six-axis robots. The two cells manufacture products--two new types...

Six-axis robot 'installed by the book'.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... A DO-IT-YOURSELF ingration process was adopted by Inject Plastics of Totnes for its first venture into six-axis automation. Like many injection moulding companies who have invested in simple three-axis Cartesian automation systems for...

Integrated robots become portable with stand-alone control.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... Husky has separated its integrated Tracer robot from the moulding machine controller an added a stand-alone PC-base controller to allow users to move the robot to another machine. Many of the key functions of the integrated robot are...

NC robots help meet fluctuating demand at expanding Hozelock.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... HOZELOCK has spent 1.5 million [pounds sterling] on expanding its Aylesbury premises, acquiring a factory about 200 m away from the existing moulding shops to provide more space for injection moulding, and installing machines from 250 to 800...

Billion links clamp build-up to the injection pressure profile.
October 1, 2003... A CONTROL enhancement that allows clamping pressure to build up as injection pressure increases has been devised by Billion for use on its direct hydraulic Hercule, GM and Vulcan machines. The process, dubbed Aspect Cycle, is said to bring...

PlugXPress unit also controls the turntable.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... GERMAN moulder Reiss Kunststofftechnik has retrofitted a Windsor PlugXPress injection unit in L configuration to an existing Ferromatik 350 tonne machine to make two-component air grilles for camping refrigerators. The Ferromatik machine has a...

Engel introduces add-on injection retrofits for multi-component moulding.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... ENGEL is now offering retrofittable injection units to convert existing machines for multi-material moulding. Screw diameters range from 10 to 18 mm, corresponding to a shot volume range of 4 to 15 [cm.sup.3]. Where the shot volume of the...

A new generation of controls from Engel.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... TOUCH-SCREEN interface has been introduced on Engel machines with the new CC200 control system. The CC200 is PC-based, which enables it to run on a remote computer for off-machine setting and uploading. With the CC200 comes the facility to...

Sandretto system runs automotive cell for PEP.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... PRECISION Engineering Plastics of Tottenham, North London, has added a Sandretto Nove S 220 tonne machine together with a servo robot loading system and an automatic packing station to its 16-machine (20-300 tonnes) engineering moulding...

Spirex to supply Barr energy saving screws.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... AN exclusive agreement has been signed between Spirex Corporation of the USA and the Robert Barr concern to supply Barr Energy Transfer and Variable Barrier Energy Transfer screws to the injection moulding industry. These are said to consume...

Gabriel-Chemie plans to make powder injection moulding compounds.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... Austrian masterbatch and compound manufacturer Gabriel-Chemie is planning to enter the powdered injection moulding feedstock business. It has started a research project into the selection o binder systems and additives to make powdered...

Ancillaries aim to improve moulding.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... NICKERSON Europe has become exclusive distributor of the Smartflow range of moulding ancillaries from Burger and Brown Engineering. All the products are intended to improve the moulding process, and include specialist fluid monitoring devices...

Plastics Engineering adds another Arburg.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... THE LATEST Arburg machine to be installed at motor industry supplier Plastics Engineering (Leamington) is an Allrounder 520C 2000-350/150 two component rood for the production of larger components including window opening and closing mechanisms...

Copier contracts boost Birkbys.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... BIRKBY'S Plastics has won a 3 million [pounds sterling] annual contract to supply Xerox with office equipment components following the commencement of work on another project, and expects to hear whether it is in the running for a third in the...

Wood is good, but moulding it needs extra care.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... HIGHLY-filled wood/plastic composites can be moulded on standard injection moulding machines with standard tooling--but they are not quite as straightforward to mould as unfilled materials. That is the conclusion so fat of continuing research...

Joint venture makes polycarbonate car glazing.(Injection Moulding)
October 1, 2003... WHILE much publicity has surrounded the development of the IMPmore moulding technology to make automotive glazing by Summerer and Battenfeld (British Plastics & Rubber July/August 2003, p 10), another joint venture has been getting underway in...

Plasma coating puts PET beer bottles on the map.(Blow Moulding)
October 1, 2003... BEER is a particularly difficult product to package in plastic bottles because of its sensitivity to oxygen and fight degradation and loss of C[O.sub.2] pressurisation. There are several commercial and near-commercial ways of preventing oxygen...

New epoxy and UV curing adhesives from Permabond.(Finishing)
October 1, 2003... PERMABOND has developed E3332 two part epoxy adhesive. It is claimed to have extremely high fracture energy, with high adhesion in both peel and shear stressed joints, making it suitable for dynamically loaded assemblies which require good...

Fisco gets the measure of hot air staking.(Finishing)
October 1, 2003... FISCO is using bench-mounted Phasa 10/30 hot air staking machines to make its new Big T range of heavy duty 5 m and 8 m tape measures for the domestic and professional markets. The tape end hook comprises two mouldings in plastics and rubber...

Better control over vibration welders.(Finishing)
October 1, 2003... IMPROVED weld control with overtravel protection is provided for new Forward Technology LVW 2046, 2055 and 2020 vibration welders. The mechanical vibrator assembly comprises a swing frame, cantilever springs and the electromagnetic coils....

Bulk feeder pumps granules en bloc.(Materials Handling)
October 1, 2003... THE K-Tron Bulk Solid Pump, is a new bulk solids feeder that does not use the usual screws/augers, belts or vibratory trays to convey the material. Instead it uses positive displacement action through the bulked but otherwise free flowing...

Screw conveyor tilts for transport.(Material Handling)
October 1, 2003... A portable flexible screw conveyor with a tilting tube mast has been developed by Flexicon (Europe). The entire support structure of the conveyor and hopper can be tilted by means of a manual jack, lowering the height of the top outlet to allow...

Computerisation takes the drudge out of density gradients.(Testing)
October 1, 2003... FASTER and more accurate method of building a density gradient column is claimed for a new device from Ray-Ran Test Equipment. Mixing two liquids of different densities to form a gradient is the most accurate method of determining the...

Temperature controlled weathering.(Testing)
October 1, 2003... A TEMPERATURE-controlled test methodology for the EMMAQUA outdoor accelerated test device has been introduced by ATLAS Weathering Services Group. This maintains the target sample temperature regardless of variations in solar radiation intensity...

Specimen feeder makes impact testing fully automatic.(Testing)
October 1, 2003... Instron has developed a fully automatic system for impact testing plastics to the ASTM D3763 and ISO 6603-2 standards. The Dynatup Specimen Feeder System automates specimen conditioning, set up, loading, impact testing and unloading. The...

Improvements for continuous stress relaxation testing.(Testing)
October 1, 2003... TWO new developments from Swedish company Elastocon are aimed at improving the accuracy and repeatability of continuous stress relaxation measurements for polymers. The first, a draught hood, is designed to fit on Elastocon ovens to...

GPC at an affordable price.(Testing)
October 1, 2003... VISCOTEK describes its new GPCmax device as the first fully featured GPC solvent/sample delivery system at an affordable price. The GPCmax is an integrated system consisting of pump, autosampler and degasser modules in a compact benchtop...

NPL research can be tailored to your specific needs.(Support Services)
October 1, 2003... THE National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK's national standards laboratory, is currently involved in four DTI-supported research projects that offer polymer processors the opportunity to become involved with developing and applying...

Adustable roll stack for film flexibility.(Film & Sheet)
October 1, 2003... THE latest polishing stack from Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik has been designed to handle different film materials, gauges and optical requirements by adjusting the contact angle between the film and the top roll, and so control the dwell time...

Consultancy network fills the gap when you've downsized your own knowledge pool.(Support Services)
October 1, 2003... INCREASED competition and tighter profit margins have caused a reduction in the 'roundness' of companies across industry as peripheral operations not central to the company's business are cut to reduce over-heads. But when these peripheral...

The lab down the corridor is actually in Scotland.(Support Services)
October 1, 2003... THE contradictory pressures of an increasing need for guaranteed product performance and confirmation of safety, and a financial requirement to reduce manufacturing overheads, are providing opportunities for specialist testing companies to...

Acrylic sheet replaces frosted glass.(Support Services)
October 1, 2003... FROSTED glass is widely used in store displays, but only in small sizes because of the risk of breakage. The new Barlo XT Soft Tone acrylic sheet, with the look and feel of frosted glass, has no such limitation. It has the same mechanical...

'Biggest twin sheet former in the UK'.(Support Services)
October 1, 2003... What is described as the largest twin sheet rotary thermoforming machine in the UK has been Installed by Big Bear Plastic Products at its at Droitwich plant. The machine, supplied by MAAC USA, will mould ports up to 3,658 x 2,514 x 880 mm deep....

Hot and cold water on tap together.(Support Services)
October 1, 2003... REVERSE cycle water chiller developed by Rhoss of Italy (UK agent Coolmation) call be used to generate hot and cold water simultaneously, or solely one or the other. The Exergy has an additional heat recovery exchanger and a patented...

Cincinnati extends Alpha and Argos ranges.(Pipe & Profile)
October 1, 2003... NEW single and parallel twin screw extruders have been added to the Cincinnati Extrusion Alpha and Argos ranges. Since the introduction of the standardized single-screw Alpha series at K 2001, more than 160 Alpha extruders have been sold...

Cincinnati and K-M confirm massive order from China.(Pipe & Profile)
October 1, 2003... THE size of the order placed by Chinese window frame extruder Dalian Shide with Cincinnati Extrusion and Krauss Maffei (British Plastic's & Rubber, June 2003, p38) has now been confirmed. The company is buying 165 extruders from Cincinnati in...

Compact chillers for round the clock action.(Temperature Control)
October 1, 2003... Tricool Engineering has expanded its range of air cooled chillers with the Compac Series 2000 range designed for round the clock operation in ambient temperatures up to 43 degC. R407c refrigerant is standard but R134a is offered for high...

FDM machine designed for future upgrades.(Prototyping)
October 1, 2003... THE LATEST rapid prototyping system from Stratasys has been designed with an element of future proofing by enabling upgrades to a larger modelling chamber, more material bays, and new modelling materials as they are developed. The new FDM...

Research group to investigate RPD with Smart car redesign.(Prototyping)
October 1, 2003... PROJECT to demonstrate the capability of components built using rapid prototyping technologies is being set up by the Rapid Product Development Group, a tripartite organisation funded by the South East England Development Agency and consisting...

Bend me, shape me, any way you want me.(Prototyping)
October 1, 2003... Z CORPORATION has introduced a new plastics-replicating material system for use with its 3D printers. The zp 250 material system consists of a powder, a binder and the company's Z-Snap flexible epoxy infiltrant. This last was developed in...

Workmate made workable by Plastics Adviser.(Prototyping)
October 1, 2003... TRIAL and error and expensive tool rework were eliminated in the redesign of the Black and Decker Workmate by using Moldflow Plastics Adviser to establish production feasibility. The Workmate portable work bench has been on the market for...

Multi-couplings get you connected in a hurry.(Tooling)
October 1, 2003... IN manufacturing, time is money and that is why the pressure is on to speed up mould changeovers. At the same time moulds are getting more complicated, with multiple connections required for cooling circuits, electrics, hydraulics, pneumatics...

Aluminium mould bases handle up to 100,000 runs.(Tooling)
October 1, 2003... MOULD standard parts specialist D-M-E has introduced a complete range of aluminium mould bases in plan sizes from 125 mm square up to 296 x 596 mm. They are intended for rapid tooling and manufacturing work, for prototypes, and for short...

Machining change brings drastic reduction in tool production time.(Tooling)
October 1, 2003... TOOLING turnround at rubber moulder Wye Valley Precision Engineering has been speeded up with the installation of a Hurco vertical machining centre. A typical centre plate in P20 tool steel is now programmed and machined in six hours, compared...

SLA mould is a record breaker.(Tooling)
October 1, 2003... RENSHAPE SL stereolithography materials from Huntsman Advanced Materials have been used to build a massive injection mould for a combined car bumper and radiator grille in record time. Tokai Model Corporation of Japan delivered 70 injection...

ARRK adds tooling and moulding capacity.(Tooling)
October 1, 2003... RPD service provider ARRK has responded to growing demand by boosting capacity at its Teesside facility. Through the summer the company added two 3-axis CNC machines, two EDM die sinkers and an EDM wire erosion machine to its machining fleet....

Tray bon.(Tooling)
October 1, 2003... TOOLING refinements have enabled Toolcraft Plastics to cut lead times and production times for its range of thermoformed storage trays. The trays are made in a range of styles, colours and compartments, and are designed to fit industry-standard...

Two-colour moulding--a suitable case for simulation.(Software)
October 1, 2003... TWO-colour or two-component moulding, once a curiosity confined largely to typewriter keys, has become an important technique for the part designer. Also known as two-shot moulding or over-moulding, the process can be used with differently...

Simulation goes on the transfer list.(Software)
October 1, 2003... UNTIL quite recently, if you wanted to know how an idea or a design would work out, there was only one option. You had to make it and try it out. If you could not make the real thing, you had to make the best approximation you could manage or...

Software directory.
October 1, 2003... BLOW MOULDING/THERMOFORMING Accuform T-Sim, B-Sim Accuform, +420 677 210465 Symbolic Systems, 01227 738892 Single user price: 4,000 [pounds sterling] [pounds sterling]-16,000 [pounds sterling] Simulation of blow moulding...

European expansion for EnterpriseIQ.(Software)
October 1, 2003... ENTERPRISEIQ, the ERP software developed expressly for the plastics industry by US company IQMS, is now sold and supported in Germany. Plasticsgrid, the European sales partner of IQMS, has opened an office in Hamburg to promote the...

Uniq picks The Manufacturing Manager.(Software)
October 1, 2003... UNIQ Extrusions of Ebbw Vale has become the latest UK user of The Manufacturing Manager software. This is enterprise management software developed specifically for plastics processors by DTR Software International. Uniq is a brand new...

More fixes from CADfix.(Software)
October 1, 2003... THE forthcoming version 5.2 of CADfix, the data translation and repair program from ITI TranscenData, will include import and export support for native Pro/ ENGINEER files. In addition to the extended file support, the new version will have...