Plastics Engineering articles from June 2008

Plastics Engineering archives from June 2008

Plastics Engineering, June 2008: cost-cutting processes, cost-cutting measures, the latest in fluid-injection techniques, and aging plastics.(FROM SPE)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our cover feature this month focuses on multicomponent molding. Richard Stewart I looks at the latest techniques in in-mold assembly, overmolding, and similar multicomponent IM processes. Processors using...

Plastics age gracefully: durable consumer products require long-term resistance to light, air, and bugs.(NORTH AMERICA)
June 1, 2008... Archived at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan (USA), are hundreds of plastic toys, housewares, and other consumer products from the twentieth century whose appearance is scarred by their battle with time, light, and the elements....

Fluid-assisted moulding: a world of opportunity.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For almost 25 years, fluid-assisted moulding has been the inspiration for some of the most innovative thinking in injection moulding. Gas-assisted injection moulding, the first of a family of technologies commonly...

Multicomponent moulding: in-mold techniques eliminate downstream operations to cut costs and boost quality.(NORTH AMERICA)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In-mold assembly, overmolding, and other multicomponent injection-molding techniques are helping processors cut costs by eliminating downstream operations, reducing scrap, and conserving floor space. Parts produced...

Cutting energy consumption by 30%.(EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Rising energy costs and decreasing security of energy supplies are worldwide concerns. Many companies complain and negotiate hard with power suppliers, but to little effect. Paradoxically, few companies have carried...

New process enables single machine to mold soft-touch auto parts.(NORTH AMERICA)
June 1, 2008... Two factors are critical in automotive part design: cost and time-to-market. These concerns are particularly important when they involve multistep processes. Injection machine maker Engel and several partners have developed a two-component...

Highly filled masterbatches.(industry PATENTS)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,335,696 (February 26, 2008), "Highly Filled Polymer Compositions," Selim Yalvac, Brad Moncla, Michael J. Levinson, and Teresa Karjala (Dow Global Technologies, Inc., Midland, Michigan, USA). Highly filled resins are...

Crosslinked polyethylene.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,335,697 (February 26, 2008), "Polymer Composition Comprising Crosslinked Polyethylene and Methods for Making the Same," Richard S. King and Mark D. Hanes (DePuy Products, Inc., Warsaw, Indiana, USA). The stiffness of...

Enzyme polymerization of silica.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,335,717 (February 26, 2008), "Methods, Compositions and Biomimetic Catalysts for the Synthesis of Silica, Polysilsequioxanes, Polysiloxanes, Non-Silicon Metalloid-Oxygen Networks, Polymetallo-Oxanes and their Organic or Hydrido...

Foamed coal.(industry PATENTS)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,338,542 (March 4, 2008), "Designed Cellular Coal," Darren Rogers and Janusz Wladyslaw Plucinski (Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd., Triadelphia, West Virginia, USA). Foamed coal is useful for heat transfer, electrical...

Seafood packaging.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,338,708 (March 4, 2008), "Thick Shrink Film Having High Oxygen Transmission Rate," Daniel S. Wilburn and Clifford A. Kendrick (Cryovac, Inc., Duncan, South Carolina, USA). Seafood packaging must have sufficient oxygen flowing...

Reducing melt fracture.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,338,995 (March 4, 2008), "Titanium Dioxide-Containing Polymers and Films With Reduced Melt Fracture," Donald Douglas May and Bernd Zimmermann (E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware, USA). Pigmented polymer...

PVC graft copolymers.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,339,004 (March 4, 2008), "PVC Graft Copolymer Methods and Compositions," William H. Starnes, Jr. (College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA). Most grafting methods for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) produce chain...

Solid-state extrusion.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,344,672 (March 18, 2008), "Solid-State Deformation Processing of Crosslinked High-Molecular-Weight Polymeric Materials," David W. Schroeder, Jordan H. Freedman, James E. Gunter, Brian D. Salyer, and Gene H. Hawkins (Biomet...

Recyclable bottle labels.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,344,765 (March 18, 2008), "Heat-Shrinkable Polyester Film and Heat-Shrinkable Label," Satoshi Hayakawa, Seizou Takabayashi, Norimi Tabota, and Nanonobu Oda (Two Boseki Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka-shi, Japan). Polyethylene...

Branched polycarbonates.(industry PATENTS)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... U.S. Patent 7,345,133 (March 18, 2008), "Branched Polycarbonates," Helmut-Werner Heuer, Rolf Wehrmann, Ulrich Blaschke, and Michael Erkelenz (Bayer Materialscience AG, Leverkusen, Germany). Aromatic polycarbonates are important engineering...

Thermoforming Division Conference.(SPE NEWS ROUNDUP: EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... "Crossing Frontiers" was the theme of SPE Europe's sixth Thermoforming Division Conference, held at the Maritim Hotel, Berlin, in April. One of the Division's most successful conferences, it attracted more than 250 delegates to its technically...

Medical polymers conference.(SPE NEWS ROUNDUP: EUROPE)(Conference news)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The European Medical Polymers SIG Conference, to be held in Belfast, Sept 3-5, 2008, is progressing well. A number of speakers have signed up, and there has been good take-up of sponsorship and tabletops. The committee comprises: General...

Marleen Rombouts.(SPE NEWS ROUNDUP: EUROPE)(Marleen Rombouts left from Society of Plastics Engineers )(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Sadly, Marleen Rombouts from SPE's Europe office has left the Society to work nearer home. She has been a great help and will be missed by everyone who came into contact with her. Ken Braney, SPE Senior Vice President

Council meeting.(SPE NEWS ROUNDUP: EUROPE)
June 1, 2008... Finally, please remember that this year the autumn and winter (normally January) Council meetings will be combined and held in Connecticut, USA, in October 2008. The budget and election of officers for 2010 will be decided at this meeting, so...

Industry events.(EUROPE)(Calendar)
June 1, 2008... JUNE 2-3, Central Eastern Europe PET Conference, Site: Warsaw, Poland Website: www.cmtevents.com 2-5, ECCM-13 Site: Stockholm, Sweden Website: eccm 13.sicomp.se 3-5, Interpart/Surfacts/Medipart Site:...

Industry events.(NORTH AMERICA)(Calendar)
June 1, 2008... SPE CONFERENCES Sept. 8-11. SPE's Foams 2008 Conference. Site: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Sponsored by the Carolinas Section and the Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division. Contact: Vipin Kumar, +1 206-543-5535; Email:...