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ENGINEERING MATERIALS
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GE rekindles its love affair with the motor car.
General Electric has opened an 'Automotive Center of Excellence for Unique Full-Service Solutions to the Automotive Industry' which brings together all of its automotive-related businesses, including GE Advanced Materials, GE Infrastructure, GE Energy, GE Commercial Finance, and GE Fleet. And whether by art or design, has also unveiled new grades of polymer materials and manufacturing concepts.
TPE-S is used for car window seals.
Tefabloc thermoplastic elastomers from Tessenderlo Group compounder CTS have become the first of their type to be used on a French car for window seals. The Tefabloc materials are TPE-S types, being compounds based on polypropylene and Kraton G SEBS (styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene) elastomer.
Higher performance SMA for automotive interiors.
Two grades have been added to Nova Chemicals' Dylark 500XT series of styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers aimed at automotive instrument panels and interior applications.
Speciality TPEs target plasticised PVC.
AEI Compounds' new ReMoTE range of thermoplastic elastomer compounds was developed in cooperation with DuPont Dow Elastomers, using patented in-process reaction compounding technology to create speciality compounds based on DuPont Dow's Engage polyolefin elastomers.
New TPEs designed to replace silicones and PVC.
A new range of thermoplastic elastomers from GLS International can replace silicone compounds and PVC in applications requiring water clarity and heat resistance.
New technology creates unique perfluoroelastomer.
A new grade of Tecnoflon perfluoroelastomer has been created by Solvay Solexis through its innovative 'branching and pseudoliving' polymerisation technology which allows the preparation of fluoropolymers with controlled macromolecular structure, leading to products with properties not obtainable by conventional techniques.
Long-fibre glass-reinforced PEEK from RTP.
Performance compound specialist RTP Company has added Victrex PEEK polyetheretherketone grades to its Long Fiber product line.
Optical waveguide material is easier to process.
An epoxy material for use in flexible optical waveguides has been developed by Nitto Denko in Japan. The photo-sensitive epoxy is highly transparent in the near-infrared range, and flexible, so that optical circuits can be created by patterning using ultra-violet exposure, replacing the conventional dry-etching processes.
Low viscosity HNBR processes more quickly.
A new low viscosity HNBR has been introduced by Lanxess. Compared to regular HNBR elastomer grades, the low Mooney viscosity of the new Therban AT gives better mixing at lower temperatures and so reduces overall cost.
Makrolon shows the bigger picture.
A large-screen display technology using Bayer's Makrolon polycarbonate has been developed by a British company, which anticipates selling 30,000 m2 of displays per year by 2010.
Ticona COCs for optical applications.
Ticona has introduced two new grades of Topas cyclic olefin copolymer for injection moulded lenses and other optical components.
High melt strength PP makes soft foams.
Borealis has developed a high melt strength polypropylene specifically for soft foams based on proprietary technology in which a chemical modification introduces long chain branching into the basic polymer backbone.
PACKAGING MATERIALS
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High performance PP makes its mark in frozen foods.
A new high performance polypropylene from Basell is aimed at food packaging and consumer applications with a combination of clarity, high gloss, stiffness, impact resistance at low temperature, and easy flow.
COMPOUNDING
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The black art of compounding.
Nick Kenworthy of Bayworth Plastics & Rubber highlights a few of the important principles to good compounding.
AZO upgrades Hydro Polymers' S-PVC plant.
Further improvements have been made to Hydro Polymers' PVC compounding plant at Newton Aycliffe in County Durham by AZO through its UK agent Ingredient Handing Solutions.
Dugdale invests further in PVC compound development.
PVC compounds manufacturer Dugdale has established a £50,000 development facility in a self-contained unit, housing a new 21 mm high torque co-rotating twin screw compounding extruder from Rondol Technology.
Melt pump returns filter pressure value for QC.
A melt pump suitable for QC testing of compounds providing a filter pressure value to quantify the level of resin dispersibility, has been introduced by Davis-Standard.
Feeder line completed at Colortronic.
Colortronic has completed its range of feeders for compounding and chemical applications.
Bolt-on barrel extension increases residence time.
It is now possible to buy the standard 25:1 L/D 16 mm Prism Eurolab XL laboratory compounding extruder and at a later date to convert to a 40:1 version by bolting-on a 15:1 barrel extension.
Improving the accuracy of rubber mixing.
Chronos Richardson has added stand-alone weighing equipment for the rubber mixing room to ensure the accuracy of charging the mixer with plasticisers, silane and polymers - which also brings more consistency in compound quality.
Process additives improve pigment dispersion.
Struktol of the USA has developed a series of plastics process additives to aid blending and dispersion as well as improving lubrication.
Chopped strand tailored for use in PBT.
Johns Manville has introduced a densified chopped strand specially developed for polybutylene terephthalate products where it provides very good mechanical performance and heat ageing characteristics and superior bonding with the polyester matrix.
TiO2 targeted at masterbatch producers.
A new titanium dioxide pigment for masterbatch production has been introduced into Europe by Millennium Chemicals after three years of development.
Easier processing with CPE impact modifiers.
The new Tyrin 7000 and 2500 chlorinated polyethylene impact modifiers for PVC from DuPont Dow Elastomers are intended to improve extrusion processing while maintaining end-use impact performance.
BLOW MOULDING
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Bekum agent Hamilton is insolvent.
One of Britain's oldest machinery sales agencies has been forced into insolvency.
Plenty of life in the blow moulding dog yet.
It's not all doom and gloom in the blow moulding business despite the collapse of Hamilton Machinery Sales and recent months have seen some significant investments in new machines and tooling for bottle production.
More plastic bottles are being recycled.
The return of plastic bottles for recycling has doubled in Britain over the past two years according to research funded by WRAP and carried out by Recoup.
Anti-stat doesn't cake in the summer.
Lauric diethanol amide is a common anti-stat in bottle blowing but can be hard to use in the summer months as it can cake together if subjected to temperatures above 25 degC. A new product from PTS remains free flowing after being subjected to heat.
Milliken invests in lab machine for stretch blown clarified PP bottles.
To further its aim of pushing polypropylene into the injection stretch blow moulding business Milliken Chemical has installed a Sidel Series 2 SBO4 machine at its research and development center in Spartanburg, USA.
Double station operation saves more in 3D moulding.
A fifth horizontal 3D blow moulding machine has been installed by Italian auto parts manufacturer Cornaglia to make two different air ducts for Fiat in a single cycle.
Deformable die rings optimise material distribution.
Deformable blow moulding die rings are now being produced by BMC Controls to optimise material distribution in the production of industrial containers, drums and automotive mouldings.
Cheap and Chinese but still Kautex.
The Chinese-built Kautex KCC10D double station machine is now available in Europe with European specification, CE certified and with full European support for spare parts and service.
Standard bottles in CD catalogue.
To make it easier for packer/fillers to launch or revamp a product Riverside Plastics has produced a CD-ROM version of its standard bottle catalogue.
Big machine focus at Davis-Standard.
A new design of blow moulding machine from Davis-Standard is intended to meet increasing demands to mould large components, and is the first of a planned product expansion into larger machines.
Bottle granulators on show.
Blow moulders are being invited to Motan's Abingdon headquarters at the end of this month to see demonstrations of the Tria BM35-30 and BM50-30 granulators designed specifically for blow moulding reclamation.
New Sidel stretch blow machines cut costs at higher output.
The latest generation of stretch blow machine from Sidel, the SBO Universal range, is said to have cut bottle blowing costs and improved productivity. The machines have new preform/bottle handling mechanics and a new 40 mm pitch oven which together have increased output by 12·5 per cent to 1,800 bottles/mould/hour.
INJECTION MOULDING
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New vertical machines have time saving safety gates.
A range of six vertical C-frame machines from 27 to 250 tonnes with stationary, shuttle or rotary tables for insert moulding has been introduced by Cincinnati Milacron.
Needle valve resists filled materials for a long life.
German toolmaker Otto Mä;nner is claiming a five million cycle service life without wear for its new hot runner needle valve.
Seventh Sandretto aids growth in plating.
Plating specialist Borough of Leigh on Sea has started making larger chrome plated mouldings and has installed a 230 tonnes Sandretto injection machine.
Mini hot runner is for micro parts.
New from Hasco is a mini hot runner system intended for direct injection of small and micro parts with a total shot weight not greater than 20 g.
Belmar triples its turnover in nine months.
Installation of two new Sandretto Nove S machines and a Micro model at the beginning of this year has helped Hockley-based Belmar Plastics triple its turnover in the past nine months.
Heavy duty handling.
Gravity discharge of mouldings can become a little perturbing as the weight increases. UPM's product handling division had to redesign its standard belt conveyor to produce a heavy duty version when it needed to handle PVC mouldings used in drainage applications.
AUTOMATION
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Robots are cheaper to run and longer lasting.
Motoman has replaced its UP series six axis robots with the new HP series which are slimmer and have greater reach, positional accuracy and higher payload capacity.
Fastest in class.
Cycle times shorter than 0·3 second can be achieved by the new Toshiba TH450 SCARA robot leading to the claim that it is the fastest SCARA robot in its class.
One robot does the work of two for Envopak.
While six axis robotics are increasingly being used in injection moulding shops, using one robot to service two independent moulding machines is still rather unusual. But this is how security product specialist ITW Envopak has improved productivity.
Bending over backwards for a longer reach.
The ABB IRB 1600 six axis robot for use with injection moulding machines from 100 to 250 tonnes can reach to 700 mm below its base.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
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Temperature control redesign cuts clean room tooling problem for Tech Group.
A clean room tool maintenance headache at the Tech Group in Ireland has been solved by replacing a bank of 18 temperature control units with a single hot water unit, a chiller, and retaining one original TCU.
Tricool gets aggressive.
A range of 'aggressively priced' temperature controllers has been developed by Tricool from its Combi series. The new C6 series offers the same specification, but has been re-engineered to use more modern manufacturing techniques to lower its price.
FINISHING
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New exposure system handles bigger plastic plates.
A new UV exposure system for pad and flexo polymer cliché production from Teca-Print has extended the plate size to 1 m long.
Simplified thread inserts speed up installation.
Installation times have been halved by new Quicksert Hex thread inserts, an addition to the Amtec range from Bollhoff Fastenings.
Two component adhesives for rapid assembly.
Sikafast 3000 Series flexible two component adhesives are said to be suitable for most bonding, appliance and equipment assembly operations. They can be applied by hand or robot and cure quickly for use in place of welding, riveting and other fastening techniques.
RECLAMATION & RECYCLING
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Double disc increases the return from hard-to-reclaim material.
Erema's double disc reclamation technology makes it possible to recycle materials with up to 15 per cent residual moistureincluding some materials with substantial residual moisture that were previously considered unsuitable for direct reprocessing by extrusion.
Brazil leads in plasma recycling of aseptic cartons.
A carton packaging recycling facility in Brazil uses plasma technology to separate completely the aluminium and plastics components of the aseptic package from each other and from the paper content of the cartons.
MATERIALS HANDLING
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Need more storage? Make the silos bigger.
Amcor needed to add 360 tonnes to its 720 tonnes of existing material storage, comprising 18 40 tonne aluminium silos. It was not possible to build and install another nine silos so it was decided to enlarge the existing vessels to 60 tonnes by adding a 4 m cylindrical section.
TOOLING
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CNC laser welding saves costly mould remakes.
A new CNC laser welding service is proving itself as a cost-effective alternative to the replacement of damaged mould parts such as cores and die faces.
FASTOOL software automates toolroom scheduling.
Tooling Scheduling software developed in the FASTOOOL project automatically determines and schedules the best and most efficient use of available toolroom machinery and resources.
TESTING & INSPECTION
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Nikon lowers entry cost of video measurement.
The latest video measuring system from Nikon has been designed to lower the entry level cost and bring video measurement within what the company describes as everyone's reach.
Simple test for latex rubber stability.
Secomak's latest latex testing machine determines the mechanical stability of concentrated natural and synthetic latex rubber under high speed mechanical stirring or mechanical shear.
Powerful features added to GPC/SEC software.
The latest release of Viscotek's Omni-SEC GPC/SEC software for multiple detection analysis of polymers and proteins includes enhancements to operational flexibility, ease of use and comprehensive analysis and reporting facilities.
GPC/SEC training from Polymer Laboratories.
Polymer Laboratories is running training courses on the theory and practice of GPC/SEC for characterising organic and water soluble polymers by the determination of molecular weight and molecular weight distribution.
SOFTWARE
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Mastering the mould quotation.
Mould estimating is a nightmare. You can invest a lot of time in getting it right, only to lose the job. Or you can cut down the care in your estimate, only to lose money if you do get the job. Clive Maier reviews a tool that speeds up quotations without losing accuracy - and goes further by estimating part cost as well.
Moldflow integrates its manufacturing solutions.
Moldflow has extended device-level Ethernet support and enabled its Shotscope and Celltrack programs to integrate with SAP business and ERP software systems.
Production control software made easy to adopt and use.
British company Trakking has developed new production control software aimed at small to medium sized manufacturers and designed for ease of use and adoption.
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FACTFINDER CONTACTS FOR THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
102 DuPont Dow Elastomers Ltd
Maylands Avenue,
Hemel Hempstead,
Herts
HP2 7DP
01442 346888
Web site: www.dupont-dow.com103 Davis-Standard Ltd
33 Hainge Road,
Tividale,
Oldbury, West Midlands
B69 2NY
0121 522 0030
E-mail: mrwdsltd@aol.com
Web site: www.davis-standard.com104 Plastic Technology Service Ltd
Flamstone Street,
Bishopstone,
Salisbury
SP5 4BZ
01722 781088
E-mail: info@ptsuk.com
Web site: www.ptsuk.com105 Kautex Machinery Sales (UK) Ltd
Unit 15, Drakes Mews,
Crownhill,
Milton Keynes
MK8 0ER
01908 261777
E-mail: kautexuk@btconnect.com
Web site: www.kautex-group.com106 Kautex Machinery Sales (UK) Ltd
Unit 15, Drakes Mews,
Crownhill,
Milton Keynes
MK8 0ER
01908 261777
E-mail: kautexuk@btconnect.com
Web site: www.kautex-group.com109 Chronos Richardson Ltd
Arnside Road,
Bestwood,
Nottingham
NG5 5HD
0115 935 1351
E-mail: info@chronosrichardson.com
Web site: www.chronosrichardson.com110 Sidel (UK) Ltd
Lowesden Works,
Lambourn Woodlands,
Newbury, Berks
RG17 7RN
01488 72525
E-mail: info@linro.co.uk
Web site: www.sidel.com111 Millennium Chemicals
Laporte Road, Stallingborough,
PO Box 26,
Grimsby
DN40 2PR
01469 571000
Web site: www.millenniumchem.com112 Colortronic (UK) Ltd
Matilda House, Carrwood Road,
Chesterfield Trading Estate,
Chesterfield
S41 9QB
01246 260222
E-mail: sales@colortronic.co.uk
Web site: www.colortronic.co.uk113 Davis-Standard Ltd
33 Hainge Road,
Tividale,
Oldbury, West Midlands
B69 2NY
0121 522 0030
E-mail: mrwdsltd@aol.com
Web site: www.davis-standard.com114 Velox UK Ltd
1 Buckingham Place,
Bellfield Road,
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
HP13 5HW
01494 463232
Web site: www.velox.com115 Thermo Electron Corporation
Prism Technology Centre,
Emerald Way, Stone Business Park,
Stone, Staffordshire
ST15 0SR
01785 813648
E-mail: info.mc.uk@thermo.com
Web site: www.thermo.com116 Kaye-Dee Marking Solutions Ltd
Stamford Street,
Newhall Road Trading Estate,
Sheffield
S9 2TX
0114 256 0222
E-mail: info@kayedee.co.uk
Web site: www.kayedee.co.uk117 UPM Machinery Sales Ltd
5 Elder Way, Waterside Drive,
Langley Business Park,
Slough
SL3 6EP
01753 548801
E-mail: sales@upm.co.uk
Web site: www.upm.co.uk118 ABB Ltd
Auriga House,
Precedent Drive,
Milton Keynes
MK13 8PQ
01908 350300
E-mail: david.marshall@gb.abb.com
Web site: www.abb.com119 Motoman Robotics (UK) Ltd
Unit 2, Johnson Park, Wildmere Rd,
Wildmere Industrial Estate,
Banbury, Oxfordshire
OX16 3JU
01295 272755
E-mail: johndangelillo@motoman.co.uk
Web site: www.motoman.co.uk120 TM Robotics (Europe) Ltd
Unit 15, The Weltech Centre,
Ridgeway,
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
AL7 2AA
01707 871535
E-mail: sales@tmrobotics.co.uk
Web site: www.tmrobotics.co.uk123 Bollhoff Fastenings Ltd
Midacre,
Willenhall,
West Midlands
WV13 2JW
01902 637161
E-mail: enquiries@bollhoff.co.uk
Web site: www.bollhoff.com124 Ferromatik Milacron Ltd
Carrwood Road,
Chesterfield Trading Estate,
Chesterfield, Derbys
S41 9QB
01246 260666
Web site: www.ferromatik.com126 Ticona UK Ltd
Hollinswood House,
Stafford Court,
Telford
TF3 3DD
01952 213456
E-mail: sean.kemp@ticona.co.uk
Web site: www.ticona.co.uk127 AEI Compounds Ltd
Crete Hall Road,
Gravesend,
Kent
DA11 9AF
01474 566736
E-mail: sales@aeicompounds.co.uk
Web site: www.aeicompounds.com129 Hasco Normalien
Postfach 1720,
D-58513 Ludenscheid
GERMANY
011049235195734
E-mail: info.de.mk@hasco.com
Web site: www.hasco.com130 Pro-Moulds Ltd
Burma Road,
Blidworth Industrial Park,
Blidworth, Nottinghamshire
NG21 0RT
01623 491313
E-mail: enquiries@pro-moulds.co.uk
Web site: www.pro-moulds.co.uk132 Tricool Engineering Ltd
14 Barnes Wallis Road,
Segensworth East,
Fareham, Hants
PO15 5TT
01489 584006
E-mail: sales@tricool.com
Web site: www.tricool.com137 Sika Ltd
Watchmead,
Welwyn Garden City,
Herts
AL7 1BQ
01707 394444
E-mail: sika@uk.sika.com
Web site: www.sika.co.uk138 BMC Controls Ltd
Silk Mill Lane,
Winchcombe,
Gloucestershire
GL54 5HZ
01242 604040
E-mail: sales@bmc-controls.co.uk
Web site: www.leaktesters.co.uk140 Norplas
Unit 1, Manor Farmhouse,
Gosbeck,
Ipswich, Suffolk
IP6 9SH
01449 761841
E-mail: adrian@norplas.co.uk
Web site: www.norplas.co.uk148 RTP Company (UK) Plastics Ltd
Atrium House,
574 Manchester Road,
Bury, Lancashire
BL9 9SW
0161 766 1766
E-mail: rtp@rtpcompany.com
Web site: www.rtpcompany.com162 Nikon UK Ltd
Nikon House,
380 Richmond Road,
Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
KT2 6RA
020 8247 1717
E-mail: discover@nikon.co.uk
Web site: www.nikoninstruments.eu164 Secomak Ltd
502 Honeypot Lane,
Stanmore,
Middlesex
HA7 1JR
020 8952 5566
E-mail: sales@secomak.com
Web site: www.secomak.com165 Viscotek Europe Ltd
Unit 20, Wellington Business Park,
Crowthorne,
Berkshire
RG45 6LS
01344 467180
E-mail: info@viscotek-europe.com
Web site: www.viscotek-europe.com
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