YORK, PA. - Graham Engineering Corp. of York has introduced a line of accumulator-head industrial blow molding machines that includes machines with single and multiple heads in shot sizes of 1-50 pounds. New head technology allows fast color and material changes, Graham said. During cleaning, the internal material diverter is quickly removed for cleaning.
The machines use MACO 6500 controllers. Graham plans an open house April 4-5 to showcase the machines.
Frame construction eleminates tie bars
GUELPH, ONTARIO - Engel Canada Inc. of Guelph has introduced vertical-clamp injection molding machines with a new bridge-type frame construction that eliminates tie bars, now available in clamping forces from 55-300 tons.
The frame has more rigidity than the conventional C-frame common in vertical machines, Engel said. No tie bars mean mold mounting and part insertion and removal is easier.
Other features include a large opening stroke and large platens, which allow the use of larger molds.
Engel also has introduced a machine for processing bulk molding compound.
A fully enclosed loading and feed unit moves BMC to the injection unit. Engel uses abrasion-resistant steel on the barrel and screw.
New Krupp machine made for PET bottles
EDISON, N.J. - Krupp Corpoplast Maschinenbau GmbH of Hamburg, Germany, has developed a new stretch blow molding machine, the B-177, for PET bottles.
The B-177 has 16 blowing stations. The rotary machine produces 17,600 PET bottles per hour, in sizes from 0.2-3 liters.
The first unit went into operation in late 1994 at a beverage manufacturing company in Argentina, according to Krupp.
Krupp is represented in the United States by Krupp Plastics & Rubber Machinery Inc. of Edison.
Logan Plastics enters blow molding market
TORONTO - Logan Plastics Machinery Ltd. has entered the blow molding machinery market by offering a three-cavity stretch machine for PET containers.
Gallagher Sales Associates of Toronto has been appointed exclusive sales representative for the machinery, according to Klaus Fritzsche, who is president of Brampton, Ontario-based Logan.
Logan's LB 3000 blow molding machine resulted from several years of production experience on two prototypes operated by Ascent Ltd. of Brampton, according to Dave Gallagher, principal of Gallagher Sales.
It can produce about 3,000 bottles per hour from preforms, he said.
Logan and Ascent have some common shareholders, according to Fritzsche, who is also vice president of Ascent.
Grooved feed extruder increases throughput
PEABODY, MASS. - Reifenhauser Inc. of Peabody is introducing a 100-millimeter grooved feed extruder designed to boost throughput of high-molecular-weight high density polyethylene blown film from a single-screw extruder for wide-web HMW-HDPE production.
Throughput is 1,000 pounds per hour. The screw's length-to-diameter ratio is 30:1.
Reifenhauser said the extruder will eliminate the need for processors to use coextrusion to gain maximum benefit from pumping capability.
Compounding extruder combines technologies
BRECKSVILLE, OHIO - Screw design and an adjustable aperture valve allow Pomini Inc.'s new LCM-AX compounding extruder to combine technologies of a twin-screw extruder and continuous mixer.
The LCM-AX is a single-stage, axial-discharge machine with two co-rotating, intermeshing screws. Screw profile matches that of traditional twin screws in the initial feed and final discharge areas, while mixing sections immediately after the feed zone have the rotor blade de-sign of a Pomini LCM continuous mixer.
A hydraulic throttling valve can be closed, keeping the melt in the mix zone for longer or shorter periods of time.
Pomini said that flexibility makes the extruder suitable for processing a wide range of materials, including polyolefins, engineering plastics, fiber-reinforced materials and polymer blends using the same screw configuration.
Ampacet Corp. became the first U.S. company to buy an LCM-AX when it bought a machine for its new color and additives plant in Cartersville, Ga.
The Italian machinery maker has a U.S. office in Brecksville. Pomini has invested more than $1 million to set up a processing laboratory there, with two pilot compounding lines.
Lab-sized extruder uses 1-step precess
SOMERVILLE, N.J. - The ZSE-27 laboratory-sized twin-screw extruder from American Leistritz Extruder Corp. compounds and produces sheet or film in a one-step process.
By eliminating the pelletizing step, the plastic has one less heat history, which often gives improved end-product properties, according to Leistritz of Somerville.
The modular lab system integrates a gear pump front end that feeds an 8-inch-wide flexible lip sheeting die. A vertical three-roll stack with 10-inch-wide rolls cools and sizes the product.
The ZSE-27 extruder can process 10-80 pounds an hour, the company said.
Larger pilot-plant and production systems using twin-screw extruders as large as 135 millimeters are available. These can process as much as 5,000 pounds an hour.
