Sussex compact case holds in moisture Sussex Plastics Inc. developed a hermetic compact case for Revlon Inc.'s Almay's Stay Smooth line of makeup.
The hermetic case can hold in 99 percent of the product's moisture during its shelf life, a key property for packaging liquid makeup foundation. The Sussex, Wis., injection molder claims it is the first such hermetic compact package.
Sussex vice president of sales and marketing Mike Katz said the package avoids the use of an expensive elastomeric seal. Hermetic sealing is achieved by the case geometry and Sussex's ability to hold part tolerances to a thousandth of an inch.
The compact's outer case has two molded ABS/styrene acrylonitrile shells held together by a metal pin. The inner compartment is a butterfly-type, one-piece polypropylene shell that snaps into the outer case. PP's ability to act as a living hinge allows folding of the inner shell for a tight fit.
Sussex is a subsidiary of Rexam Cosmetic Packaging.
Tel. (262) 246-8022, fax (262) 246-8423.
Plastimac molds TPE parts at single station
Milan, Italy-based Plastimac SpA said its PB-line of extrusion blow molding machines can produce technical parts such as thermoplastic elastomer automotive covers for shock absorbers.
Traditional technology moves the mold from the extrusion to blow molding station. The Plastimac machines use a plier mechanism to move the parison from the extrusion head to the mold, which is located under the blowing nozzle. Because the mold does not move, the company is able place blowing nozzles in different positions on the mold, and work with more-complex, taller molds.
The TPE parts are produced in a mold with several cavities, aligned vertically.
Plastimac is represented by American Jet Stream Inc. of East Brunswick, N.J.
Tel. (732) 254-1808, fax (732) 254-3509.
Dynbax offers precise unloading system
Dynax Inc. has developed a special device to automatically unload very delicate, threaded injection molded parts.
Dynax, of Sarasota, Fla., said its pick-and-place system sits on top of an injection press. It descends through a very tight space to grip four parts at a time, unscrew them simultaneously, bring the parts back up, rotate, then transfer the parts away from the mold.
Tel. (941) 355-0566, fax (941) 355-1850.
Screenless granulator offers energy savings
Size Reduction Specialists Corp. has introduced its new beside-the-press granulator, the Bi-Cutter.
SRS, of East Lansing, Mich., said the low revolutions per minute and low horsepower help reduce energy use and maintenance costs.
The screenless granulator is a two-stage unit. Blades in the first stage rotate at 15 rpm. An S-shaped breaking blade cuts the plastic parts into smaller pieces. In the second stage, blades rotate at 45 rpm, as the rotary and stationary cutters transform the material into uniform granules.
For easy cleaning, the hopper tilts back and the side plates swing up to access the cutters.
Tel. (517) 333-2605, fax (517) 333-8870, e-mail [email protected] .com.
Blow molding unit creates vinyl spindles
Open Machine Systems LLC has developed a blow molding machine that can mass-produce spindles — the long bars that run from the floor to the railing on vinyl decks.
Typically the spindles are fashioned from extruded pipe, which has to be cut to length, reheated and molded into the spindle.
Open Machine said its machine can blow mold as many as 480 spindles an hour, using pipe-grade vinyl. The machine first extrudes the resin directly into a mold. The part then is blown and removed from the mold to a cooling station.
The company is based in Jackson, Mich.
Tel. (517) 782-0246, fax (517) 782-0249.
Burton Corblin sells air compressor lines
Burton Corblin said it sold several high-pressure air compressor lines to Groupe Sidel, the French blow molding machinery maker, for a new generation of Sidel equipment.
The compressors will be used on new "ultraclean" bottle blow molding/filling machines made by Sidel at its headquarters near Le Havre, France.
Each compressor line consists of a three-stage, nonlubricated reciprocating piston compressor, a refrigeration-type dryer, a filter package with activated carbon element, and a buffer vessel and closed-loop water cooling system.
Burton Corblin is a unit of Howden Process Compressors Inc. of Langhorne, Pa.
Tel. (215) 702-7777, fax (215) 702-7787.
Hunkar introduces smart controller
Cincinnati-based Hunkar Laboratories Inc. has introduced the Smart 3000 blow process controller and parison programmer, for blow molding.
Hunkar said the Smart 3000 can be used as a stand-alone controller, or it can be networked with a Hunkar Source CIM system.
Features include a 300-point parison with zoom capability, to improve material use, a quality trace function with an automatic warning to operators before bad parts are molded.
Tel. (513) 272-1010, fax (513) 272-0013.
Tiny Wayne extruder has 1/4-inch diameter
A tiny extruder from Wayne Machine & Die Co. has a screw diameter of just one-quarter inch.
Wayne, of Totowa, N.J., thinks the Yellow Jacket Bantam is the smallest, standard-design, feed-end-driven screw extruder. The company said the extruder is designed for research and development of expensive compounds available only in small batches.
Tel. (973) 256-7374, fax (973) 256-1778, e-mail [email protected] chine.com.
Systronics camera detects micro defects
Systronics Inc. of Norcross, Ga., said its Smart Camera SVS-2000 can scan 15,000 lines per second.
The Smart Camera detects micron-sized defects at high line speeds. It also can capture a snapshot of defects for later review. The camera's open architecture links the unit to a computer or controller.
Tel. (770) 449-7776, fax (770) 449-0399, e-mail [email protected]
Foremost separators remove contaminants
Foremost Machine Builders Inc. introduced the SEP-GA Guardian Series of metal separators, which detect and separate out both ferrous and nonferrous metal contaminants from a material flow stream.
Guardian units can detect metal particles as small as 0.02 inch in diameter at throughputs as high as 243 cubic feet per hour of pellets or free-flowing powdered material.
Foremost, of Fairfield, N.J., also rolled out a new batch weigh blender, the BWB Series, available in two-, three-, four- or five-component models. Each blender is equipped with heavy duty, 12-gauge carbon-steel bins strong enough and large enough to accept material from vacuum chambers and/or receiving cyclones.
The bins, with capacity of 400-500 pounds, eliminate the need for surge bins beside the blender. Each has an extended drain tube with a slide gate, which makes cleaning and draining of bins easy.
Tel. (973) 227-0700, fax (973) 227-7307, e-mail [email protected] .net.