Nypro molding gears with PC compound BURLINGTON, N.C. — Using a proprietary Xaloy Inc. barrel and screw just 22 millimeters in diameter, Nypro Carolina Inc. is molding gears from filled polycarbonate.
"We've experienced none of the problems of vent flooding and drooling that plagued our earlier attempts using another supplier's venting system," Jay Needham, molding group leader for Nypro's plant in Burlington, said in a news release. "With the Xaloy screw and barrel, we've made nonstop production runs of up to four weeks without a single stoppage related to venting."
The elimination of drying saves the company $7,000 a year in energy costs per machine, he said.
The Xaloy vented screw is installed in a 30-ton all-electric Ferromatik injection molding machine. It runs a PC compound containing polytetrafluoroethylene and carbon fillers in high-volume production of gears using a two-cavity tool with a 28-gram shot.
Nypro Carolina, a business unit of Nypro Inc., operates three plants in North Carolina: two in Burlington and one in Graham. The parent firm, based in Clinton, Mass., has 24 molding plants in 11 countries. Nypro focuses on precision molding applications and related technologies.
Xaloy is based in Pulaski, Va.
Meridian to produce Ford gasket carriers
DALLAS — Custom injection molder Meridian Products Corp. of Dallas has invested $250,000 in an expansion to begin producing oil-pan gasket carriers for Ford Motor Co.
The 50-employee firm has purchased a 150-ton Van Dorn Demag vertical injection press for the project to supply Ford's V-10 engines, molding a one-piece carrier with 33 percent glass-filled nylon supplied by Wellman Inc.
"This is a big project for us," said Executive Vice President Raymond Grubbs. "For north Texas, there aren't a lot of people who are doing this kind of molding."
The company has about $4 million in annual sales. Grubbs declined to say how much the gasket-carrier contract is worth.
The press is in place and the company has begun making test pieces, he said May 12 by telephone. Full production should begin in June. Meridian will ship the carriers to a Tier 1 supplier that will place them in engine modules for Ford, Grubbs said.
The firm molds parts for a variety of end markets, including medical, electronic and automotive.
