Suppliers of grinders, granulators, pelletizers and blenders are showing equipment designed to improve efficiency with new computer controls, faster speeds and redesigned systems that offer reduced scrap. AEC Inc. (Booth S1400): AEC/Nelmore Eclipse beside-the-press, small-footprint, ultralow-speed sprue-cutter granulator. Also, Marathon beside-the-press granulators with hopper door and clamshell design for fast changeover and cleanout.
Anderson America Corp. (Booth E14228): The Andi Massix five-axis computer numerically controlled machining system, featuring a 24,000-rpm spindle for high-speed machining, a 63-by-63- inch table, and a Fanuc CNC controller. The system also has options such as an automatic tool changer with an eight-position stepless carousel and a 12-position, random-access-link tool changer with a robotic arm.
Black Clawson Converting Machinery LLC (Booth N6462): Automatic pelletizer knife adjusting system with a faster and more powerful computer processing unit and improved software. To be shown in conjunction with the Integrator II, which gives operators access to all process-control data, and pelletizer die plates.
Colortronic Inc. (Booth N6126): Ultra Blend II gain-in-weight gravimetric blender, CSPE 30/50 powder-conveying loaders, CT-55 twin-screw power feeders, CS-85 single-screw feeder for pellets and powders, C-2 Mega Touch multiple-line touch-screen control, CSE 30/50 self-contained loading system, Colorblend-S additive feeder for small dosing and small injection machines and Ultra-Ex Control extrusion control using gain-in-weight and extrusion control. Also, Wood Feed System loss-in-weight feeder for accurate dosing of wood fiber and composites for wood product extrusion, M-75 small granulators designed for small injection molding applications, Nova Blend System for blending of PVC compound. Plus, a demonstration using Clariant's wide-load product with the Colorblend low-rate additive feeders.
Comet Automation Systems Inc. (Booth S1583): FK-7 Mold Monitor vision protection system, which operates at 0.2 second with one camera and 0.4 second with two cameras. A new MP Feeder to meter non-free-flowing powder for both gravimetric and volumetric blender from 0.5 gram to 150 pounds per hour.
Conair (Booth S3449): A multimedia demonstration each hour focusing on Thermolator temperature-control units, updated to include autotuning and two-piece castings to eliminate as many as 40 leak-prone fittings. Redesigned portable chillers with nonferrous plumbing, scroll compressors and new controls. A master-control central-cooling system to provide monitoring from any personal computer and track BTU consumption at individual processing machines. One-piece rotomolded cooling towers with a 15-year warranty. SPP-1 vacuum pump for small-volume conveying of up to 600 pounds per hour. Pleated filter cartridge with up to 48 square feet of filter area in a compact receiver for PVC and other powders. Touch-screen loader control that can incorporate as many as 48 loaders and eight simultaneously operating vacuum systems. A mobile blending system integrating a GB221 gravimetric blender, Powerfil vacuum pump and a variety of feeders and loaders. Model XB440 extrusion blender with adaptive control functions. A four-hopper central drying and conveying system. PIP 3071 robot, with a 21-foot horizontal beam and vertical stroke of nearly 21 feet designed to handle a 200-pound payload. PIP 3020HP robot with half-second take-out times. New Falcon 2 beam robot for molding machines up to 500 tons. Resharpenable bolt-on knife tips for Conair JC and LP series granulators. MT series of sizing and cooling tanks. SPC 750 dagger with a 10-by-10-inch cutting chamber capable of processing up to 30 pounds per hour. CG 1436 medium-size tangential-feed granulator. Model 208 strand pelletizer with a "slide front" design to provide space for maintenance, cleaning and adjustment of bed knife and rotor. Model 3512S pelletizer for glass-filled materials designed to handle up to 5,500 pounds per hour.
Cumberland Engineering Corp. (Booth S1714): Model 3263 high-capacity granulator, the company's largest commercially available unit, with a conveyor in-feed of 32 inches by 63 inches, a 12-knife open rotor, a hydraulic tilt mechanism for the in-feed hopper to provide access to the cutting chamber and rotor and an automated grease delivery system. The 3200 series typically is used in heavy extruder purgings, blow mold flashings, sheet, pipe, large blow molded parts, X-ray films, packaging films and large-capacity post-consumer products.
Eurohansa Inc. (Booth E10026): Low-speed grinders and shredders and rotor shears with patented tool system.
Getecha Inc. (Booth N6681): North American introduction of Getecha — a subsidiary of Getecha GmbH of Aschaffenburg, Germany — and its products, with demonstrations of the HRG horizontal-rotor granulator, ARG angled-rotor granulator and SRS sprue-recovery series. Getecha manufactures a complete line of granulators ranging from 1-horsepower microgrinders for the compact disc and medical markets to central systems of up to 150 horsepower.
Glycon Corp. (Booth S772): Infuser mixer.
Great Lakes Industrial Knife Co. (Booth E11464): Inlaid Carbide Extreme (ICE) knives using a tungsten carbide-to-metal bonding process. And, other pelletizer and granulator knives made from high-performance ceramics and carbides.
Harmo-Soken (Booth E13403): S-series granulators designed specifically for recycling injection molding sprues and runners of elastomers and soft-type resins, with both the SPC 400S and SPC 750S Gran Cutters on display.
Herbold Zerkleinerungstechnik GmbH (Booth N9345): SML 35/42 S3/2-2 granulator.
Hosokawa Polymer Systems (Booth N7133): Line of large central granulators manufactured by German sister firm Hosokawa Alpine, with the Rotoplex series made of heavy-duty cast steel and designed for film recycling and purgings. CL line for large-part recycling of hollow items such as bottles and containers. And, AFS mill line for producing fine-powder particles for polyethylene rotomolding and the PVC pipe and profile industries.
Kaeser Compressors Inc. (Booth E11657): Expanded line of compressors with reciprocating units to boost existing plant pressure while eliminating need for separate high-pressure systems for PE bottling systems. Rotary-screw compressors from 3-600 horsepower with anti-vibration pads and an automatic belt tensioning device to ensure optimum power transfer. Six models of rotary-screw vacuum-pump packages from 10-40 horsepower with wide-opening doors and removable panels for easy access to all major components. Omega-pak rotary lobe blower system with optional sound enclosure. Condensate management system to separate oil from condensate.
Koch-Glitsch Inc. (Booth N6032): KSM mixing elements designed to provide equivalent mixing of its SMX elements while offering added ease of cleaning and inspection. Elements can be taken apart to adjust the amount of mixing and to inspect after cleaning.
Komax Systems Inc. (Booth S808): Steam heaters, melt blenders, distribution heads, static mixers and heat exchangers focusing on direct additive injection after the breaker plate.
Lindner Maschinenfabrik GmbH (Booth E13234): Lindner shredders and granulators, including Micromat MS1500/2000, with cutting system widths of 1,000-2,500 millimeters and guideless feed ram.
Maguire Products Inc. (Booth N7171): The S-20 shuttle granulator is designed for purgings and other heavy-duty scrap, similar to the company's larger granulators but designed to handle small, heavy parts, such as purgings which typically weigh 5-50 pounds and otherwise would require size reducing before regrinding. Also, an improved batch-to-batch accuracy of minor-ingredient dispensing in gravimetric blenders.
MHR Inc. (Booth E13151): Linear-style mix head, L-shaped style mix head, plus MHR chemical pumps and high-pressure abrasive-resistant ball valve with a one-year unconditional guarantee for processing glass-filled urethanes.
Miller Manufacturing Co. (Booth N7321): Display of the PL2370 pre-crusher, which can reduce 70-inch PVC pipe into 3-inch chips and handle PVC pipe up to 23 feet in length. The system has capacity of 15,000 pounds per hour while also providing low maintenance costs.
MP Pumps Inc. (Booth E10039): Additions to the HTO family of high-temperature pumps, with new options including flanged connections and pedestal drives for pumps from 0.5-20 horsepower and temperatures to 650° F. Also showing custom hot-oil and stainless-steel pumps.
MTI-America (Booth N5150): MTI mobile mixer with removable container for powder coatings, masterbatches and color pigment applications. The mixer offers rational handling, easy transport without demixing, short mixing times, short cleaning times and dustless feeding and discharging.
Nordfab Systems Inc. (Booth E13316): The Vortex by Vecoplan rotary grinder with proprietary research and software system to enhance performance and durability, with throughputs up to 20,000 pounds per hour.
Novatec Inc. (Booth S754 and N5408): Blender controls on NovaBlend 600 and 1200 gravimetric blenders and BBS weigh blenders use a new system to automatically recompute the values for color and other additives based on the weight of virgin and regrind material, allowing processors to cut operator costs by cutting waste. An optional keypad also allows for storage of more than 1,000 recopies.
Onsrud Cutter (Booth N8342): Improved router bits for machining cast and extruded acrylic, with the OC 63-700 series for rigid or cast acrylics in 10 different SKU part numbers, from one-sixteenth inch to three-eighths inch, and the OC 63-750 series for softer or extruded pieces available in eight SKUs in the same range of sizes.
Pallmann Pulverizers Co. Inc. (Booth N5736): PKM 800 disc mill with a new housing design and single set-screw adjustable gap setting.
Pelletizer Knives Inc. (Booth S4235): PLC-driven knife adjusting system for underwater pelletizers.
Process Control Corp. (Booth N5445): Newly designed 12-element-control Guardian blender with metering and weighing system that provides accurate batch-to-batch measurement for extruders with a mixer design to determine how uniform the blend is.
Reduction Engineering Inc./ Accu-Grind Industrial Knife Co.(Booth E10457): Accu-Grind has teamed with Conair to manufacture all Conair pelletizer rotors and provide original equipment manufacturer replacement parts. The company also will provide state-of-the-art CNC sharpening services for Conair pelletizer customers.
ReTech Industries Inc. (Booth E10952): Ongoing demonstrations on the ReTech grinder will focus on the RG52 rotary grinder, which takes over the chores of both shredders and grinders, handling large rejects and purging without prior reduction.
Robert Barr Inc. (Booth S768): Barr sleeve mixer and Barr 2000 screw.
Rotogran International Inc. (Booth E13639): Improvements and modifications to W.O. series granulators. Plus, the new Rotoshred, a single-shot, low-speed rotary grinder for purgings and thick-walled parts.
Scheer Bay Co. (Booth N5170): BT-25 Uni-Base and SGS-50E Uni-Base pelletizer air-knife water bath, each on its own stand, and the SGS-300A pelletizer for micropellets.
Scientific Process & Research Inc. (Booth E13903): Left Hook mixer for dispersive and distributive mixing, with self-cleaning and innovations to maximize melt homogeneity. Also, Extrud-2000 computer-aided-engineering simulation software.
Southwestern Wire Cloth (Booth E11419): Extruder and pack screens, and Vibrecon separators.
Specialty Blades Inc. (Booth E12115): Scarface circular blade and tube sharpening machine which can sharpen circular blades and tubes with hollow-ground edges to provide an improved cutting surface.
Sterling Inc. (Booth S2715): Maverick MVP beside-the-press granuators from Sterling Ball & Jewell. Four sizes available, for processing from 5-500 pounds and more per hour. Choice of motors, rotors, blade types, chutes and other options. Dual illuminated start/stop buttons. Also, Explorer sprue-cutting granulator, with small footprint and extraslow speed for simple size reduction of sprues and runners.