Maag Pump introduces screen changers
CHICAGO — Maag Pump Systems Textron Inc. (Booth N5415) is introducing the Deltrex line of screen changers at NPE.
They include sealless, single- and dual-piston designs, and a single-piston discontinuous design. The Charlotte, N.C., firm claims the new line offers leak-free continuous filtration for a wide range of extrusion applications.
Standard features include solenoid-activated hydraulic cylinders with remote push-button control, easily accessible heaters with insulated housings, and vent grooves for complete deaeration after screen change.
Holliday Pigments unveils color grades
CHICAGO — Holliday Pigments Ltd. (Booth N5628) is debuting two more grades of premier ultramarine violets.
Premier VX is a blue-shade ultramarine violet that is 10 percent stronger than existing violet grades. Premier VB is an intermediate blue-shade violet complementing the firm's existing red-shade violet Premier VU. The new grade is 25 percent stronger than Holliday's standard equivalent grade 13.
The Hull, England, company said the new grades have Food and Drug Administration approval and have been color tested for plastics specifications.
Milacron opening metal injection unit
CHICAGO — Milacron Inc. (Booth S2949) has created a new unit targeting metal injection molding. The company also announced it has built the world's largest machine for coinjection molding — a 6,600-ton Maxima press.
Bill Reinhart, a 27-year Milacron veteran, is heading the new metal and ceramic injection molding machinery business unit. At NPE, Milacron is demonstrating MIM on its new line of budget-priced small presses, the Vista Edge line. The press is turning out stainless-steel turbine impellers, using a hot-runner setup.
Milacron has developed a special MIM package for small-tonnage machines, which includes special wear-resistant barrels, screws, screw tips and nozzles.
The coinjection news goes to the other extreme — a giant two-platen Maxima machine. The company recently finished building a 6,600-ton Ferromatik-Milacron press with coinjection for an undisclosed molder in the Midwest. The press features two injection units with shot capacities of 368 ounces and 413 ounces, feeding a single nozzle through Milacron's patented coinjection manifold.
The machinery maker announced the MIM unit and the coinjection news on June 19, the first day of NPE 2000.
AccuWeb displays monitoring system
CHICAGO — AccuWeb Inc. (Booth E13357) is introducing a webwidth monitoring system that is suited to a range of materials, including clear films.
The system uses no moving parts and features a three-button remote station that is the operator's interface with the equipment. Its compact design allows easy, remote setup. A job recipe function allows the operator to store and recall tolerance and calibration settings for up to 25 products and processes.
AccuWeb's system has no moving parts and features ultrasonic-array edge detectors. The detectors include compensation circuitry for environmental and process variables such as dust and humidity, which can deceive conventional edge detectors.
The Madison, Wis., firm said typical applications include blown or flat-film extruders, multiple-web sheeters, laminators and web-weave monitoring.
Dow, Carbide merger deal to close soon
CHICAGO — Dow Chemical Co. and Union Carbide Corp. say they expect their pending merger to close in the third quarter of this year, according to a June 14 news release from both companies.
The merger received final approval from the European Commission, subject to certain conditions, and is awaiting clearance from the Federal Trade Commission and the Canadian Competition Bureau.
"Transactions of this size and complexity ... typically take longer than one might initially expect," said William Stavropoulos, Dow president and chief executive officer. "But we are confident we can bring this to resolution within a short timeframe."
The combined firm will have annual sales of about $24 billion and will rank as North America's largest polyethylene maker as well as being a global leader in polystyrene production. The new company also produces polypropylene and several engineering resins in addition to plastic feedstocks such as ethylene.
Plastics sales account for about half of Midland, Mich.-based Dow's annual sales. At Danbury, Conn.-based Carbide, plastics brought in about one-third of annual sales.
The companies expect the merger to result in annual cost savings of $500 million, some of which will be achieved by eliminating roughly 2,000 jobs.
Dow Plastics is exhibiting at NPE Booth S2700.
