CHICAGO (Aug. 9, 3:30 p.m. EDT) — German machinery maker Battenfeld GmbH showed its diverse range of injection molding machines, extruders and blown film lines during NPE 2000 in Chicago.
NPE 2000 marked the North American launch for Meinerzhagen, Germany-based Battenfeld's tiny Microsystem injection presses, first shown two years earlier, in Germany at K'98.
Microsystem presses can make so-called microcomponents, such as parts for watches or cameras, little sensors for cars and computer and medical parts.
At NPE, a Microsystem 50 with 5.5 tons of clamping force and a special plunger technology turned out watch gears in a four-cavity mold.
In other news from the show, held June 19-23 in Chicago, Battenfeld announced a new design for its hydraulic-clamp CDC presses that integrates the controller into a center console. The positioning places the operator directly in front of the molding area. A new clamping-unit package features stabilized guide strips for better mold closing, a tighter reduced-tolerance range for parallelism of the moving and fixed platens, and decreased longitudinal tolerance of tie bars and space columns.
Battenfeld of America Inc., based in West Warwick, R.I., also demonstrated multimaterial molding by producing a part with a core of flax-fiber-reinforced polypropylene and a PP skin. A third injection unit molded a separate part from thermoplastic elastomer.
Another press, a 200-ton Vertical R machine with a rotary table, insert molded a sensor housing for a car. The third injection unit was making a TPE part.
At NPE 2000, extruder maker American Maplan Corp. showed a new double-spider die head for PVC pipe and an improved PVC profile technology that increases output while reducing screw and barrel wear.
In the double-spider setup, the die is fitted with two rings with offset spider legs. That prevents straight weld lines on the pipe, improving the strength and quality of the pipe. Maplan said the die can be used to make pipe with diameters ranging from 2.5 inches to 11.2 inches, at an output rate of 2,002 pounds an hour.
Also in Chicago, Maplan displayed a profile extrusion line with 3.7-inch diameter screw that can turn out up to 770 pounds an hour of PVC profiles. In a new design, pre-heating sections of the screw have extra-large surface areas to heat all of the material evenly. Negative flank angles on some screw sections reduce barrel-to-screw wear, while giving greater surface area where the screw contacts the melt. Higher output and less wear are the result, according to the company in McPherson, Kan.
Maplan also showed a pipe extrusion line making polyethylene pipes with a diameter range of 0.4-5 inches on a single-screw extruder with a 3-inch-diameter screw.
Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc. showed its new Windows-based operator control panel, the Extrol Plus, on a machine running three-layer blown film.
Windows means the touch-screen controller is easier to use, according to the company in Gloucester, Mass.
On the machine running at NPE, a gauge fed data directly into Extrol's Autoprofile control, to minimize any thickness variations using the air ring.
Three Contracool extruders each were linked to an AccuraBlend gravimetric blending and feeding system. The main extruder had a screw diameter of 3.5 inches. Two secondary extruders had 2.5-inch screws. All three screws had a length-to-diameter ratio of 30-1.
Battenfeld Gloucester makes up to nine-layer blown film systems.
Battenfeld Gloucester also showed its Model 1005 dual turret winder — which it claims adapts to more film products than any of its other winders. The 1005 is designed for small-roll applications such as stretch or cling film, tubing, sheeting, in-line bags and construction film, and also larger-diameter products such as lamination sheeting.
Model 1005 can be configured with a high-speed index system and cantilevered shafts, for stretch film, or with a normal-speed index and cantilevered shafts for small-diameter rolls. The winder is available for film widths up to 120 inches, roll diameters as large as 30 inches and rolls weighing up to 2,500 pounds.
In sheet extrusion, the company displayed its Model 2000 Slant Stack chill rolls. The 45-degree configuration of the rolls minimizes sheet sagging, said the company, which also offers straight stack units in its 2000 series.
In foam extrusion, Battenfeld Gloucester said its new Opticell Annular Foam Sheet Die controls thickness and provides more-efficient foam processing than other dies. Standard dies can generate spider weld lines and striations from breaker-plate holes, but Opticell's conical taperlock design eliminates those problems, the company said.