The Society of Plastics Engineers' Annual Technical Conference, Antec 2001, drew more than 3,000 people to the Dallas Convention Center from May 6-10. Plastics News senior reporter Bill Bregar gathered the following product introductions and announcements.
Extruder gearbox touts torque factor
Thyssen Henschel America Inc. said its T2Max gearbox for twin-screw extruders has the highest torque factor of any gearbox in the industry.
Torque factor is derived by a ratio formula that allows different sizes of extruders and materials to be compared.
In compounding extruders, the biggest trend in recent years has been high-output/high-torque machines. According to Thyssen Henschel America in Green Bay, Wis., the previous high-torque level for gearboxes was a torque factor of 30-40. The T2Max reaches 50.
Extruder producers forming sales pact
An agreement linking NFM Welding Engineers Inc. and Rondol Technology Ltd. unites companies from two continents that make large and tiny extruders.
NFM of Massillon, Ohio, makes full-size, twin-screw extruders under a license from Tokyo-based Toshiba Machine Co. Ltd.
Rondol of Stone Staffs, England, builds very small extruders and injection molding machines for laboratories and small-part production.
Now Rondol will sell NFM extruders in all of Europe. In turn, NFM/Welding Engineers will sell Rondol equipment in the United States.