Accrapak pelletizers offer easy control
Accrapak Systems Ltd. of Warrington, England, has rolled out a new range of strand pelletizers, boasting easy setting for control of pellet length.
An electronic selection system programs pellet length from 1-3 millimeters. The system eliminates the need for time-consuming changes of drive sprockets or feed gears to set the length.
Tel. +44 (1925) 222-926, fax +44 (1925) 220-137, e-mail [email protected]
Axon extruder forms two blown film tubes
Swedish machinery maker Axon AB has introduced a small blown film extruder that extrudes two film tubes from the same extruder, thanks to a split melt stream via a special feed block.
The machine is used to make packaging tubes for bottom welding or other types of closing, and making sausage casings where no longitudinal welding is acceptable.
Axon of Nyvang, Sweden, said the K show in Dusseldorf, Germany, marked the first time it was presenting a machine with two film systems from one extruder.
Tel. +46 (42) 570 80, fax +46 (42) 541 52, e-mail [email protected] borg.se.
Stäubli 6-axis robot loads press from side
Stäubli Tec-Systems GmbH of Bayreuth, Germany, is targeting the plastics industry with its six-axis robot, the RXplastics.
The robot, which debuted at K 2001, sits beside an injection press and reaches in from the side. It comes in three models, with load capacity of 55 pounds and a maximum reach at the wrist of 871/2 inches.
Stäubli said its robots are pre-wired for the Euromap 12 standards, so they can be directly connected to injection molding presses.
In other news, Stäubli announced that electronics molder Eimo Technologies, formerly Triple S Plastics Inc., has purchased 12 of its robots.
Eimo Technologies bought its first Stäubli robot in 2001, for use in an automated manufacturing cell at its Georgetown, Texas, plant. Four window components for cellular phones, held together by a runner, are molded simultaneously. The robot removes the windows from the mold, cuts off the gate, drops each window individually into a plastic bag and discards the runner down a chute.
Eimo Technologies, based in Portage, Mich., has been expanding its automation in recent years and chose Stäubli RX130 six-axis robots for their higher throughput, the company said.
Stäubli's U.S. headquarters is in Duncan, S.C.
Tel. (864) 433-1980, fax (864) 486-5485.
Lectro upgrading MTM spin trimmer
A year after buying the assets of MTM Systems Inc., Lectro Engineering Co. has upgraded the MTM 2025 spin trimmer for blow molded plastic bottles.
St. Louis-based Lectro plans to improve the entire MPM line.
Lectro said the improvements to the spin trimmer include devices to detect scrap domes and incorrect trim. The detection devices are tied to an audible alarm and warning lights. Other new features include a V-belt design for better belt tracking, adjustable bottle discharge chutes with removable sides and a dust cover.
An input/output programmable logic controller allows the 2025 to communicate with other equipment.
Tel. (314) 567-3100, fax (314) 567-3466, e-mail [email protected]
Nip-Stat calculates nip roller equations
Sensor Experts Inc. of East Hanover, N.J., is selling a software program called Nip-Stat, for fast calculation of nip roller equations for Palm-based platforms.
Nip-Stat easily allows an engineer to perform calculations such as crown correction, cover deflection, crown of roll and crown at station, and speed differential.
The software costs $39.
Tel. (973) 884-1755, fax (973) 884-1699, e-mail [email protected]
Machine finishes neck-to-neck logs
Belvac Production Machinery Inc. developed a machine to finish two-up, neck-to-neck polyolefin container ``logs'' made by a major North American blow molder.
The two extrusion blow molded bottles, joined in a dumbbell-shaped part, have to be separated and trimmed. Belvac said its rotary machine, the MT/F 200, trims out the centerpiece, or moil, sets the containers in an upright position and smooths out the rough edges on both the inner neck finish and the top sealing surface. It can finish 100 logs, or 200 containers, per minute.
Belvac, in Lynchburg, Va., said the customer, which it declined to identify, has ordered a large number of the machines to replace its current in-line and horizontal spin trimmers, which have resulted in high scrap rates and machine downtime.
Belvac is limiting sales of the trimmer design to plants outside North America. But the equipment maker said the restriction does not cover its range of trimming and finishing systems.
Tel. (603) 354-7801, fax (603) 354-5830, e-mail [email protected]
