Tricon Industries Inc. is to begin operating its first injection molding press committed to Trexel Inc.'s microcellular-molding MuCell technology, and is finding that some customers already are aware of the system's capabilities.
``One company came to us and said they ... wanted us to look into it,'' Jeff Terrell, Tricon manager of product development, said March 5 at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2002 World Congress in Detroit. ``We were able to tell them that we were already there.''
The Lisle, Ill.-based molder obtained a license to use the Trexel process late last year. Its 88-ton Arburg press committed to the system arrives later this spring. The firm said the technology represents a significant investment.
Tricon is intent on taking the technology into smaller components, using MuCell's lower melt temperatures and low mold pressures for insert molding involving sensitive electronic components, such as the smart connectors that will go into 42-volt power systems.
``We're trying to use it in ways that they didn't originally conceive,'' Terrell said.
