Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. debuted its thick-film hot-runner nozzle and manifold heaters to a European audience.
St. Louis-based Watlow has patented the heating element technology. The company claims the heaters eliminate with hot and cold spots along the nozzles and manifold. The elements also heat up much quicker than standard cable-and-tubular heating devices. The firm introduced the heaters in Europe at K show.
The nozzle heaters boast a very low profile, which allows a much closer spacing between hot-runner nozzles.
The manifold heaters are stainless-steel plates that clamp directly to the outer surface of the manifold. Because the shape of the heater matches the shape of the manifold, the heater can adapt easily to any hot-runner geometry. Also, it eliminates the need to machine grooves into the manifold to hold tubular heaters.
Separately, Watlow was named company of the year by the St. Louis chapter of the American Production and Inventory Control Society. Watlow, an APICS member, earned the award for active participation in APICS' certification programs and educational seminars.
Tel. (314) 878-4600, fax (314) 878-6814.
