Groupe Sidel shows new Combi CSD line
At the Interpack show in Dusseldorf, Germany, French packaging machinery maker Groupe Sidel unveiled a new size of its Combi CSD line that does blow molding, filling and capping operations for carbonated beverages in PET bottles.
One new feature: Sidel strengthens the bottles by rinsing them with water immediately after blowing. That prevents bottle deformation when the bottle is pressurized while being filled with carbonated beverage, when a warm bottle can weaken.
At Interpack, April 24-30, Sidel showed the new Combi range, called the SRS-G 20/90/120/20. The machine has 20 blowing stations, 90 rinsing heads, 120 filling nozzles and 10 capping stations. The press can blow, fill and cap up to 28,000 11/2-liter PET bottles per hour.
Sidel of Le Havre, France, said the SRS-G also may be used to package noncarbonated liquids.
Sidel's U.S. headquarters, Sidel Inc., is based in Norcross, Ga.
Tel. (770) 449-8058, fax (770) 409-2208, e-mail [email protected]
Machine attaches mold horizontally
A new expanded polystyrene shape-molding machine from Hirsch Maschinbau GmbH & Co. KG of Glanegg, Austria, mounts the mold horizontally, increasing the number of cavities.
The HS 2200 can mold EPS shapes measuring up to 84 inches by 56 inches by 24 inches, on a 60-second cycle.
Options include a stacking and mold-changing device, cooling-water equipment, a vacuum plant, hydraulic tool clamping and a tool pallet with an air cushion system.
Hirsch USA Inc. is based in Peachtree City, Ga.
Tel. (770) 632-6484, fax (770) 632-6485, e-mail [email protected] .com.
Blending technology puts firm in spotlight
Business Week magazine's Developments to Watch section featured a new blending technology for recycling from New Generation Plastic Inc. in its Jan. 21 issue.
Waste plastics is fed into a chamber with rotating blades, chopped up and mixed together. Business Week compared it with an ``industrial-scale Cuisinart.''
New Generation Plastic's process is based on the principles of ultrahigh shearing, which breaks down chemical bonds and creates mixed plastics that bond together well, without the need for expensive compatibilizers.
New Generation Plastic is a subsidiary of New York-based New Generation Holdings Inc., a 3-year-old company that develops new technologies in plastics and computer software. The company is traded over the counter on Nasdaq.
New Generation Plastic is talking with officials from Correze in southwestern France about building the first full-scale computer scrap recycling plant.
Tel. (212) 937-5054.
Process Control touts EXT operator panel
Atlanta auxiliary equipment supplier Process Control Corp. said its EXT-series operator panel can monitor and control an unlimited number of gravimetric blenders and Gravitrol control systems for extrusion and line speed.
The EXT also can be used in tandem with a single operator- control panel, which comes standard. The touch-screen control panel uses PCCWeb software, also standard on the company's computer-controlled products.
Communication for the EXT is via a high-speed Ethernet connection.
Tel. (770) 449-8810, fax (770) 449-5445.
Gentex Corp. designs laser welding process
Gentex Corp., which specializes in making military helmets and other products that use polycarbonate, has developed a process called Clearweld for laser welding of clear or colored plastics with no particulates or visible color changes.
Gentex developed the technology when it made PC helmet visors that protect a pilot's eyes from laser-beam attack by absorbing the laser into the visor. The Welding Institute, which was working on ways to laser weld clear plastics, contacted Gentex because of its expertise in PC fabricating and the absorption materials.
A thin layer of the proprietary material is applied at the junction of two pieces of plastic. The laser-absorbing material focuses the laser, creating very localized heat that instantly makes the weld.
Gentex of Carbondale, Pa., has exclusive rights to commercialize the process worldwide. The company is marketing Clearweld to other markets, such as electronics, medical, automotive, consumer products and packaging.
Gentex said laser welding compares favorably with other joining methods, such as hot-plate and ultrasonic welding, but it accommodates preassembly and high welding speets, permits three-dimensional contour joints and allows rapid product changeover.
Initially, the company is focusing on formulating Clearweld materials for application through inkjet printing and liquid dispensing.
Gentex introduced Clearweld during the Medical Design & Manufacturing show, held in Anaheim, Calif., in February. A patent is pending.
Tel. (507) 282-3550, fax (570) 282-8555, e-mail [email protected] texcorp.com.
Insol now offering small, midsize robots
Insol Inc. of Shelbyville, Ky., has introduced lower-cost robots for use on small to midsize injection molding machines.
The IT series can be mounted on injection molding machines with clamping forces of 50-550 tons, with vertical stroke requirements of 26-40 inches. The traverse stroke ranges from 48-60 inches. IT robots can carry payloads of 10-20 pounds.
ITW robots with telescoping arms are designed for larger injection presses, up to 850 tons, with vertical stroke requirements of 28-68 inches and a traverse stroke of 48-80 inches. Payload ranges from 10-27 pounds.
Louis Batson Inc. of Greenville, S.C., represents Insol robots.
Tel. (864) 242-5262, e-mail [email protected]
Weima develops large-parts grinders
Weima America Inc. has developed grinders that can handle large plastic parts, such as long or wide pipes and profiles.
The WLK-R feeds the scrap from above through a funnel. A hydraulic, load-controlled device pushes the material against the turning rotor. Feeding from above can accommodate parts up to 10 feet long and with a diameter of 4 feet.
Weima offers the grinder with rotor widths of 40-120 inches, in either electrical or hydraulic drive.
Weima America, based in Fort Mill, S.C., is the U.S. unit of Weima Maschinenbau GmbH of Ilsfeld, Germany.
Another grinder, the WPR-HK, can handle parts up to 261/2 feet long with diameters of 32 inches, by feeding the parts through a horizontal feeding unit.
Tel. (803) 802-7170, fax (803) 802-7098, e-mail [email protected]
Cumberland unveils 65 Series granulator
Cumberland Engineering Corp. has introduced a 65 Series beside-the-press granulator.
A belt-drive motor spins the high-inertia flywheel, so the grinder can run at a slow speed of 190 rpms. The three-knife open rotor with scooped wings uses slant-cut knives that are heat-treated.
The machine can handle small parts such as runners, small blow molded parts, extruded tubes and profiles and edge trim from sheet extrusion. Throughputs range from 150-300 pounds.
Other features include a reversible top hopper section for easier feeding of longer runners, and a removable flapper assembly.
Cumberland of South Attleboro, Mass., also named Davis Wolf as regional sales manager. He began his career with Cumberland in 1993. Wolf, based out of his home office in Columbus, Ohio, will handle the Midwest, Ohio Valley, southwestern United States and part of Canada.
Tel. (508) 399-3060, fax (508) 399-6653.
Guill claims die line betters parts making
The FlexiSpiral line of crosshead and inline dies from Guill Tool & Extrusion Co. Inc. improves extrusion performance for making pipe, wire and cable, and hose and tubing, according to the company in West Warwick, R.I.
The new dies improve roundness of the end products, greatly reducing the material use over other types of extrusion tooling.
FlexiSpiral dies offer a patent-pending FeatherTouch adjustment in the die holder. The cartridge-style ball assembly does not require the retaining screws to be loosened to make adjustments.
Another feature, Guill's Seal Right Systems, creates a positive seal to eliminate leakage between deflectors, plus easy self-alignment that reduces operator error during assembly, the firm claims.
FlexiSpiral tooling can make parts with one to five layers, with multiple feed-port locations.
Tel. (401) 828-7600, fax (401) 823-5310, e-mail [email protected]
Xaloy introduces a catalog program
Xaloy Inc. has launched a catalog program in which customers only have to identify the make, model and injection unit of an injection press to determine everything they need to order a replacement part.
Xaloy of Pulaski, Va., claims the catalog covers about 80 percent of the injection molding machines used in North America.
``The catalog system avoids the time-consuming hassle of submitting or verifying engineering drawings,'' said Terry Vaughn, Xaloy's national catalog sales manager.
The catalog is available in printed or electronic form.
Tel. (866) 922-8256, e-mail cata [email protected]
Burger Engineering gets a new name
Burger Engineering Inc., which makes the Thinswitch ejector plate return switch and other Smartflow-brand auxiliary items for injection molding, has a new name: Burger & Brown Engineering Inc.
The name change reflects the fact that Vice President Mark Brown has purchased a minority stake and assumed responsibility for the company in Olathe, Kan.
Brown earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kansas in 1988.
Brown plans to introduce new products each year and improve the company's manufacturing and customer service.
In product news, Burger & Brown said its Smartflow K-Link ejector cushion acts as a shock absorber for the ejector system of an injection press.
The K-Link protects the mold, ejector bars and the machine itself from fatigue during part ejection. The device also protects against a misaligned home position for the ejector.
Tel. (913) 764-3518, fax (913) 764-1714.
D-M-E gives access to online CAD library
D-M-E Co. has launched an on-line library of computer-aided-design drawings of its mold components, available at www.dme.net.
The site has a link to the CAD drawing portal from Part Solutions of Cincinnati. It includes solid models of thousands of D-M-E products that can be used in virtually any CAD system, the company said.
Drawings are received in user-selectable native CAD format, allowing mold makers to modify and add the parts into other production drawings.
``The goal is to have our entire product line available for download by the end of the year,'' said Jeff Strine, advanced technical specialist for the company in Madison Heights, Mich. That includes mold bases and components, hot-runner components and products from Master Unit Die and D-M-E in Europe.
Users quickly can find drawings by entering a part number or using a search function. D-M-E also e-mails a file of changes to past users of a given part, which can be ordered simply by replying to the e-mail.
Tel. (248) 398-6000, fax (248) 398-6174.
Avalon Vision says PlantVision use easy
Avalon Vision Systems LLC of Lithia Springs, Ga., claims its PlantVision 7.0 is much easier to use than comparable camera inspection systems.
The SmartWindow concept permits inspection tools to be ``dropped'' into the inspection image with a touch of the screen, then fine-tuned for the specific application using just a few basic controls.
Production employees quickly can configure the PV 7 for most machine vision-inspection tasks, including measuring and gauging and general quality assurance.
PlantVision's Advanced Machine Interface makes it easy for a technician to tie the vision system in with any digitally controlled machinery, the firm claims.
Tel. (770) 944-8445, fax (770) 941-7299, e-mail [email protected]
