Mattec Corp. offers wireless control unit
Mattec Corp.'s ProHelp shop floor control has gone wireless.
The company in Loveland, Ohio, is offering a new wireless machine interface unit. The units broadcast electronic signals from a radio device on the machine that is picked up by a radio receiver near the computer file server.
Wireless communications make it easier to move machines around. No more cut wires and poor wire splicing.
The wireless devices can be retrofitted onto existing machines and systems installed within the last 10 years. Mattec's wireless communications can work on either its Windows NT-based ProHelp system, or its Unix-based ProHelp Millennium.
Tel. (513) 683-1802, fax (513) 683-1619, e-mail [email protected] tec.com.
D-S Brookes expands in bimetalic barrels
Davis-Standard Corp. has expanded the barrel and screw product line of Davis-Standard Brookes Ltd. in Oldbury, England, which it bought in 2000.
D-S Brookes is now making a wider range of bimetalic barrels and liners. The bimetalic process gives wear and corrosion resistance for applications such as highly filled materials. The company makes bimetalic barrels ranging in bore size from three-fourths of an inch to 211/2 inches, and up to 225 inches long, in a single piece. For larger machines, the company offers two-piece barrels up to 303 inches long.
Screws are available as large as 10 inches in diameter and nearly 275 inches long.
D-S Brookes also offers a standard application finish through flight tipping to fully encapsulted bimetalic screws, plus re-sleeving for worn nitrided barrels.
In other news, the Pawcatuck, Conn.-based Davis-Standard shipped a custom-made extrusion system to make cross-linked polyethylene to a plant in Geneva, Switzerland, run by its sister company OSi Specialties. OSi will use the line for its laboratory and customer trials. The extruder has a screw diameter of 11/2 inches and a length-to-diameter ratio of 30-to-1.
Davis-Standard also announced that Biax-Fiberfilm Corp., which makes melt-blown equipment for the nonwovens industry, has picked it as the preferred extruder partner for turnkey systems. Biax-Fiberfilm is based in Greensville, Wis.
Tel. (860) 599-1010, e-mail [email protected]
Maag adds sensors, transducers to line
Maag Pump Systems Textron Inc. is adding a line of pressure transducers and melt temperature sensors to its portfolio of extrusion gear pumps and screen changers.
``We continue our long-term strategy to serve the plastics market with a complete system for melt handling and filtration,'' said Maag Chief Executive Officer Frank Brinken.
The new range of transducers and sensors are available in metric and U.S. standard sizes.
Maag's U.S. headquarters is in Charlotte, N.C.
Tel. (704) 716-9000, fax (704) 716-9001.
Motan introduces low-cost dryer line
Motan Inc. of Plainwell, Mich., said its Luxor 200S central dryer is the first in a line of ``simple,'' low-cost dryers, dubbed the S-line.
Motan plans to introduce S series versions of all of its central dryers.
The 200S is designed for use with Motan's ETA-design central drying bins. The unit features a stationary twin-desiccant tower for low-maintenance operation.
Motan said the dryer is designed for processors that want the benefits of central drying, but don't need advanced control options such as data trending. Unlike other ``low-cost'' dryers, Motan said its S series still includes commercial, programmable logic control, audible and visual alarms, safety features such as airflow indication sensors and lockable main power disconnect.
Tel. (269) 685-1050, e-mail [email protected]
Maxson presents high-speed sheeter
Maxson Automatic Machinery Co. in Westerly, R.I., said its cross-cutting revolving sheeter features a low-inertia design that cuts at high speed on short cut-offs, but permits a high level of knife loading.
The MKD reaches speeds of up to 1,300 feet per minute. Blade adjustment clamps allow fine-tuning of the cross-cut blades and quick knife changes.
The blades are mounted in rotating cylinders.
Tel. (401) 596-0162, fax (401) 596-3870.
Titan eyes plastics for cross-linking services
A San Diego company that makes electron beam technology to sanitize the U.S. mail from anthrax and sterilize medical products, now is targeting the plastics industry.
Titan Scan Technologies introduced its PrecisionScan systems and contract services for cross-linking polyethylene and other types of plastics. Cross-linking improves strength, resistance to abrasion and solvents and heat stability, the company said.
Titan Scan has contract service centers in San Diego, Denver and Lima, Ohio.
The company calls its mail sanitizing system MailSafe.
Tel. (800) 438-1423, fax (443) 331-1492.
Shut-off tip designed for standard nozzles
A new $350 shut-off tip from Molders Choice Inc. in Solon, Ohio, allows injection molders to transform any standard replaceable-tip nozzle into a shut-off nozzle at a fraction of the cost of a conventional shut-off nozzle.
The nozzle tip installs easily in place of a standard seven-eighths-inch, No. 14 tip. The spring-loaded valve opens when the tip is run forward against the sprue, and snaps shut when the carriage pulls back for sprue break.
Tel. (440) 349-6174, fax (440) 349-6176, e-mail mold [email protected]
Watlow controllers increase accuracy
Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. said its SD Series of temperature controllers features improved accuracy, a better operator interface and expanded input/output capacity.
SD controllers also have infrared wireless input and Watlow's InfoSense smart sensor technology.
Watlow also introduced a line of heaters for hot-runner nozzles and manifolds that use the St. Louis, Mo., company's thick-film technology.
Also new from Watlow is its PPC-2000 controller for extrusion.
Tel. (314) 878-4600, fax (314) 878-6814.
Granulator handles TPE, soft materials
Size Reduction Specialists Corp. said its Bi-Cutter screenless granulator is designed especially for handling hard-to-reprocess soft materials, such as thermoplastic elastomers.
The Bi-Cutter uses a two-shaft, patented cutter design that allows the second-stage stationary and rotary cutters to be adjusted to very tight tolerances. This allows the TPE material to be cut into consistent particle sizes that easily can be reprocessed through an injection molding press.
Customers of East Lansing, Mich.-based Size Reduction Specialists also are using the machine to granulate ethylene vinyl acetate.
The granulator also can run conventional resins, including glass-filled materials.
The Bi-Cutter comes with a cutting chamber size ranging from 6 by 8 inches to 15 by 7 inches.
Tel. (517) 333-2605, fax (517) 333-8870, e-mail [email protected] corp.com.
Air knife removes static electricity
Exair Corp.'s 3-inch Super Ion Air Knife is a compact static eliminator that cleans surfaces up to 20 feet away.
Plastics applications include syringes, containers, bags, molded parts, film and printed sufaces. Cincinnati-based Exair said removing static boosts production rates and improves product appearance.
Ordinary static bars, sometimes called ionizing bars, only cover a 2-inch area. But the Super Ion Air Knife can sweep three-dimensional parts at great distances with ionized air.
Tel. (513) 671-3322, fax (513) 671-3363, e-mail [email protected]
