Leistritz introduces PC-based controller
American Leistritz Extruder Corp. is calling its personal-computer-based controller for twin-screw extruders, the Macromatex TSCS.
The system, with Windows 2000 software, eliminates the need for a programmable logic controller and discrete temperature controls. Auto-tune temperature control for the barrel sections and die is performed within the PC software itself.
The operator uses a keyboard or a touch screen, or both.
Leistritz, headquartered in Somerville, N.J., said the controller can store an unlimited number of recipes. It also easily exports run information into a spreadsheet.
The TSCS can be retrofitted onto existing Leistritz twin-screw extruders.
Tel. (908) 685-2333, fax (908) 685-0247, e-mail [email protected]
Engel program to refurbish machines
Injection press manufacturer Engel Machinery Inc. has launched a refurbishing program for its machines.
Engel said its services range from a cosmetic make-over to the addition of a secondary injection unit or rotary table, upgrading a press to meet safety standards, adding automation, or converting voltage to prepare machines for transfer to Europe or Asia.
The Engel presses can be rebuilt to work like new, for only a fraction of the price of a new injection machine. Another plus: Employees are familiar with the equipment.
For information, contact Engel's plant in Guelph, Ontario.
Tel. (519) 836-0220, fax (519) 836- 3714, e-mail [email protected]
Spanish firm to use Battenfeld HM press
Battenfeld GmbH of Meinerzhagen, Germany, said an unidentified Spanish customer has purchased one of its HM presses to mold toilet seats using sandwich molding, also known as coinjection.
Coinjection allows processors to mold an outer layer around a foamed core, or combine a core of regrind, and cut material costs. Also, reinforcing components can be added to the core material.
The process also can improve the properties of molded parts.
In the toilet-seat application, virgin ABS is used as the surface material. The core is made of recycled ABS with a granulate, to which a chemical foaming agent is added.
The machinery maker's U.S. headquarters, Battenfeld of America Inc., is in West Warwick, R.I.
Tel. (401) 823-0700, fax (401) 823-5641.
Extruder touting swing-arm controller
Diamond America Corp. said its TL-350 extruder has a swing-arm controller, which allows the operator to work at the die area while programming the extruder, for faster setup.
When used in coextrusion, the controls are located in the same panel as the main extrusion controls.
The Tallmadge, Ohio, company said it can put the swing-arm feature on any size extruder. The TL-350 has a screw diameter of 31/2 inches and a length-to-diameter ratio of 30-to-1.
Tel. (330) 633-9959, fax (330) 633-9557, e-mail [email protected]
Two extruder firms offer compact drive
Hey extruder builders: Looking for a compact drive for your single-screw machines?
Henschel America Inc. of Green Bay, Wis., and K&A Knoedler GmbH of Ostfildern, Germany, say they have what you need.
After a year of sales in Europe, the companies are introducing a drive that is half the size of a standard drive, at lower costs. It also puts out torque from the lowest to fast speeds.
The new drive consists of four, three-phase alternating-current motors arranged around one bigger gear. The gear has a hollow shaft in the middle and a thrust bearing in the front. The extruder screw can be directly connected to the hollow shaft.
Another advantage of the hollow shaft is the ability to remove the screw through the drive, or to access the screw for cooling or heating purposes.
Henschel America also announced a new series of economically priced gearboxes for single-screw extruders.
Tel. (920) 336-1122, fax (920) 336-5274, e-mail [email protected]
Polydynamics offers simulation software
Polydynamics Inc. has released Nextrucad 1.0, the single-screw extrusion simulation package from the company in Hamilton, Ontario.
Nextrucad simulates solids transport, melting and metering in single-screw extruders. The software also predicts the solid bed profile, pressure buildup and bulk temperature along the screw axis, along with the extruder output, power requirement, torque and average residence time.
Polydynamics said Nextrucad is a successor, rather than an update, to its earlier simulation software package called Extrucad.
Tel. (905) 570-0200, fax (905) 570-0909, e-mail [email protected]
Sheet maker buys Berstorff's PET line
An Italian company, RPC Cobelplast srl, has purchased a sheet extrusion line from Berstorff GmbH to run PET without the need for pre-drying.
The three-layer line uses a co-rotating twin-screw extruder with vacuum degassing and includes a horizontal three-roll smooth stack, plus a laminating unit, all made by Berstorff of Hanover, Germany. It also has a filter system that can remove a high degree of contamination.
Cobelplast has made sheet for more than 30 years, starting with polystyrene sheet. The company in Montonate, north of Milan, added PET sheet in the 1990s. Up until now, the plant has run four single-screw extruders to make all its products. The Berstorff machine, which can run both PP and PET, will nearly double the total production.
Cobelplast is part of the RPC Group of Higham Ferrers, the United Kingdom.
The extruder maker's U.S. headquarters is Berstorff Corp. in Florence, Ky.
Tel. (859) 283-0200, fax (859) 283-1860.
New Wayne film line boasts flexibility
Wayne Machine & Die Co. of Totowa, N.J., said its new cast film line is designed to be easily reconfigurable, for use in an extrusion laboratory.
Unlike coextrusion systems with fixed controllers, the dual-use satellite extruder on the line has its own control panel that is independent of the other extruder. That means researchers can remove the extruder completely when running single-layer film, and use the extruder on another line.
Wayne Machine supplies the complete line, including both extruders, a multilayer feed block, push-pull cast film die and takeoff system with nip rolls.
Tel. (973) 256-7374, fax (973) 256-1778, e-mail [email protected]
