New vertical extruder less likely to tip over
Wayne Machine & Die Co. of Totowa, N.J., said its Yellow Jacket vertical extruders have excellent balanced weight distribution to help prevent tip overs, a safety problem with vertical extruders.
Typically, Wayne Machine said, vertical extruders with in-line gearboxes have all the weight of the mechanical section on one side of the post. The Yellow Jacket positions the motor on the opposite side of the extrusion processing section for more balance.
This layout also allows the use of double-reduction helical gearboxes with shaved ground and hardened gears, instead of soft-gear or enveloping worm-type gearboxes.
The helical gearbox delivers more power to the screw, with less wasted energy converted into heat from friction.
Wayne Machine said processors now can coextrude engineering resins and high-fill materials, which require high levels of screw torque.
The single-post series comes in screw diameters of one-half inch, five-eighths inch, three-fourths inch, 1 inch, 1¼ and 1½ inches. Double-post machines come in 2-and 2½-inch sizes.
Tel. 973-256-7374, fax 973-256-1778, e-mail [email protected]
Amros attains patent for latest cutting die
A Cleveland thin-gauge thermoformer, Amros Industries Inc., has earned a U.S. patent on a knifelike cutting die the company said greatly increases the life of cutting dies, which slice a part from a plastic sheet.
The die includes a die buildup plate that is mounted to a platen and a striker plate mounted to a second platen. It also includes a die board with a knife element mounted to it.
A heating element heats the knife hot enough for easy cutting. The die board also includes a travel stop that prevents the die from being forced into the striker plate and damaging the knife.
Amros Industries also sells its own real-time production control software.
Tel. 216-433-0010, fax 216-433-0011, e-mail [email protected]
Conair's granulator adapts for many uses
New CBW and CGW Series granulators from Conair Group Inc. feature interchangeable back plates that modify the cutting chamber from a supertangential to a restricted-tangential configuration.
That means the same granulator can be adapted to handle bulky thin-wall parts, bottles, sheet and film that normally need tangential feeding, or heavy-wall parts, profiles and sprues and runners more suited to a conventional straight-drop feed.
The new granulators also feature a large swing-away front-panel door for quick and easy access to the cutting chamber. The screen cradle and granulate catch-bin are mounted on the door, so they swing out of the way when the door is opened.
CBW granulators can process up to 500 pounds of material an hour, using 10-inch-diameter rotors that are 12, 18 or 24 inches wide. The larger CGW units can crank out up to 1,000 pounds an hour, with a 14-inch cutting circle and rotor widths of 18, 24 or 36 inches.
Both machines come with a three-blade open rotor standard, but the CGW has an optional five-blade open rotor.
Conair is based in Pittsburgh.
Tel. 412-312-6000, fax 412-312-2322.
KM touts machine's twin-piston design
When it comes to polyurethane metering machines, two pistons are better than one, according to Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH of Munich, Germany.
Krauss-Maffei said the tandem-piston design gives a more constant flow than single-piston metering systems when running abrasive materials, such as fillers, flame inhibitors and reinforcing fibers.
The Tandem Hybrid PU metering machine uses a sophisticated control system to ensure material flow remains constant, even during switchover between the pistons, which are actuated by servomotor spindle drives. According to Krauss- Maffei, spindle drives are better than hydraulic drives.
Krauss-Maffei's U.S. operation is in Florence, Ky.
Tel. 859-283-0200, fax 859-283-0290.
Tool delivers precise amount of urethane
Max Machinery Inc. of Healdsburg, Calif., has released a semiautomated tool for the hand-batching urethane market, called the 771 Series.
Through a precision scale and a dispensing valve, Max has created a rapid dispenser that can deliver a specified amount of urethane within 1 gram of the batch set point.
The 771 dispenser can handle 5-gallon pails of resin.
Tel. 707-433-7281, fax 707-433-0571.
Kuka KR robots help produce bumper line
Decoma GmbH in Sulzbach, Germany, picked two Kuka KR 150 KS robots, mounted on top of large-tonnage injection molding machines, for two new bumper fascia production lines manufacturing parts for the DaimlerChrysler PT Cruiser and the Audi A4.
Decoma previously had used linear units to handle bumpers, but they took up too much floor space.
``We needed a solution that would cover handling the car bumpers and sill covers after the injection molding process was complete, as well as removing the film gates from the sill covers,'' said Dietmar Hurth, industrial engineer for Decoma.
Working from above, one robot takes the bumper from the press and places it with its side pieces down onto a form-fitted fixture. The robot then removes the film gates, using a blade attached to its gripper. The gates drop into a refuse bin. Next, the robot transfers the bumper to a conveyor belt, which takes the part out of the safeguarded zone.
On the sill covers, the robot takes a pair of covers out of the press and sets them on a table, while the robot holds the parts in position.
The table, which is equipped with 14 blades, cuts all the gates at the same time. Meanwhile, the Kuka robot also holds the gates using pincers. The robot then moves the sill covers to the same conveyor and drops the gates into a container.
The shelf-mounted robot is lightweight but strong, so it can be mounted on top of the press to save space.
Kuka Robotics Corp. is based in Clinton Township, Mich., near Mount Clemens.
Tel. 866-873-5852, e-mail [email protected]
SAS unveils degater for big plastic parts
SAS Automation LLC introduced a new lift degater, as the end-of-arm robotic tooling maker in Xenia, Ohio, continues to move into downstream automation.
The device is designed for large plastic parts. A robot moves the part to the degater and sets the part into the ``part conforming nests'' on top of the unit. The part then is trimmed by several cutting tools that match to the nests.
Waste trim is dropped directly into a container. The finished part is lowered on the lift table to be removed by a packer. A safety light curtain protects the packer from the lift.
SAS makes custom degaters using lift tables, rotary tables and stationary cutting presses, depending on the customer's application. Most systems are operated pneumatically.
Tel. 937-372-5255, fax 937-372-5555.
TSM's batch blender improves on mixing
TSM Control Systems Inc. has added more features to its TSM1000 gravimetric batch blender so it can work with the most difficult regrind.
The latest features improve material flow and mixing to avoid blockage of material.
A positive-displacement mixing auger guarantees a homogenous mix, with no separation of materials, regardless of the percent of regrind or material density.
Another feature: consistent head pressure caused by a downward force from the mixing auger rotation.
Other benefits include quick-cleaning features, storage of up to 60 recipes for quick job changes, and no double-dosing of additives with the regrind material.
TSM is based in Alpharetta, Ga.
Tel. 770-886-6630, e-mail [email protected]
Vent emits air during resin replacement
Materials-handling equipment maker O.A. Newton of Bridgeville, Del., has introduced a bin vent filter for bulk powder storage, called GalVent. The vent releases air from silos during resin replacement.
Newton offers a three-year warranty on structure and finish because the filter lid is made of galvanized steel, which eliminates rust-out problems from weathering on painted steel units.
The unit uses compressed air blow downs, at 50 pounds per square inch, to purge the filter cartridges.
Tel. 800-726-5745, fax 302-337-3780, e-mail [email protected]
Color meter gauges spectrum of colors
Hunter Associates Laboratory Inc. of Reston, Va., said its UltraScan VIS color measurement spectrophotometer measures the full range of color in seconds, including reflected and transmitted color as well as transmission haze.
It meets the International Commission on Illumination and ASTM guidelines for accuracy.
Hunter said UltraScan VIS is easy to use, since measurement procedures can be completed in seconds.
Tel. 703-471-6870, fax 703-471-4237, e-mail [email protected]
Miller-Leaman's filter flushes dirty water
Miller-Leaman Inc.'s new Helix industrial process filters remove particles and other contaminants from process cooling water used in injection molding and extrusion.
The filters come with a polypropylene disc media in the Helix HD series, or a stainless-steel screen in the Helix HS.
As dirty water enters the filter housing, a high-velocity spinning action spirals heavier particles away from the disc/screen cartridge, down to the base of the filter housing. These unwanted particles then are flushed from the filter by a flush-port connection.
Miller-Leaman is based in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Tel. 800 881-0320, fax 386-248-3033, e-mail [email protected]
J.J. Jenkins utilizes Merritt's extruders
J.J. Jenkins Inc. in Matthews, N.C., uses Merritt extruders from Davis-Standard LLC to build its extrusion systems that produce monofilament, multifilament, slit tape, strapping and medical filament.
J.J. Jenkins has purchased an average of six or seven Merritt extruders a year since the company was founded by Joe Jenkins in 1989. The extruders range in screw-diameter size from three-fourths inch to 6 inches.
The company claims to be the largest U.S.-based supplier of extrusion systems for the custom market in the synthetic fibers industry.
Davis-Standard is based in Pawcatuck, Conn.
Tel. 860-599-1010, e-mail [email protected]