Arburg GmbH adopts Exjection molding
LOSSBURG, GERMANY - Lossburg-based injection machinery maker Arburg GmbH & Co. KG has demonstrated production of a high-aspect-ratio ABS component using the Exjection injection-extrusion hybrid molding technology developed by IB Steiner, of Spielberg, Austria.
Exjection technology effectively extrudes the polymer into a long movable mold in an injection machine. It is claimed to enable economic production of long profiles carrying molded-in features that could not be achieved by extrusion processing.
The process was demonstrated by Engel Holding GmbH on a 55 tonne all-electric e-motion machine at K 2007 in Germany. Arburg has now applied the process technology to a 50 tonne vertical machine.
Arburg technical director Herbert Kraibuhler said the vertical machine format delivers a particularly compact Exjection solution. He added that mounting the mold horizontally in the machine and making use of the horizontal transfer movement means longer parts can be produced and improves access for part removal.
The company used an Allrounder 375V 500-290 machine with an electrical plasticizing system drive to produce a 66-centimeter-long ribbed and perforated strip weighing 50 grams in a low-viscosity grade of BASF AG's Terluran ABS.
It believes the Exjection technology could be used to produce cable ducts and water drainage channels with molded-in features in lengths of up to 13 feet.
Exjection technology developer IB Steiner said it can deliver capital investment savings of between 30-50 percent over conventional injection molding for long parts. This would yield part cost savings of between 10-70 percent.
Natur-Tec unit offers biobased polymers
CIRCLE PINES, MINN. - Circle Pines-based Northern Technologies International Corp. has launched Natur-Tec, a bioplastics business unit, the company said in a May 27 news release. According to the release, Natur-Tec has developed resins made of proprietary biobased polymers and organic materials mixed with proprietary compatibilizers and polymer modifiers that are intended to replace conventional plastics.
Natur-Tec resins are engineered to be completely biodegradable in a composting environment within 180 days under the ASTM D6400 guidelines for compostable plastics, company officials said. Natur-Tec resins are certified biodegradable and compostable by the Biodegradable Plastics Institute of New York.
Applications for the new resins include flexible film, foam, rigid injection molded materials and engineered plastics for bags, can liners, packaging, cutlery and coated-paper products. According to Natur-Tec, since test marketing of the new resins began earlier this year, the company has seen more than $300,000 in sales, reflecting a growing demand for bioplastics.
Northern Technologies International develops, markets and sells proprietary environmentally beneficial material science-based products and technical services.
Graco Inc. closing its GlasCraft facility
MINNEAPOLIS - Graco Inc. has confirmed that it is to close the Indianapolis plant it acquired when it bought spray machinery manufacturer GlasCraft Inc. for $35 million in December 2007.
The operation employs about 70. Fifteen workers are likely to stay with Graco when the GlasCraft operation closes at the end of this year, said Mark Sheahan, vice president and general manager of Graco's Applied Fluid Technologies Division, in a written statement.
Production from the Indianapolis unit, GlasCraft's only manufacturing site, will move to existing Graco facilities in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; North Canton, Ohio; and Minneapolis, Sheahan said.
``As the plant operations close, Graco will build the products in its existing facilities,'' Sheahan added.
GlasCraft, which had annual sales of about $18 million, was a pioneer in spray systems for composites manufacturing, and offers open- and closed-mold options, as well as dispensing systems for polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings.
Minneapolis-based Graco supplies equipment for fluid dispensing in industrial and commercial applications, making systems and equipment to move, measure, control, dispense and spray fluid materials. Polyurethanes became a more significant market for the group when it expanded its activities by buying the Gusmer-Decker reaction injection molding business in 2006.
During 2007, Graco also consolidated Gusmer-Decker's facilities in Lakewood, N.J., and Villanova, Spain, into its North Canton operation.
Yunnan Tin is adding 2nd stabilizer plant
SAN MATEO, CALIF. - Yuntinic Resources Inc. of San Mateo announced that its parent company, Yunnan Tin Co. Ltd., is doubling its capacity of tin-based plastic stablizers by adding a second plant in Gejiu, China.
The new plant is scheduled to begin production in June.
``This project increases our manufacturing operations to a world-class scale and offers an exciting new platform to drive Yuntinic's fast-growing global chemical business,'' said Stephen Hulme, general manager of global chemicals.
``Production at the old plant was reaching the limit,'' he said in a May 14 telephone interview.
Yuntinic Resources' sales exceeded $100 million in 2007, 15 percent of which is from chemical products. As production expands, Yuntinic Resources is looking to double its sales of tin-based chemicals in the next few years, Hulme said.
He pointed out that China has a huge market for tin-based heat stablizers as the PVC packaging industry - general food and drug packaging, in particular - grows. Lead-based PVC stabilizers still dominate China's PVC industry, according to a research article by Huatai Securities Co. Ltd. of Nanjing, China.
In the U.S., Hulme said less than 5 percent of the flexible PVC applications use tin-based stabilizers. Heavy metal and mix of metals are used instead, especially in the wire and cable industry. However, more than 90 percent of rigid PVC production currently use methyl tin heat stabilizers. Primary markets include construction and packaging.
Methyl tin stabilizers can be used for a large range of applications and is highly efficient. It also can meet Food and Drug Administration regulations, he added.
Yuntinic Resources has an office in Dusseldorf, Germany, and staffers at Yunnan Tin's headquarters in Kunming, China.
Yunnan Tin is the world's largest producer of tin metal.