In today's tough economy, manufacturers are squeezing every ounce of cost savings and efficiency they can from their processes — from materials handling to scrap reduction.
Upstream auxiliary equipment manufacturers will showcase yet another generation of blenders, feeders and conveying systems at NPE2009, being held June 22-26 in Chicago, to help processors do just that.
Bauer Plastics Technology Group (Booth N62128): Equipment for gas-assist injection molding, including nitrogen controllers, generators and compressor systems; and gas injector pins, gas injection nozzles and other gas-assist accessories.
Berran Industrial Group Inc. (Booth N68052): Custom machinery, automation and integration services. Mass air and pressure decay leak testing. Also, packaging machinery, strapping machines, stretch wrappers and carton sealers.
Bunting Magnetics Co. (Booth N64010): Magnetic separation, metal detection and materials-handling equipment. New continuous-cleaning HF Series drawer magnet, pneumatic plate housing magnets and plate magnets. For metal detection, Bunting's new high-temperature, machine-mounted, all-metal separator, along with Quicktron 03 R and Quicktron 05 cowbell metal detectors. Also, a new material-handling drag-slide conveyor.
Conair Group Inc. (Booth S42031): New extrusion control and film and sheet reclaim systems. New energy-saving dryer and touch-screen control. New high-throughput granulator. New easy-to-use blender control. Also, new controls for small-scale central material-handling systems.
Contact Rubber Inc. (Booth S56058): Replacement flat and profiled cleats and pads for all puller manufacturers. Complete chain and cleat assemblies. Puller belts, roller chain, rolls and rollers.
Dri-Air Industries Inc./Sytrama (Booth S34067): Desiccant dryers from 1 gram to 1,000 pounds per hour. Central conveying systems.
Dynamic Conveyor Corp. (Booth S4043): New redesigned tumbler separators and box-filling systems.
Dynisco LLC (Booth N69063): Melt-pressure sensors, controls and analyzers for extrusion and injection molding.
Eriez Magnetics (Booth S4053): Magnetic separators, vibratory feeders and conveyors and bin vibrators. Also, PolyMag separator to separate plastic regrind containing PolyMag additive from other resins.
Extrusion Auxiliary Services (Booth N87057): Auxiliary equipment and systems.
Fisa North America Inc. (Booth S5050): Ultrasonic mold cleaning systems, detergents and robotics.
Harvard Factory Automation Inc. (Booth S40052): Conveyors, automatic box-fill systems, part/runner separators, under-press chutes, diverters, part/ resin containers, weigh scales and trunk-line systems.
Inoex LLC (Booth N62126): Maxflexx interior cooling systems for extrusion die heads, Maxflexx forming chambers and Advantage calibration sleeves. New Pexlink and Savomat MD liquid dosing station for making and extruding cross-linked polyethylene pipe.
K-Tron Process Group (Booth S50041): New ActiFlow smart bulk solids activator for mechanical hopper agitation, with vibratory drive and intelligent control unit. Also, single- and twin-screw feeders, bulk solids pump feeders, cone feeders, liquid lost-in-weight feeders and controls. Pneumatic conveying equipment, loaders, receivers, blenders, air-lock rotary valves, bin vents and complete systems engineering.
Kuriyama of America Inc. (Booth W117051): Metal-hose-to-go program products, including ready-to-use hose assemblies and threaded swivel couplers and adapters with new hex design for easier assembly and better product flow. Butt and socket weld couplings. Polywire Plus K7300 hose, made of clear PVC, for vacuum or pressure applications.
LaRos Equipment Co. Inc. (Booth S17074): Parts-handling automation equipment including conveyors, part/runner separators, carton/tote filling by cycle count or counting scale, granulator feed conveyors, robot unload conveyors and water bath conveyors. Also, unique portable regrind screener unit, metal detector-equipped units and metal separators.
Lorenz Conveying Products (Booth N87051): Diverter valves, slide gates, angel-hair traps, probe boxes, pickup wands, rail-car adapters, couplings, elbows, fittings and cyclones for conveying of plastics.
Moretto SpA (Booth S28093): KruiseKontrol plastic granule transport system eliminates angel hair, stress defects due to speed, and the forming of powder caused by friction and wear of transport pipes. The system's sensors control vacuum and speed within the pipes, even intervening during suction cycles.
Motan Inc. (Booth S12025): New desiccant beside-the-press dryers — Luxor 50, 80, 120 and 160 — and new Twincut screen-less granulator. Also, Motan's gravimetric additive feeder and Metrolink, its automated material-selection product.
Pelletron Corp. (Booth N71052): A new rotary valve with a low-leakage rotor and completely new design, and a new DeDuster. Also, diverter valves, pipe elbows and pneumatic conveying systems.
Plast-Control Inc. (Booth S56036): A double air ring for blown film and batch blending. IBC (internal bubble cooling) control systems. Automatic controls for extrusion lines, gravimetric blending and yield controls, vacuum loading, blown film profile measurement and plantwide data collection.
PriceFitters/H-P Products (Booth N86030): Tubing components for resin transfer from rail car to silo to process. Instalok coupling.
Rocklin Manufacturing Co. (Booth N85036): Moldmender low-heat microwelder repairs plastic injection molds, die-casting molds and dies made of steel for parting lines, corners and edges, pin holes, scratches and more.
Schenck AccuRate (Booth S6069): ProFlex C 500 volumetric or gravimetric dry material feeder for plastics, ProFlex C 6000 dry material feeder and PureFeed AI-300 industrial feeder.
Sprimag Inc. (Booth N81000): CombiCoater system, which uses physical vapor deposition to coat plastic parts. PVD, new technique similar to chrome plating, has been used in auto interiors and cosmetics packaging.
Star Automation (Booth S36048): Robots, tooling, conveyors and tooling components.
Universal Dynamics Inc. (Booth S50060): Drying equipment — desiccant, compressed air, hot air, rotary, electric and gas — pneumatic conveying equipment, high-accuracy blenders.
Vactec LLC (Booth S35099): New Ventry automatic material-selection system that eliminates all flex hose connections. MoldReady, an over-the-machine mold storage and changing system. InstaVac high-capacity vacuum conveying pumps. Also, HopperSlide, a simple drain-and-purge system for injection presses and extruders.
Wittmann Battenfeld Inc. (Booth S42000): New products for material conveying, blending, drying, granulating, heating and cooling, including its next-generation Feedmax vacuum loader with a slanted center section for easy cleaning and Drymax Series E dryers. Blower design lets Drymax dryers supply higher dry-air capacities for central drying systems while using less energy.
Woodex Bearing Co. (Booth S1011): Woodex's Meco custom-engineered shaft seals for upstream process machinery such as single- or twin-shaft extruders, compounders, reactors, vacuum dryers, top-entry agitators, mixer and blenders; and for support machinery such as feeders and conveyors. Available new or as retrofits.