Pallateer unit makes pallets from scrap
Wilmington Machinery Inc. recently introduced its Lumina Pallateer — a manufacturing cell specially designed for fully automated structural foam molding of pallets from 100 percent recycled plastic.
To save floor space, Wilmington can arrange the extruder and the injection unit of the Lumina press on a 90-degree angle.
Jeff Newman, vice president of sales and marketing, said Wilmington was getting a lot of inquiries from big plastics converters about using their scrap to make pallets.
“So we ended up making a complete system, and basically it made it easy to do,” Newman said. The machine can mold pallets using structural foam or gas-assisted injection molding, he said.
Newman said Wilmington is getting a lot of interest from companies in North and South America, as well as Europe and Ireland.
The Lumina Pallateer includes a complete package: a Lumina-brand structural foam press, a robotic part-takeout system, blenders, air compressors and nitrogen-gas generation equipment.
The machinery maker is based in Wilmington, N.C.
Tel. 910-796-1604, fax 910-452-5191, e-mail jnewman@wilming tonmachinery.com.
Lawson introduces Micro-Molder press
Lawson Machinery Group of De Pere, Wis., has developed an all-electric press, with 8 tons of clamping force, for liquid silicone rubber parts.
The Micro-Molder has a vertical clamp and vertical injection unit, with a two-station rotary table for insert molding. The plunger injection unit can be fed from 12-ounce cartridges or a commercially available mixing and metering system. Air pressure pushes the material from the cartridges into the metering block, which has two pneumatically driven cylinders that push it through a static mixer and into the injection cylinder.
The electric injection cylinder will fill to a set position at a setback pressure, until the proper shot is achieved.
Lawson Machinery said the injection unit can be removed in a few minutes for cleaning or material changes.
Tel. 920-347-1983, fax 920-347-9183.
SPE, Routsis team up for online training
The Society of Plastics Engineers has partnered with A. Routsis Associates Inc. to provide interactive online training packages.
Discounts are available for SPE members. The courses are available for purchase from SPE's new online store at www.4spe.org/on line-store.
The move with Dracut, Mass.-based Routsis follows SPE's “mission of offering rigorously developed, up-to-date plastics technical information,” said Tom Conklin, SPE's director of marketing and sales. The interactive, online courses include video from actual production environments, three-dimensional animation and professional narration.
SPE is based in Newtown, Conn.
Tel. 203-740-5403.
Globaline extruder cuts cost, lead times
Processing Technologies International LLC has unveiled its Globaline range of sheet extrusion lines, its first global brand.
PTi recently demonstrated a compact unit designed to make sheet for in-line thermoforming. PTi also offers Globaline in a full-length configuration for producing roll stock.
Officials of PTi, based in Aurora, Ill., said the new brand is part of a worldwide strategy to expand in regions such as Russia, Eastern Europe, South America, China and India.
PTi is touting Globaline's flexibility for making smaller runs of sheet from materials such as polypropylene, polystyrene, PET and polylactic acid bioresin.
“The Globaline has been engineered to cut delivery times and costs, with lead times trimmed 30-40 percent and a price tag that's much lower than custom-designed machines,” said PTi President Dana Hanson.
Installation of the mechanical system can take just two to three days, since the sheet line incorporates features such as a patent-pending, linear-bearing mounted frame infrastructure.
PTi offers Globaline in two platforms to make sheet in widths of 40 inches or 60 inches. The line can be configured to run between 630 and 3,900 pounds of material an hour. All Globaline lines are available in monolayer or coextrusion formats.
PTi also rolled out its Titan Plus, an expanded unit from its Titan controller. Titan Plus uses three control screens at an operator station, with the same information displayed on a machine-mounted pendant.
Tel. 630-585-5800, fax 630-585-5855.
Boy Machines offers ultracompact press
Boy Machines Inc. of Exton, Pa., said its Boy XS micromolding press is capable of 11 tons of clamping force.
The machine can be used to insert-mold parts, when equipped with a vertical clamping and injection unit, designated as the Boy XS V. The XS series comes with Boy's Procan Alpha control.
XS machines have a special, runnerless nozzle.
Tel. 610-363-9121, fax 610-363-0163, e-mail sales@boymachines .com.
Mattec Web system monitors in real time
Mattec Corp. recently introduced its first Web-based production and process monitoring system, called ProHelp 8.
Mattec plans to release applications in phases. The first one, called Real-Time Display, lets authorized users quickly see the status of every machine in a plant, in actual time. Machines that are down or running out of specification are highlighted.
“Web browsers are a challenging platform to implement real-time programs like a monitoring system,” said Brian Thiel, Mattec's development manager. “We wanted to start with the most data-intensive application.”
Mattec is using as a platform Microsoft's SQL server and IIS —the Microsoft internet information server.
ProHelp 8 is the fifth generation of monitoring systems from Mattec, based in Loveland, Ohio.
Tel. 800-966-1301, e-mail andy@ mattec.com.
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