Evonik opens center for in-mold coating
Evonik Industries AG, a German industrial and chemicals group, has opened a CoverForm center in Darmstadt, Germany, to demonstrate the process, which makes plastic parts with a molded-in, scratch-resistant coating.
Evonik worked with KraussMaffei AG to develop CoverForm, which the company already has introduced in Europe and plans to launch in the United States and Asia in 2010.
KM used its experience in injection molding and reaction injection technology.
Evonik developed a product combination of a specialty Plexiglas molding compound and a solvent-free acrylic reactive system for the coating.
CoverForm works by applying a liquid acrylic coating into the mold right after injection molding. Then, a final compression molding step spreads the coating over the part. The technology substantially cuts fabrication costs for scratch-resistant and chemical-resistant plastic parts, since it eliminates the need for a separate coating step.
At the 2009 Materialica trade show in Germany, CoverForm won the Design and Technology Award and took top honors in the category of surface and technology.
Sven Schröbel, CoverForm project manager, said Evonik will work on CoverForm applications for anti-reflective and electrically conductive coatings.
Tel. 49-6151-18-4079, fax 49-6151-18-3177, e-mail doris.hirsch @evonik.com.
Synventive Molding debuts design tool
Synventive Molding Solutions Inc. of Peabody, Mass., has introduced an interactive hot-runner design tool that it said provides fast, easy downloading of three-dimensional, computer-assisted-design models of Synventive's hot-runner manifolds and nozzles.
Synventive added the downloadable CAD models on its redesigned Web site. The site is available in English, German and Mandarin Chinese.
The service makes it easier for a mold designer to “drop-in” the Synventive hot-runner manifold and nozzle drawings into their mold-design drawings.
Tel. 978-646-3482, e-mail dcrow [email protected].
Wabash MPI offering Triton series press
Wabash MPI of Wabash, Ind., said its new Triton series of vertical-clamp injection molding presses comes with high-end controls for pressure and temperature ramping. Triton comes in clamping forces of 2.8-28 tons, with a platen size of 15 inches by 15 inches.
A touch-screen programmable logic controller can store up to 10 programs.
Guards on the Triton are designed with a manual hinged front with a magnetic safety switch interlock, sheet-metal wrap for easy maintenance, and expanded windows.
Tel. 260-563-1184, fax 260-563-1396, e-mail wabashmpi@corp email.com.
GN's heater platen boasts faster cycles
GN Thermoforming Equipment said its tools-specific heater platen offers high output, better product clarity and quicker tool changeovers for large-volume applications.
GN is pitching it as a first for contact-heat, cut-in-place thermoforming machines. The platen is designed to match a specific tool by pre-engineering the heater and air channel locations within the platen. Each dedicated platen has a specific cut plate that matches the design of the tool cutting die. An air channel is located in the platen within 1 millimeter of where the cutting die touches the cutting plate, so a high volume of forming air can reach each cavity.
Depending on the thermoformed product, the dedicated heater platen can cut cycle time by 20-30 percent, the company said. Because of the quicker forming times, the parts have greater clarity and more-consistent material distribution.
The tool-specific heater platen adds $12,000 to $18,000 per tool set, but GN said the investment can easily be recouped from higher production rates.
GN said the thermoforming heater platen is being used in North American for food-packaging applications.
Tel. 902-275-3571, fax 902-275-3100, e-mail [email protected].
Sidel claims lightest hot-fillable bottles
Sidel Group said it beat the world record for lightweighting of hot-fillable PET bottles — less than 19 grams on a half-liter bottle — and did it with innovative shapes.
Sidel has introduced the Skyward and Curvy designs.
Skyward is a long silhouette with cylindrical and square shapes and just four panels. Curvy sports curves, spirals and a twisted back that is a support beam. The Curvy bottle does not have panels.
The new geometric structure of the body compensates for deformation during cooling.
Sidel said the bottles, which weigh just 18.9 grams each, can be blow molded at the rate of 1,800 bottles per hour, per mold, using standard Sidel equipment, thanks to heating optimization with the company's SBO Universal range of machines.
The machinery maker's U.S. operation, Sidel Inc., is in Norcross, Ga.
Tel. 678-221-3200, fax 678-221-3027, e-mail marketing.atlanta @sidel.com.
Redwood acquires board-turning system
Plastic shapes fabricator Redwood Plastics Corp. in Langley, British Columbia, purchased the Shark Fin system from SGM Holdings Inc. of Vancouver.
The Shark Fin system is a patented board-turning system for grading tables in sawmills and planer mills.
Redwood had licensed the Shark Fin technology for more than 13 years from SGM.
Tel. 604-607-6015, e-mail [email protected].
Moretto center offers hands-on training
Italian auxiliary equipment supplier Moretto SpA opened a training center late last year, called the OMS&P Center (for Original Moretto Systems & People).
CEO Renato Moretto addressed 35 Italian representatives and trading partners at an open house in Massanzago, Italy. He said the decision to invest in the 4,845-square-foot center came in mid-2009 - before signs of an economic recovery were apparent.
The center displays nearly the entire product line of Moretto. Customers can get hands-on training using the equipment and monitoring systems. The center can handle class sizes as large as 40 people.
The facility has 155 pieces of equipment, including dryers, granulators, dosing systems, temperature-control equipment and cooling units, plus centralized systems. About 80 percent of the products on display are either brand new or modernized during the last few years, the company said.
Tel. 39-49-939-6804, fax 39-49-939-6765.
MGS' Mexico site gains multishot cell
MGS Manufacturing Group Inc. of Germantown, Wis., has invested in multishot injection molding at its TecStar de Mexico molding plant in Chihuahua, Mexico.
MGS installed a multishot manufacturing cell last fall. It includes a KraussMaffei injection press using a UMS (Universal Multishot Systems) portable injection unit and a rotary platen made by MGS. The cell is molding a two-component housing with a molded-in sealing gasket. The device is used in metering equipment for the mining and construction industry.
MGS is expanding its multishot capabilities in Mexico because of increased demand. The company picked up one transfer job of a five-mold, two-shot part.
Tel. 262-255-5790.
Mod Tech air system enhances measuring
Mod Tech Industries Inc., a production machine shop in Shawano, Wis., has invented an air-assist movement system, or AAM, the company claims substantially increases the productivity of a coordinate measuring machine. The system uses plates that float on a cushion of air.
AAM consists of two plates, locator stops, bumpers or guide rails and an air-supply and control system.
The concept is to allow for the measurement of a part located on one AAM plate in a measuring location, while another product is simultaneously being set up or staged on a second plate.
Once the first part gets measured, it is moved via the AAM plate to its home position as the plate floats on a cushion of air, and the second plate is moved into position.
Mod Tech said the plates can easily lift and move more than 500 pounds worth of parts.
The company has a video on its Web site, www.modtechindus tries.com.
Tel. 715-524-4510, fax 715-524-3202, e-mail jaysamolinski@fron tiernet.net.
Platinum Group buys assets of Peterson
Platinum Group's private equity fund has acquired the assets of G.C. Peterson Machinery Co., a St. Paul, Minn.-based company that distributes and services many brands of woodworking and plastics fabrication machinery for cabinet shops, technical schools and millwork companies.
The fund, Platinum Group Holdings II, bought Peterson Machinery from the previous owners, who had been hurt by the severe recession in the housing industry. One of the former owners, Gerry McDonald, has remained with the company in a sales role.
Platinum Partners is based in Eden Prairie, Minn. Platinum seeks majority ownership positions in underperforming companies or those that need turnaround capacity and management expertise.
Tel. 952-937-2869.
Dynisco controller boasts ease, speed
Dynisco Instruments of Franklin, Mass., said its ATC880 pressure/temperature controller is fast and easier to use, with a software-based configuration and touch buttons on the face of the unit.
The user can choose from a simple range and alarm settings to complex security codes and update speeds, depending on the application.
The ATC880 is remotely configurable via an optional Modbus personal computer link.
Tel. 508-541-9541, e-mail mdavis @dynisco.com.
Briefly ...
* Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. in Lincoln, R.I., has contracted Wallace Nard, president of Novaflex Inc. in Carol Stream, Ill., as the exclusive U.S. agent and sales representative for the small-bag machine range from the W&H subsidiary, Garant Maschinenhandel.
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