ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- Conair Group demonstrated complete remove-control capability and showed a new NCF granulator series at the Plastec West trade show Feb. 12-14 in Anaheim.
The auxiliary equipment maker has expanded its FLX material-handling control system to handle up to 128 loaders and 40 vacuum conveying pumps, said Jason Snyder, inside sales manager with Conair in Cranberry Township, Pa., near Pittsburgh.
At the Conair booth, Snyder used an Internet-connected laptop computer to control an FLX system in operation at Conair's technical center. A remote laptop user can deal with all functions as if standing at the machine interface on the plant floor, he said.
A 7½-inch color touch screen is the standard interface, and a 15-inch screen is an option.
Conair said the footprint of NCF supertangential granulators is more than 30 percent smaller than many other granulators with similar capabilities.
Four models have 8-inch-diameter rotors with a width range of 10-24 inches and standard maximum throughputs of 150-450 pounds. NCF is an upgrade of the design of Conair's decade-old CHS granulator series.
Pricing for the NCF series starts at $11,000, said Jeff Taylor, Conair's national sales manager for size-reduction equipment.
The design incorporates a raised rotor to make the inside systems more accessible.
Conair manufactures most NCF components and assembles the granulators in Franklin, Pa. The supertangential chamber is made in Sweden.
Separately, Conair teamed up with extruder maker American Kuhne of Ashaway, R.I., and controls specialist Zumbach Electronics Corp. of Mount Kisco, N.Y., to demonstrate close-tolerance extrusion of microbore medical tubing.
The core issue is controlling process variables, said Bob Bessemer, Conair's medical extrusion sales manager.
Conair supplied a MedVac vacuum sizing and cooling tank and a Medline puller/cutter.
Microbore tubing's nominal outside diameter is 0.02-0.07 inch with wall thickness up to 0.006 inch.
International Plastics Equipment Group Inc. of Cranberry Township is Conair's parent firm.