Two units of Nordson Corp. — Extrusion Dies Industries and Xaloy — are rolling out new products.
Nordson Xaloy, the screw and barrel maker in New Castle, Pa., has introduced SmartHeat, billed as a replacement for conventional heater bands. Initially introduced as an injection barrel coating, the energy-efficient SmartHeat has been adapted for additional uses of maintaining melt uniformity in extrusion melt pipes and adapters, and eliminating downtime for removing melt blowback from injection nozzles.
Paragon Films Inc. of Broken Arrow, Okla., chose SmartHeat mainly to ensure uniform temperature control throughout the pipes. “Anyone utilizing band heaters knows the issues you have with inconsistent heat transfer and the problems encountered when heater bands go bad,” said Gary Greenfield, director of engineering.
Smartheat consists of two layers of plasma-sprayed metallized ceramic with a nichrome wire wrap sandwiched in between, plus a thermal insulation cover. Heat from the wires oc sonducted throughout the ceramic material.
David Hotchkiss, global product manager for Nordson Xaloy, said SmartHeat is 25-60 percent more energy efficient than band heaters, and distributes heat more uniformly. It also eliminates the potential hazard of having numerous exposed wires connected to multiple heater bands, he said.
In flat-die news, Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries reports that tuning inserts for the Ultraflow I feedblock for flat dies can be adjusted during coextrusion, saving downtime and material waste while permanent flow inserts are prepared.
The inserts also give greater precision in the thickness profiles of each layer, across the width of the die.
Normally, you have to design and machine different inserts to make any job change that involves significantly different layer ratios or polymer flow properties. But the tuning inserts for the Ultraflow I feedblocks allow production to continue while adjustments are made “on the fly”, and a matching permanent insert then can be built.
In other news, Nordson Extrusion Dies has named Amsel Co. Ltd. as its agent in Thailand and Vietnam. The firm, headed by director of sales Thanabadian Sae-Tung, is based in Bangkok.
Nordson Extrusion Dies is based in Chippewa Falls, Wis..
Website: www.nordson.com.