Extruder outputs rise, downstream units gain flexibility.TOP OF THE NEWS * New types of drives power blown film and tubing extrusion. * Rotating cores orient blown film in the die. * Adjustable calibrator calibrator an instrument for dilating a tubular structure or for determining the caliber of such a structure. varies pipe diam. over a 4:1 range. * Quick-change pipe die is up and running in 90 min. Topping blown film news at the show were two unusual dies with rotating core elements, said to make tougher film for downgauging. The show was packed with new equipment for pipe and profile, including extruders redesigned for higher outputs and/or lower cost, plus new ways to adjust die and calibrator diameters or switch dies and calibrators more quickly. Several processors also offered their own technology for sale. In addition, permanent-magnet synchronous torque motors were everywhere in the extrusion exhibits, touted for higher outputs and energy efficiency. (Not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. here are new equipment from Addex, American Maplan, Battenfeld Extrusion, Battenfeld Gloucester, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) The electronic communication of business transactions, such as orders, confirmations and invoices, between organizations. Third parties provide EDI services that enable organizations with different equipment to connect. , and Macro Engineering, which appeared in our September show preview. A full report on the new motors appeared in November.) New drives galore This K show was the first to see significant numbers of new-generation synchronous torque motors on extruders. For example, BFA BFA abbr. Bachelor of Fine Arts BFA abbr BFA, B.F.A Bachelor of Fine Arts; first degree in Fine Arts. Plastic GmbH, a German extruder builder, showed a tiny 30-mm coextruder with a 10-kw Baumuller torque motor that had 1500 Nm of torque and output of 88 lb/hr. BFA offers 30- to 60-mm extruders with gearless torque motors for the same price as extruders of comparable output with conventional AC motors and gearboxes. This year BFA will add a 75-mm extruder with a torque motor as well. Reifenhauser ran the first blown film demo of such a motor at a show. Its coextrusion set-up had Siemens' Reitorque synchronous torque motors on all three extruders. Three machine builders showed new extruders with Oswald's TF torque motor: Cincinnati Extrusion GmbH in Austria, which opens a new U.S. office, Cincinnati Extrusion Inc., this month; esde Maschinentechnik GmbH in Germany; and Kuhne GmbH in Germany. Davis-Standard showed its compact new prototype extruder with a Siemens torque motor. It also showed new extruders with Knoedler's four-motor CMG CMG Coastal & Marine Geology (USGS) CMG Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (stock symbol) CMG Companion (of the Order Of) St Michael and St George CMG Computer Measurement Group drives on all four extruders (65- and 32-mm) of a five-layer cosmetic tube line. Troester GmbH of Germany applied the four-motor CMG direct drive in a creative fashion on a rubber extruder--using only three of the four motors to drive the 90-mm screw and the fourth to power the rubber feed roll. Blown film news Two blown film dies sported unusual rotating cores, a technique commonly used in pipe and tubing dies to prevent weld lines, but not in blown film before now. DR-Pack II Co. Ltd., a stretch-film processor from Hungary, showed a novel stationary die with a rotating core, developed inhouse and used for three years to make 6- to 7-micron monolayer mon·o·lay·er n. 1. A film or layer one molecule thick formed at the interface between water and either oil or air by a substance such as a partially esterified fatty acid that contains both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups in the same stretch film. The core of the die rotates in contact with the melt surface, orienting it and making thinner film with 10% better elongation elongation, in astronomy, the angular distance between two points in the sky as measured from a third point. The elongation of a planet is usually measured as the angular distance from the sun to the planet as measured from the earth. at break and modestly better tear properties, says DR-Pack, which offers the technology for sale. DR-Pack also developed an adjustable IBC IBC International Building Code IBC Iraq Body Count IBC Institutional Biosafety Committee IBC Inflammatory Breast Cancer IBC International Business Company IBC Independence Blue Cross IBC Insurance Bureau of Canada IBC International Broadcasting Convention system, which opens like an umbrella with air coming out the spokes tangentially tan·gen·tial also tan·gen·tal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent. 2. Merely touching or slightly connected. 3. onto the inside of the bubble. The air ring outside the bubble blows tangentially in the opposite direction, keeping the bubble more stable than a conventional air ring and IBC, DR-Pack says. The second revolving die element at the show was a "rotating distributor" developed by the University of Paderborn The University of Paderborn (German: Universität Paderborn) in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany was founded in 1972. 14,700 students were enrolled at the university as of October 2005. in Germany. This is a slowly turning disk driven by the melt at only about 3 rpm, just enough to put a slight orientation into the melt and prevent weld lines. It has been scaled up to 100-mm diam. for extruding 160 lb/hr of blown film in tests in the University's lab last year. It will also be tested for pipe extrusion. Melt enters the center of the die and flows through six or eight melt channels onto a whorl whorl n. 1. A form that coils or spirals; a curl or swirl. 2. A turn of the cochlea or of the ethmoidal crest. 3. An area of hair growing in a radial manner. 4. of diagonally slanted ribs on the disk, turning it slowly. Melt then flows over the rim of the disk past similar ribs on the back side. Development of the die was supported by a team that included Reifenhauser and Windmoeller & Hoelscher. Another novel technology from the University of Paderborn is its "intensive plastifier" extruder, called Fimex. This very short-barreled extruder has spiral barrel grooves whose direction opposes that of the screw flights. The screw turns at high speed (700 rpm), melting material very rapidly and efficiently without heater bands. It was introduced as a prototype at K 2001 and has now been commercialized to make foamed loosefill packaging directly from coarsely ground corn. The plastifier melts the 2- to 3-mm corn particles, which foam when their internal moisture turns to steam. The University has also run trials with conventional pellets of PE, PP, PS, and nylon. The plastifier is now built commercially under the Fimex name by Emendo-Tec GmbH, a German technology incubator company spun off from the University. It has sold three Fimex units, which come in three sizes: 80 mm with 1.5:1 L/D L/D Labor and Delivery L/D Lethal Dose L/D Lift/Drag (ratio) L/D Low Dynamic L/D Limiter/Discriminator L/D Loading / Discharging Rate (shipping) ; 100 mm, 1.5:1; and 100 mm, 4:1. Another extrusion processor at K was offering its own blown film equipment. KWH kWh or kW-hr abbr. kilowatt-hour kWh kilowatt-hour Pipe Ltd., Technology in Finland three years ago bought a share in Extron Engineering Ltd., a Finnish builder of blown film lines for up to 10-layer coextrusion. KWH-Extron extruders come in 18 to 150 mm diam. with closed-loop computer controls and real-time data Real-time data denotes information that is delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the timeliness of the information provided. Some uses of this term confuse it with the term dynamic data. collection, gravimetric gravimetric /grav·i·met·ric/ (grav?i-me´trik) pertaining to measurement by weight; performed by weight, as a gravimetric method of drug assay. grav·i·met·ric adj. 1. feeders, side-fed pancake dies, adjustable no-stick bubble cage, and center winders. KWH-Extron also offers pipe extrusion lines and, most recently, injection molds for pipe fittings. Hosokawa Alpine ran a barrier screw with a new intensive mixing section designed for low shear and low melt temperatures. It's approximately 1.5 diameters long with crossholes in the spiral flight. Four makers of blown film equipment demonstrated in-line gel inspection for the first time at a show. Alpine, Reifenhauser, Macchi, and CMG Costruzioni Meccaniche Gallia SrL all ran CCD-camera inspection systems from Erhardt + Leimer GmbH. The E&L Surface Inspection Camera is a new-generation, 4096-pixel unit capable of detecting gels as small as 0.15 mm. Kdesign GmbH of Germany showed the prototype of a new bubble cage with silicone-coated rollers on bearings. It is said to leave no marks on film. Kdesign also showed an exhaust system Noun 1. exhaust system - system consisting of the parts of an engine through which burned gases or steam are discharged exhaust automobile engine - the engine that propels an automobile that draws air out of the cage with suction nozzles to prevent oily condensation of polymer vapors. Retrofittable on existing bubble cages (its own or different brands), it can either vent the air or filter it. Three test systems have been running in production for a year, producing films for food and medical packaging. Kdesign also showed a retrofittable frost-line control system that measures bubble temperature with an infrared sensor and automatically corrects air-ring blowers if the frost line frost line n. The depth to which frost penetrates the earth. frost line 1. In regions where there is no permafrost, the maximum depth to which frost penetrates the ground in the winter. 2. drifts between day and night operation. In blown film winders, W&H showed its new Filmatic S model for the first time. This modular design In the context of systems engineering, modular design — or "modularity in design" — is an approach aiming to subdivide a system into smaller parts (modules) that can be independently created and then used in different systems to drive multiple functionalities. can be upgraded in the field from a simple surface winder to allow gap, center-assist, and reverse winding. For cast film and sheet Breyer GmbH Maschinenfabrik in Germany showed a novel three-layer die that can adjust cast film thickness over a range of 50 to 200 microns without a restrictor bar. Instead, it changes the temperature of the die lips by up to 68[degrees] F. This approach was developed for 5-mm, coextruded acrylic film in flatscreen displays. Kiefel Extrusion GmbH in Germany introduced a cut-off cut-off Anesthesiology The point at which elongation of the carbon chain of the 1-alkanol family of anesthetics results in a precipitous drop in the anesthetic potential of these agents–eg, at > 12 carbons in length, there is little anesthetic activity, for film winders that has a diamond-shaped knife on a continuous belt. It cuts diagonally across the web in two directions, following a groove in the contact roll. In foam extrusion, Berstorff GmbH in Germany built a prototype of a short, twin-screw extruder with a downstream melt cooler for low throughput ranges of up to 440 lb/hr. Quick-change artists Adjustable diameter technologies topped pipe extrusion news. Inoex GmbH in Germany introduced what it says is the first fully adjustable calibrator that can make HDPE HDPE abbr. high-density polyethylene pipe in all wall thicknesses and pressure classes. It allows pipe OD to be doubled or halved halve tr.v. halved, halv·ing, halves 1. To divide (something) into two equal portions or parts. 2. To lessen or reduce by half: halved the recipe to serve two. 3. from the nominal starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the , over a total adjustment range from 16 to 400 mm. The calibration sleeve resembles a lattice of interwoven in·ter·weave v. in·ter·wove , in·ter·wo·ven , inter·weav·ing, inter·weaves v.tr. 1. To weave together. 2. To blend together; intermix. v.intr. steel straps, the ends of which travel in spiral tracks, allowing it to tighten and expand as the length is adjusted by up to 300 mm. The calibration chamber is connected to the die head under vacuum. Water is contained in the vacuum tank by surrounding the pipe at the open end with an air-filled bladder, which also adjusts for different pipe diameters. Rival A/S in Denmark showed a new small size of its adjustable pipe calibrator for diameters from 16 to 32 mm. It uses the same technology as its larger calibrators, tightening circular bands like cinching a series of belts. The maximum adjustment is 5%, enough to tune one pipe size for different resins and shrinkage. The entire apparatus is mounted in a water bath for cooling because small tubing runs at high line speeds, generating frictional heat. A pre-lubrication ring is also required to minimize friction. Frankische Rohrwerke in Germany showed a new means of quickly changing tubing dies for double-walled corrugated cor·ru·gate v. cor·ru·gat·ed, cor·ru·gat·ing, cor·ru·gates v.tr. To shape into folds or parallel and alternating ridges and grooves. v.intr. pipes. Called the SWESY system, it involves a fully preassembled die (including heater elements) that is changed in one piece without the usual disassembly dis·as·sem·ble v. dis·as·sem·bled, dis·as·sem·bling, dis·as·sem·bles v.tr. To take apart: disassemble a toaster. v.intr. 1. . The patented die uses 1.5-in.-thick steel plates with 12-in.-long bolts to hold 7250 psi of pressure. The one-piece die can be preheated, thereby shortening die-change and start-up time to about 1.5 hr from 10 hr for a traditional pipe die, Frankische says. Krauss-Maffei is now offering its Quick-Switch pipe die and calibrator as retrofittable modules for the first time. More in the pipeline PE and PVC PVC: see polyvinyl chloride. PVC in full polyvinyl chloride Synthetic resin, an organic polymer made by treating vinyl chloride monomers with a peroxide. pipe extruders are raising outputs. Maillefer SA in Switzerland showed a more powerful 60-mm single-screw extruder for PE pipe. Model MEH MEH Miniszterelnöki Hivatal MEH Midwest Express Holdings Inc. MEH Modern European History (Advanced Placement Test) MEH Mount Elizabeth Hospital MEH Marine Electronic Highway MEH Moorfields Eye Hospital MEH Make Everything Happen 60-30D with 30:1 L/D has a more powerful 145-hp AC motor capable of up to 770 lb/hr of PE pipe vs. 400 lb/hr for Maillefer's previous 60-mm extruder with only a 75-kw DC motor. It also has a quick-change die on a swing arm. Single-screw extruders for polyolefin pipe are getting longer to provide higher throughput. Rollepaal B.V. in the Netherlands showed a new 120-mm, 55:1 L/D single-screw for compounding and extruding highly filled polyolefin pipe. Its output reportedly competes with that of a corotating twin-screw. It can add up to 60% filler with two side feeders and hold 8700 psi of die pressure for direct pipe extrusion. Krauss-Maffei's new KME KME Knowledge Management Environment KME Kentucky Mining Engineering KME Kia Motors Europe KME Key Mouse Electronic extruder for polyolefin pipe has 36:1 L/D compared with 30:1 for its predecessor. Greater length plus a watercooled inlet and low-temperature screw give the KME 30% higher output. Krauss-Maffei has built a 75-mm prototype that runs up to 1580 lb/hr. The KME comes in a vented version for processing PS, PC, and PMMA PMMA polymethyl methacrylate. . Conical conical /con·i·cal/ (kon´i-k'l) cone-shaped. con·i·cal or con·ic adj. Of, relating to, or shaped like a cone. twin-screws are getting longer too. Cincinnati Extrusion showed its new Konos K-Series, replacing smaller sizes of its existing Titan conical twins. Konos has a 15% longer barrel, so the cone angle and screw channels are shallower, giving better melt-temperature control, Cincinnati says. The longer Konos has more output because it provides more frictional heating--70% of total heat input at the warranted output rate. Konos comes in four diameters from 38 to 72 mm. Konos 38 and 50 models replace the Titan 35 and 45, respectively, though higher-L/D Titan 80 and 92 models will still be produced. Konos models cost about 10% less than Titans and have 20% higher output, so they compete with parallel twins. K 38 produces 180 lb/hr of profile or 270 lb/hr of pipe; K 72 produces 670 lb/hr of profile, 1200 lb/hr of pipe. While longer barrels may boost output, shorter barrels cut machine cost. Krauss-Maffei showed a shorter, lower-cost parallel twin-screw for PVC pipe and profile in 75- and 90-mm diameters. The KMD-XS has 26:1 L/D, vs. 32:1 for K-M's standard PVC twin-screw. The XS also uses a less expensive, lower-torque motor. SAMP SrL in Italy showed a novel die for wood-plastic profiles with very high wood content (70% to 80%). The profile is cooled entirely in the die, so no calibrators or cooling tanks are required. The die can produce profiles with a minimum wall thickness of 4 mm. In downstream equipment, SICA See Securities Industry Committee on Arbitration. SpA in Italy built what it says is the world's first triple-bell system to put sockets and gaskets on three pipes at once. It handles three pipes of up to 50-mm diam. or two pipes up to 110 mm. It runs at speeds of up to 930 sockets/hr vs. about 650 sockets/hr for SICA's previous two-bell system. Rollepaal added flaw-detection software to its static ultrasonic array for pipe thickness testing. The static array has 28 non-contact ultrasonic scanners for pipe under 8 in. diam. For corrugated pipe, Frankische Rohrwerke developed new tooling with more rounded angles and curves that allow pipes to meet the same property specifications at about 20% lighter weight. Bauku Troisdorfer Bau- und Kunststoff GmbH in Germany has delivered a machine that reportedly makes the world's largest drainage pipe--2 meters in diam. with slots perforated per·fo·ra·ted adj. Pierced with one or more holes. in the profile wall before it's wound. A year ago, Bauku's largest drainage pipe was 1.2 meters in diam. Gimac, an Italian maker of small, high-precision extruders (represented here by Citsco), has new developments in its patented process for extruding tiny ceramic tubing, which was first shown at K 2001. The extruder processes a silicone pre-ceramic compound, which is pyrolized in a furnace to convert it to a true ceramic. Now, conductive ceramic tubing can be extruded using 30% carbon black. This tubing is being tested for electrodes to conduct brain waves brain waves Neurology Oscillations/sec that correspond to various types of cerebral activity, as measured on an EEG. See Electroencephalogram. . NEED TO KNOW MORE? For more information, enter PTDirect code at www.ptonline.com American Kuhne Corp., Norwich, Conn. (860) 886-7745 * PTDirect: 365UB Bauku Troisdorfer Bau- und Kunststoff GmbH, Weihl-Drabenderhoehe, Germany +49 (2262) 720 070 * www.bauku.de Berstorff, Florence, Ky. (859) 283-7482 * PTDirect: 856VM BFA Plastic GmbH, Rossdorf, Germany +49 (6154) 69 91 0 * www.bfa-plastic.de Breyer GmbH Maschinenfabrik, Singen, Germany +49 (7731) 920 0 * PTDirect: 856YK Cincinnati Extrusion Inc., Erlanger, Ky. (859) 866-2411 * PTDirect: 776W Citsco Inc., Lancaster, S.C. (800) 790-7899 * PTDirect: 769XT CMG Costruzioni Meccaniche Gallia SrL, Cardano al Campo Cardano al Campo is a town located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. • • [ , Italy +39 (0331) 261 669 * cmg@logic.it Davis-Standard Corp., Pawcatuck, Conn. (860) 599 1010 * PTDirect: 189AP DR-Pack II Co., Ltd., Budaors, Hungary +36 (23) 430-041 * www.drpack.hu Emendo-Tec GmbH, Horn-Bad Meinberg, Germany +49 (5234) 205 942 * www.emendo-tec.de Erhardt + Leimer Inc., Duncan, S.C. (864) 486-3000 * PTDirect: 518SV esde Maschinentechnik GmbH, Bad Oeynhausen Coordinates: Bad Oeynhausen is a spa town in the Minden-Lübbecke district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Geography Bad Oeynhausen is located on the banks of the Weser river, which runs along the eastern edges of the town. , Germany +49 (5731) 9014 * PTDirect: 263WM Frankische Rohrwerke Gebr. Kirchner GmbH, Koenigsberg, Germany +49 (9525) 88 0 * www.fraenkische.de Hosokawa Alpine America, Natick, Mass. (508) 655-1123 * PTDirect: 664YD Inoex LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , Lancaster, Pa. (717) 672-0870 * PTDirect: 114FB Kdesign, Koenigswinter, Germany +49 (2244) 90 23 0 * www.kdesign-web.de Kiefel Inc., Wrentham, Mass. (508) 384-1200 * PTDirect: 453AZ Krauss-Maffei Corp., Florence, Ky. (859) 283-4311 * PTDirect: 327BD Kundig International Inc., Wellesley, Mass. (781) 235-8787 * PTDirect: 491VP KWH Pipe Ltd., Technology, Lahti, Finland +358 (3) 753-0155 * www.kwhtech.com Maillefer SA, Ecublens, Switzerland +41 (21) 694-4111 * www.mailleferextrusion.com Macchi North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Guelph, Ont. (519) 823-9400 * PTDirect: 172XR Reifenhauser Inc., Ipswich, Mass. (978) 412-9700 * PTDirect: 911BP Rival A/S, Skanderborg, Denmark +45 (86) 57 71 77 * www.rival.dk Rollepaal USA, Baltimore (410) 760-2447 * PTDirect: 687UK SAMP SrL, Varese, Italy +39 (0332) 310-173 * www.samp.it SICA SpA, Alfonsiue, Italy +39 (0544) 8 87 11 * www.sica-italy.com Troester GmbH, Hannover, Germany +49 (511) 87 04 0 * www.troester.de University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany +49 (5251) 60 53 51 * www.ktpweb.de Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp., Lincoln, R.I. (401) 333-2770 * PTDirect: 689FK |
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