Film has 100 microscopic barrier layers. (Keeping up with Extrusion).

A novel microlayer cast-film line was custom built several months ago for a large shoe manufacturer by Davis-Standard Corp., Pawcatuck, Conn. The line has five extruders ranging from 1.5-in. to 4.5-in. diam. and an "enhanced" chill roll and cooling conveyor. An unusual feedblock, not built by Davis-Standard, splits four different barrier resins into a film structure with either 50 or 100 micro-layers. This structure passes through a single-orifice die into a 3-roll cooling stack, more typical of sheet lines than cast film. The resulting 6-mil thick film has microscopic layers as thin as 0.002 mm, which improve stress-cracking and barrier properties, Davis-Standard says. Other target markets for the new microlayer extrusion process are food and medical packaging. Tel: [phone], www.davis-standard.com