There's lots more new at K'92.

Even though we received advance word on their displays from only a fraction of the 2087 exhibitors that will display at K'92 in Dusseldorf, Germany, later this month, the eight pages of new-product previews we published in September were insufficient to cover everything. In this installment, we cover introductions in additives, CIM systems, welding equipment, testing instruments, composites molding, and materials handling--plus some late-arriving announcements of introductions in injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, thermoforming, and recycling.

ADDITIVES FOR URETHANES

New catalyst and surfactant packages for flexible polyester urethane foams will be introduced by Air Products and Chemicals PURA GmbH (U.S. offices in Allentown, Pa.). Included are three amine catalysts--Dabco 2038, 2039 and 2040--and two silicone surfactants--Dabco DC 5526 and DC 5527. The catalysts reportedly provide low odor during handling.

Also showing new silicone surfactants is Th. Goldschmidt AG (Hopewell, Va.). These include five surfactants for rigid foams--two for HCFC-blown systems, one for flame-retardant laminated boardstock, one compatible with pentane-blown systems, and one that aids in processing open-celled rigid foams. Also new are a silicone surfactant stabilizer for high-resilience molded flexible foams, and two surfactants for flexible slabstock--one for low-density polyurethane and one for conventional and flame-retardant foams.

OTHER ADDITIVES

For PVC, Barlocher GmbH (Dover, Ohio), will unveil several new one-pack stabilizer/lubricant systems. The Baeropan MC 8000 series are calcium/zinc types for rigid PVC foam extrusion that can be tailored to meet specific applications; and Baeropan MC-KA 5 and MC-KA 6 are calcium/zinc packages for cable and wire jacketing.

Four new antistats and a pair of antislip agents will be introduced by Akzo Chemicals (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.). The antistats include Armostat 1000, a high-purity glycerol monostearate with food-contact approval that is said to rapidly migrate to a plastic's surface, exerting its full action faster than most other antistats. Two amide types are Armostat 2500, a similar product for non-food-contact uses; and Armostat 2000 and 2004 for PP and PE injection molding and film. Armostat 2000 is available in solids and flakes, while Armostat 2004 is a powder.

Akzo's new antislip agents for engineering resins--Armid OPA and Armid SSA--are secondary amides that are reportedly less volatile at higher process temperatures and can lead to higher throughput speeds.

New multifunctional fillers for polyester SMC will be introduced by ECC International (Atlanta). Polarite 490FW and 494FB are calcium carbonate-based, low-profile additives that reportedly provide zero-shrink moldings in SMC. ECCI says SMC produced with the fillers can be made self-releasing, eliminating the need for mold-release agents. Combined with the company's alumina trihydrate-based Polarite 800 series, Polarite 490 can produce SMC or BMC with good shrink control as well as high gloss and pigmentability, according to ECCI.

New "environmentally acceptable" mold-release agents and lubricants will be showcased by Axel Plastics Research Laboratories, Inc., Woodside, N.Y. The line of Mold Wiz solvent-based external mold releases has been modified to eliminate 1,1,1-trichloroethane; it also contains no CFCs or HCFCs. New introductions in the Mold Wiz line include water-based releases for urethanes, composites, and rubber. Axel will also introduce a food-grade internal lubricant for PET and PBT, as well as internal lubricants for phenolic pultrusion, polyester gelcoats and a variety of thermoplastics. Completely new for Axel are thermoplastic pellet concentrates containing 25% lubricant. These Axelcon products are aimed at injection molding, compounding, and rotomolding of LDPE and HDPE.

INJECTION MOLDING NEWS

The newest machine from Butler Design Ltd. (represented here by Matchless Machinery, Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), is a two-color or two-material unit that combines two 10/60 Hi-Tech machines, each with a 9-ton clamp, into one compact unit. During injection, the end platens and tiebar systems of each machine are held stationary while the injection and toggle units move the mold. A centralized platen, which houses the ejector system, rotates to transfer the component from the first to the second molding station.

This system is said to be capable of molding engineering resins to tolerances of |+ or -~1 micron (0.04 mil). The new machine is fully automatic and programmable, can mold up to six keys for typewriters, telephones and the like in 12-15 sec, and has memory for 25 mold setups. Although the company would not discuss the price, it says that the machine and running costs are one-third to one-fourth of those "normally associated with larger machines."

Also on hand will be Butler's relatively new 10/90V insert molding machine with vertical 9-ton clamp, which is capable of 3-g shot weight.

A few more details are available on the new SM series of toggle-clamp machines from 550 to 1000 tons that will be shown by Sandretto of Italy (U.S. office in Farmington Hills, Mich.). The machines reportedly will feature "generous" clamp dimensions, and a control system using servo valves and fast-response proportional valves. Sandretto's Metalmeccanica Plast subsidiary will demonstrate SP "Industrial Bucket" molding cells with integration of fast-cycle molding and automated post-fabrication of molded components.

Stork Plastics Machinery of the Netherlands (represented by Genesis in Mississauga, Ont.) will demonstrate its new SHM2200 injection machine with 2200-ton hydromechanical clamp. Also on hand will be a new quick-mold-change system.

Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., Bolton, Ont., will operate a 330-ton Tandem machine to mold two dissimilar PS parts on alternating cycles. This is the smallest Tandem machine yet built by Husky--most have been at least 1000 tons. But the company says this design is cost-effective even for smaller parts with long cooling cycles and for molders who want to increase their production capacity despite limited space.

Gneuss Kunststoff-technik GmbH (U.S. office in Langhorne, Pa.) will show the new Type ISF continuous screenchanger for injection molding. It features eight round screen cavities in a rotary disc. By sensing pressure drop across the screens, it automatically controls the changes. The ISF's screen surface maximum is 27.12 sq in.

EXTRUSION AUXILIARIES

Gneuss will also introduce the Type KSF low-cost extrusion screenchanger. It lacks the provisions for maintaining constant pressure across the screen, a feature that characterizes much of the firm's other equipment. Also new is a Type DSF large-area continuous filter. It holds eight filter packs of 6-10 discs each inside a rotating disc that keeps two packs in the melt at all times. It has a maximum screen surface of 10.76 sq ft and a max. disc screen diam. of 72.2 in.

For coiling extruded tubing, hose and semirigid pipes, G. Calini of Italy (rep. by Plastics Equipment Marketing Services, Deer Park, N.Y.) will show off a new series of fully automatic coilers. The BAC-RA series produces "perfectly geometric coils," the company says, by means of an intermittent traversing unit, which places every length of tube "in a precise and programmed position," taking into account "any diameter irregularity and tube ovalization." All operations are fully automatic, including transfer from one bobbin to another and strapping a finished coil with PP tape. Bobbins are adjustable in diameter and width, and a new dancer system synchronized with a pneumatic brake provides variable winding tension. The PLC-controlled coilers are available in four sizes for products from 10 mm to 63 mm diam. and winding speeds up to 262.4 ft/min.

BLOW MOLDING

Johnson Controls Inc., Manchester, Mich., will bring several new Italian-built blow molders, including stretch-blow and continuous-extrusion shuttle types. The new integrated injection-stretch-blow USB-200 "one-stage" machine will be shown for the first time. This 200-ton model and smaller 45-ton USB-100 are built at Johnson Controls' new Bologna, Italy, plant (the larger USB-300 is built in the U.S.). USB-100 and 200 models feature three-station rotary layout with preform injection, conditioning, and blowing/stretching/robotic removal. This division devotes a full machine cycle to preform conditioning, whereas some three-station stretch-blow models condition and blow within one cycle, allowing less control, Johnson Controls says. The USB-100 costs $297,000 and USB-200 $455,000 FOB Italy.

Johnson Control's former Comec unit near Florence will bring two new shuttle-style blow molders. MSK/D, a double-sided, four-head machine can mold 1-liter bottles in eight cavities at a rate of 3200 bottles/hr. The new MS-750/D, Johnson Controls' smallest continuous-extrusion shuttle, is a double-sided, three-headed model. It will blow 5-oz PP containers at a rate of 2200/hr at the show.

Wilmington Machinery Inc., newly relocated to Wilmington, N.C., will show a video of a new continuous-extrusion wheel machine. The 7.5-ton, 12-station model with three-layer coex capability (recycle in the center layer) and in-mold labeling was custom-built for Lever Brothers.

TopWave Instruments Oy of Finland (and Roselle, N.J.) is introducing and demonstrating a new SPC system for quality testing of blow molded containers. TopWave's SPC package can integrate a variety of testing instruments including TopWave's Gawis-OD, a non-invasive infrared wall-thickness measuring instrument. The new SPC system is used off-line with either a pickup robot or a specially designed conveyor sideline to isolate samples for testing. Collected data are sorted according to tested property, mold number and time; and X-bar and R charts are displayed on a computer screen.

THERMOFORMING

Paul Kiefel GmbH (U.S. offices in Succusunna, N.J.) will bring its first redesigned KMD 52 pressure former with servo-driven forming motions. This machine replaces hydropneumatic movements with servo drives on the top and bottom mold halves and the lower steel-rule-die cutter. Kiefel previously offered servo drives only on vacuum formers.

Also shown for the first time will be Kiefel's KVH 83 preheater, a separate air-impingement oven for preheating PP, OPS and other materials that shrink or stretch on contact heating. Kiefel began building the hot-air preheater a year ago and has sold 60 (none in the U.S.). The KVH 83 preheater can take up to 4-ft wide roll stock and costs $65,000 FOB Germany.

Also with news in PP forming, Krupp Bellaform (U.S. offices in Edison, N.J.) will bus visitors from the show to its Ingelheim plant to see new "high-precision" trim tooling, which the company says guarantees |+ or -~4 mils of "concentric tolerance on PP containers in a post-trim operation." With PP, high accuracy trimming usually requires trim-in-place equipment, with significantly lower output than post-trimming. This is believed to be the first high-output (50,000 cups/hr with standard homopolymer PP) post-trim system with such high accuracy.

RECYCLING

German turnkey recycling machinery maker Sikoplast Maschinenbau Heinrich Koch GmbH will show a model of a new washing/recycling line for contaminated waste film at K'92. Sikoplast will also run a shuttle bus from the show to its Siegburg plant for demonstrations of film, PET and HDPE recycling. For film recycling, in-line cascade extruders will convert post-industrial film waste into blown film without a granulating step. Recycled film will be made into bags and printed in the same process.

Sikoplast will also show reprocessing of PET fiber and vacuum-forming web with a new predrying unit to ensure low viscosity degradation, allowing regrind to be used without significant loss of properties, the company says. And it promises a demonstration of "a polyolefin recycling line with excellent price/output ratio."

CIM FOR MOLDING, EXTRUSION

Several new or enhanced CIM-related products for injection molding, blow molding, and extrusion will be introduced at the show by the Belgian parent of Barco Automation, Inc., Charlotte, N.C. These include the latest release of the Barco CIM system, which includes a flexible and powerful SPC package that can be freely configured to meet different molders' needs.

Also, a completely new BarcoCIM package for extrusion will be shown. Extrusion lines are equipped with a Barcomat industrial terminal for recording production and process parameters, which is tied into a central DEC VAX color-graphic terminal. Software includes recipe management, order and entry planning, management of setup data, real-time process and production monitoring, historical reporting, and SPC.

A new low-cost, high-performance PC-based machine monitoring system, called PCMS, is said to be flexible, "open" (i.e., compatible with other systems), and upgradable to a complete CIM system. PCMS includes a report generator designed for non-programmers.

A PC-based process and quality control system, called PC-STAT, will be shown. The system, which was designed for q-c labs, links to measurement equipment for automatic recording of quality-related data. The SPC software checks every reading with predefined tolerance and control limits and generates alarms when problems are detected. The system calculates capability indexes and produces control charts, histograms, and frequency distributions.

Finally, Barco has new "Computer Plantafel" software, described as a very powerful, real-time scheduling system, which is fully integrated with Barco's CIM monitoring systems. A graphic user interface and optimizing rules designed specifically for molding operations allow users to cope with delivery times, reduce setup times and work-in-process, and optimize capacity utilization.

Illustrating their applicability to processes other than injection molding, ProHelp SPC and production monitoring systems from Mattec Corp., Loveland, Ohio, will be demonstrated on blow molding machines from Johnson Controls and Magic, and on a Bausano extrusion line.

FOR COMPOSITES FABRICATION

The Merva-System, a low-pressure pneumatic press technology, will be introduced by Stauch GmbH & Co. of Germany (presses are assembled and sold in the U.S. by Merva-System Corp., Bridgeport, Conn.). Air cylinders on the platen corners provide up to 145 psi pressure. Because the press is lightweight compared with other composites presses, Stauch says energy consumption can be reduced by as much as 80%. Molds are evacuated during the pressing cycle, and volatiles are absorbed in an integrated pollutant filter system. Mold evacuation is also said to reduce or eliminate voids in parts. Large press-bed sizes and strokes of more than 46 in. allow production of very big parts.

NEW WELDING SYSTEMS

Herrmann Ultrasonics (Schaumburg, Ill.) will introduce its new "Active Control" series of Dialog ultrasonic welders. The new series allows programming of amplitude from 70% to 100%. Unlike conventional generators, the Active Control generator series provides constant amplitude output regardless of voltage variation (from 190 to 240 v). The generator also provides a self-tuning range of |+ or -~500 Hz. A high-power 4000-watt generator also is available.

Improvements have been made to the head of the press to virtually eliminate deflection during welding. The air cylinder has been placed in direct alignment with the welding horn, and ball bearings have replaced roller bearings in the machine column for greater accuracy and repeatability.

Sonics & Materials Inc., Danbury, Conn., will introduce its new 40-kHz Slimline Actuator ultrasonic welding system. It's designed to weld small parts in automated systems where space limitations are critical. The snap-in converter, booster and horn assembly all ride on a precision bearing system. Overall stroke length is 2 in. It comes in microprocessor-controlled or digitally timed versions, with computer interfaces that allow for SPC and on-line quality assurance.

FOR TESTING & Q-C

SWO Polymertechnik GmbH (represented here by Stevens Testing Instruments, Fort Mills, S.C.) will introduce two new viscosity measuring devices. Rheoflixer HT01 is an automated instrument for measuring viscosity of plastics at different shear rates. It's controlled by an IBM-compatible computer with menu-driven software. Measurements can be made in a temperature range between 140 F and 788 F.

The "Meltflixer" is a melt-flow index and volume-flow-index (MVI) instrument. A PC is standard, along with software modules for automated measurements with direct output of results.

Brabender OHG (C.W. Brabender Instruments Inc., South Hackensack, N.J.) will unveil its FQM II Film Quality Measuring System. The instrument measures the transparency of films and ribbons, counting impurities and unfused polymer particles. It consists of a light source, high-resolution electronic camera, intelligent data-transfer interface, and an IBM (or compatible) PC.

Brabender also is introducing its Auto-Grader system for measuring polymer rheological characteristics such as viscosity, shear rate, shear stress and flow exponent. The system includes a plastication unit with speed and pressure controls, melt pump with speed control, round capillary die, temperature-control unit, data-transfer interface, thermocouples and pressure transducers.

FOR MATERIALS HANDLING

Colortronic GmbH, Friedrichsdorf, Germany (K-Tron, Colortronic & Co., Pitman, N.J.) will debut a new modular control package for all of its weighing and blending equipment. The modular controls allow operation of several blending units from a single controller and can be tied into a central computer.

Three new dryers and new seamless modular drying hoppers will be displayed by Universal Dynamics Corp., Woodbridge, Va. The UDC 30, 55 and 100 dryers all have dual desiccant beds and fully automatic regeneration. Their microprocessor controls use fiber optics to reduce electronic noise. The dryers reportedly also allow easy access for maintenance and use a cartridge-type return air filter. Una-Dyn lists base prices of the units at $3360 for the UDC 30 to $5925 for the UDC 100. Una-Dyn's new drying hoppers come in insulated and uninsulated versions, made of stainless steel for quick cleaning, and ranging in capacity from 50 lb to 800 lb.