Two AC servo motors on the new model MSL sheet cutter from Maxson Automatic Machinery Co., USA, are said to increase cutting speed by 43% and accuracy by 65%. The two servo motors replace a single gear-driven motor that previously powered both cutting and pulling functions. According to Maxson, the servo-driven cutters provide 300 cuts/min with an accuracy of ±0.015 in.
A patented hydraulic nip adjustment for calender rolls is said to be the first that combines emergency nip-opening capability (to 3-in. separation) with more precise adjustment of the nip gap than is provided by conventional screw-type mechanical devices. Comerio Ercole SpA in Italy developed the hydraulic-piston opening system five years ago. It has seven installations, including one on a lab calendering line at DuPont Co. The Comerio’s nip adjustment uses Moog servo valves and guarantees accuracy of ±0.1 mil.
Extruder maker Berstorff, Germany, is back in the black, says Manfred Reichel, managing director. The firm has separated its plastics and rubber machinery divisions, and hired additional technical and sales personnel to improve service, and is repositioning itself from a machine manufacturer into a complete systems supplier, he says. Berstorff hit bottom in the mid-1990s when the firm placed a big bet on sales to Russian firms that never out. Now, as part of the MPM group of processing machinery companies, the firm is headed for 6 to 7% growth/year for at least the next five years, Reichel predicts. In April, the company founded Berstorff Service GmbH to provide after-sales services. These will include maintenance of an entire plant, even on competitors‘ machinery, as well as spare parts and consultations on projects.
Plastics pipe processor Uponor has sold a license to DPI Plastics, Germiston, South Africa, to manufacture pipes using Uponor’s continuous MO-PVC pipe process technology throughout Africa.
The process, developed jointly by Uponor and the Australian company Vinidex, produces a more durable product than standard PVC pipe. The end product has higher pressure performance, with good impact resistance. By using a special mandrel, the pipes are mono-oriented during extrusion. This allows the polymer molecules to line up and provide a stronger vinyl pipe.
Uponor already sells such pipes for pressure applications in Europe and the U.S. under the Mondial and Ultra-Blue brands. DPI has six production sites in sub-Sahara Africa.
Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH, Germany, has signed contracts with several Chinese film manufacturers for the delivery of BOPP film lines. Wujin Jin-Shi, in Wujin, one of the largest masterbatch producers in China, has ordered a five-layer specialty film production line. Wuxi Kuanyu has ordered an 8200mm wide BOPP line, which will be among the largest in China. Following the Wuxi-based processor’s lead, Brückner also secured three further contracts in the 8200mm line market, including five-layer lines for Hefei Guofeng and Siulam Wing Ning.
Demand for blown film equipment to handle tacky web has increased so much that extrusion equipment manufacturer Windmöller & Hölscher, based here, reports that it is shipping a zero-contact film guiding system with every other oscillating haul-off ordered.
The company’s Nostic oscillating haul-off, introduced in 1997, allows processed film to hover over the turning bars on a cushion of air. The system prevents sticking, maintains optical properties, and avoids scratches and marks on the web surface of protective film and stretchwrap.
The Philippine government is pushing for a five-year phaseout of non-biogradable plastic bags. Peter Anthony A. Abaya, director of the Environment Management Bureau in Quezon City, said a five-year implementation period will give domestic processors enough time to make technological adjustments required to make degradable bags.
Barlo Plastics Europe NV. is closing its headquarters plant in Geel and switching production to plants in Germany and Eastern Europe. The Geel plant employed 78. The June 19 shutdown announcement follows three weeks of negotiations with employees and trade unions.
Klöckner Pentaplast of America Inc.,said to be the largest producer of rigid films in the Americas, announced plans for a US$10 million expansion at its Rural Retreat, Va., manufacturing facility. The expansion includes installation of new equipment to produce transverse-direction oriented (TDO) shrink film. Upon start-up in 2002, the new TDO equipment will more than double the firm’s North American capacity. TDO films are available in vinyl, polyester or Barex films, and are used for shrink sleeves, full-body labels, bottle-cap seals, tamper-evident bands and multi-pack applications.
Polyethylene film and packaging firm, British Polythene Industries plc, is selling a retail plastic carrier bag plant in Heanor, England. Greenock-based BPI sold the Alida Packaging Ltd. plant to Bunzl Retail Supplies Ltd., a unit of London-based Bunzl plc.