Strictly-Extrusion

Breaking through the lower limit of flexibility for pelletized flexible vinyl, Teknor Apex has developed a series of ’super-flexible’ compounds that provide the softness and rubber-like traction of plastisol-based PVC products yet are processible in standard injection molding and extrusion equipment, the company announced today. To be introduced at the Teknor Apex exhibit during NPE 2003 (Booth 9755), the new Apex (R) compounds make it possible to boost the output and quality of industrial belts, rollers, step pads, appliance footers, caps, plugs, grips, and a host of other products currently manufactured by rotational, dip, or slush molding.
In contrast to paste-like plastisols, which are dispersions of PVC polymer in a liquid-plasticizer carrier, super-flexible Apex vinyl comes in the form of pellets, making it suitable for high-volume injection molding and extrusion, according to Philip Morin, industry manager for consumer and industrial products. In addition, he said, the pellet form avoids plastisol-related handling and quality problems: ‘Plastisols can vary in viscosity in accordance with temperature and mixing conditions, contain entrapped air that causes pinholes or voids in finished product, undergo separation during storage, take much longer time for color changes, and entail use of volatile organic solvents for cleanup after spills.’
Recently Teknor Apex supplied a custom formulation of Apex super-flexible vinyl for use in a commercial application where traction is a crucial property. Now the company is introducing three standard grades, clear compounds with Shore A hardnesses of 39, 45, and 50, respectively. Until now, the conventional lower hardness limit for standard flexible vinyl compounds (for example, those not based on costly ultra-high-molecular-weight PVC resin, for example) has been around 50, according to Bob Mauritz, corporate technical service associate, who led the program to develop the custom formulation.

Plasticizer Formulation Is Key to Processibility and Versatility
‘It has long been assumed that producing a standard PVC compound under 50 Shore A in pellet form would be very difficult, if not impossible, because the high level of plasticizer required would make the compound too difficult to handle and process,’ Mauritz said. ‘When a customer asked us to find a way to help them replace plastisol coating with a far more efficient extrusion coating process, we set out to break through this ‘Shore A barrier’ by developing new techniques for formulation and melt-compounding.’
Compared with plastisol manufacture, melt compounding makes it possible to build into the vinyl raw material several advantages for the molder or extrusion processor, according to Mauritz. ‘Pelletized vinyl is a completely homogeneous compound incorporating all colorants, additives, and modifying resins, including solids that normally cannot be mixed with plastisols,’ Mauritz said. ‘This makes it possible for us to disperse colors and other additives more uniformly, use advanced plasticizers to boost properties, and create whole new property profiles by blending PVC with other process aids or modifiers.’

Following a year of successful development and testing with customers and suppliers, global plastics eMarketplace Omnexus has released its UltraLite light integration tool. The simple, no-cost solution electronically sends purchase orders from a buyer’s ordering system to their suppliers’ ERP systems in a single, consolidated process. Easy to implement, UltraLite works seamlessly within a buyer’s existing order system to eliminate the burden of double order entry.
Omnexus created UltraLite in response to a growing request among customers wanting to automate their order processing and reporting systems without incurring the cost of full integration. UltraLite’s light integration technology allows buyers to quickly and securely submit purchase orders electronically to multiple suppliers in a standard format. The technology removes a major challenge to e-commerce adoption by eliminating the need for buyers and suppliers to re-enter purchase orders transmitted through traditional methods like phone or fax.
“When we set out to move our order system online, we envisioned a single connection with all our suppliers no matter where they were in the world—be it Europe or the U.S.
We wanted the simplest system possible so that our purchasers didn’t have to add steps to the order process by picking up a phone or sending a fax,” said Don Benedict, North American purchasing manager, Quadrant Engineering Plastics Products.
“UltraLite was the best product available and had us connected and ordering through the Omnexus eMarketplace quickly.”
UltraLite can be installed in only a few hours, with little time required from a company’s IT staff. Using a company’s existing order files, Omnexus guides companies through a straightforward three-step process that allows them to move their order systems online securely and efficiently with minimal effort and few noticeable process changes. No extra hardware is needed, and UltraLite is designed to integrate with all available systems, including Legacy, AS400, Baan, SAP, JD Edwards and Oracle. In addition, UltraLite uses a 128-bit HTTPS connection to maximize security.
“From an IT perspective, the installation and configuration is very easy. Normal projects like this can take months, and we did it in weeks,” said Andrew McWaters, senior manufacturing systems engineer, Lancer Corporation. “UltraLite will play a key role in how we order and maintain inventory levels here at Lancer. UltraLite is eliminating one whole step in the business process.”
In addition to UltraLite, Omnexus also offers buyers access to the convenient order features of its Global Transaction Platform. Buyers can use the system to view the status of their orders, enable e-mail notification to track the progress of an order or view consolidated purchasing reports for all their suppliers, all in one place.
“Companies have put substantial time and investment into e-commerce initiatives. To date, however, the success of e-commerce adoption within the plastics industry has been hindered by the prohibitive cost of deep ERP integration or the duplicate work of entering orders twice,” said Michael J. Walsh, COO, Omnexus. “UltraLite provides an ideal, no-cost solution that lets companies electronically process purchase orders with their suppliers through a single, standard format, and avoids the need for double order entry.”
More information on UltraLite, including an animated overview in Flash format, is available at http://www.omnexus.com/UltraLite.

Davis-Standard recently introduced a new high performance extruder that is ready for shipment in two weeks from the order date. The competitively priced “Super Blue™” extruder is available in 2-inch (50mm), 2 1/2-inch (65mm), 75mm and 3 1/2-inch (90mm) sizes, each with a 24:1 L/D ratio. All four sizes will be displayed at Davis-Standard’s booth #5107, during NPE. The extruder is equipped with preferred features including a low noise, high torque double-reduction gearbox; cast aluminum finned heaters bolted to the barrel to ensure barrel-to-heater contact; a brushless AC drive and motor; and a high capacity, highly efficient air cooling system. The Super Blue is also standard with a three-year warranty.
“The Super Blue design is a reflection of market demand,” said Jim Murphy, business director at Davis-Standard. “Our customers want a quality machine with a shorter lead time at a good price. This extruder offers both the best value and delivery in the industry.”
The Super Blue line of extruders is ideal for custom profile and tubing applications as well as basic wire and cable and film applications. Machine advantages include a rigid base with structural steel construction; a wear-resistant bimetallic barrel designed for 10,000 psi operating pressure with removable barrel flange, rupture disc and pressure transducer behind the front flange; an “inverted-L” style control panel with a modular design for improved accessibility; and a gear drive reducer with heavy-wall, two-piece iron housing and single helical gearing. The Super Blue line of extruders is available with a wide range of screw designs to suit the customer’s applications. Davis-Standard’s industry-leading DSB® barrier design screws are offered with “A Lifetime of Process Support®” and are a perfect complement to the new Super Blue extruders.
For more information about Super Blue extruders, contact Jim Murphy at jmurphy@davis-standard.com.

A patent-pending technique developed by Nordenia Technologies GmbH in Gronau, Germany, creates the effect of embossing by printing high-shrinking lacquer on film. As the lacquer shrinks, the film curls. Printing alternating lacquered and non-lacquered areas creates the cushiony effect of raised embossing. When film is rolled, the embossing flattens out, but when the film is unwound, it reappears. Nordenia Technologies is the R&D arm of film processor Nordenia International AG, which has started to show the technology to selected customers. http://www.nordenia.com

SML Maschinengesellschaft, Austria, made a sensational record in sales in the year 2002. With an increase in turnover of 17%, from EUR 40 millions in 2001 to EUR 47 millions in 2002, SML defies the general economic trend and even expects a continuation of this positive development for the year 2003. Last month, SML succeeded against international competitors and sold a coextrusion castfilm line with inline MDO-unit to a customer in the Czech Republic. This will be the twelfth SML-line in the market for the production of breathable film for the hygienic industry. This order is further confirmation for the technological leadership of SML in this field and also reinforces its position as a market leader for the supply of breathable-film-lines. In Europe SML has got a market share of 70%, according to the company. This month SML was further successful with an order for a high-speed extrusion coating line, another area of expanding development for the company.

In 2002 the world´s leading supplier of film stretching systems, Brueckner Maschinenbau, Germany, has sold 24 complete film stretching lines, more than ever before. In addition to that several contracts for components had been signed. The order intake stood at EURO 254m (2001: EUR 219m).

A new, comprehensive service concept with the motto ‘At our Customers’ Service around the World’ will be presented by the Coperion Group, Stuttgart, at the Achema (Frankfurt am Main, 19 to 24 May 2003) at the company stand F2-G4 in hall 5.0. The 18 coordinated modules of this concept extend far beyond classical reactive spare parts supply and are based on the know-how available within the company. The international presence of Coperion permits fast and efficient on-the-spot service. Four modules will be at the centre of focus at the Achema presentation: • • •
Training Seminars of the Coperion Training Academy serve to convey knowledge for effective self-help. The know-how for all system components is conveyed to attendees either at Coperion or on the customer’s premises. Standard topics are the compounding systems, plants and components product lines as well as process and control technology. This is augmented by other topics such as selective troubleshooting, and also special topics based on the interests of participants.
During Plant and Machine Inspection experienced service technicians inspect the machines and plants supplied by Coperion. They assess their function and performance and compile a detailed service report which provides information on which measures are required to ensure optimum availability and also options for increasing capacity.
With an Equipment and Component Leasing Service Coperion offers an inexpensive option to prevent interruption in production during replacement or repair work (e.g. of gear units). This
May 2003
also enables users to inexpensively test new components or new versions (diverter valves, rotary valves). •
Coperion has developed a computer-supported barrel measuring device especially for precise Barrel Bore Measuring on the twin-screw compounders. With this device it is possible to determine the surface condition and degree of wear without having to dismantle the barrel. Measurement results are given in a detailed status report. This permits timely planning for the replacement of worn barrels.
The Coperion group has supplied more than 8,000 of around 13,000 processing extruders currently in operation and has erected around 9,000 bulk solids systems around the world. It has around 30,000 spare parts on stock and more than 70 on-the-spot service technicians around the world who are supported by another 130 customer service staff in Europe, the United States and the Far East.

Coperion came into being in 2000 as the result of a merger of the companies Buss, Waeschle und Werner & Pfleiderer. The Group is currently the leading, globally operating vendor of reliable and economic processing technologies for the plastics, chemical and food industries. With a workforce of almost 2,000 the group generates a turnover of approximately . 400 million.

Within a short period of time, 50 fully-automatic Rotary Filtration Systems type RSFgenius have been installed successfully by Gneuß for the processing of PET bottle flakes to sheet.
The filtration system is of decisive importance with respect to the processing of PET bottle flakes. It must remove large quantities of foreign particles from the melt at the highest possible rate, since the dirt cake itself can cause degradations of the polymer, leading to quality problems with regard to colour and mechanical properties of the sheet.
Crucial aspects of the processing of PET bottle flakes to sheet with the RSFgenius are:

· Process- and product
consistency even when 100 % PET postconsumer bottle flakes are used.
· Level of film purity up to contamination size of 25 µm.
· Minimal film thickness tolerance fluctuations of less than 1.5 % caused by the filtration system, even without additional melt pump (e.g. even with twin-screw extruders).
· No influence on the consistency of melt viscosity and colour by the filtration system with integrated pump.
· Maximum dwell time of all the melt from the screw to the die of 15-20 sec.
· Fully-automatic melt filtration with controlled consistency of process and product.

A package of guarantees covers the services and optimisation, which is not only a process guarantee, but extends to the quality characteristics of the product.

Parallel to the development, design and realisation of filtration systems for processing PET bottle flakes direct to high quality sheet, Gneuß is also active in other areas - e.g. filtration in the processing of PET bottle flakes to fibres - one of the fastest-growing areas for Gneuß.

Dynisco has announced a novel and unique multi-ranging polymer melt pressure transducer for the extrusion industry - the Dynisco MRT. The new transducer incorporates an integral thermocouple, allowing simultaneous polymer melt temperature measurement in addition to pressure. The multi range (pressure only) selection features offer maximum versatility to handle changing process conditions and changing extruder raw materials. In addition, inventory flexibility is enhanced — industry users need only stock one MRT transducer for a variety of extruder measurement and control applications.

Extrusion machinery maker Krauss-Maffei launches a new die technology today that enables pipe producers to adjust diameter and wall thickness fully automatically on-line and without interrupting production.The QuickSwitch die system is the result of more than 18 months development between KM and German processor Egeplast Werner Strumann. The QuickSwitch system uses a cone-shaped mandrel, which can moved in the axial direction, to alter the die gap while final pipe diameter is seamlessly adjusted using a special segmented calibration basket. However, the key to the effectiveness of the system is the specially developed automatic control technology.Three QuickSwitch versions are available covering pipe diameters in the ranges 32-63mm, 75-160mm and 160-250mm. Systems can be fitted to new or existing equipment, including non-KM lines.