Strictly-Extrusion

Leading screw and barrel manufacturer Xaloy has been sold by owner, Switzerland’s Saurer Group, to a management team backed by Baird Capital Partners. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, covers Xaloy’s plants in Asia and the US where it has six operations. The company’s top management will remain in place. President and chief executive Walter Cox and executive vice-president Gunther Hoyt will be supported by Tim Worner, vice-president of engineering and technology, who joined Xaloy when it acquired New Castle Industries last August. BCP expects to play a role at board level but does not intend to be involved on a day-to-day basis.
The sale of the business is consistent with textile machinery maker Saurer’s intention to exit the plastics equipment business. In December the company sold Xaloy’s European screw and barrel business to OMG of Brescia At the time, Xaloy’s Cox warned of the changes in the plastics processing equipment market since its peak in 2000 and the need for consolidation.

PVC profile extruder Synseal Extrusions Ltd. is investing US$7.5 million to expand and add five high-speed extrusion lines. The investment includes a 27,000-square-foot expansion to its plant in Sutton-in-Ashfield. The addition to the 421,000-square-foot plant also will house a new mixing facility.

With regards to high-technology processing ROSSI STAMP offers to the industry equipment with high sophistication. The Company can manufacture extrusion tooling and machinery for all types of profile and material, including: PVC, PC, PE, PP, PS, PA, PUR, and ABS. Ideal applications for ROSSI STAMP equipment include co-extruded parts made from a range of materials, the covering of wood, aluminium, steel and multi-material extrusion. The Company has developed an innovative process in Glassfibre Reinforced Extruded Profiles, which provides the means of producing a continuously reinforced extruded profile with the reinforcement located where it is required to give the desired properties.

Trelleborg has acquired Dynaflex, the French manufacturer of composite hoses, from industrial rubber group Manuli for an undisclosed sum. Based at Sancheville in central France, Dynaflex makes steel and fibre-reinforced hoses for applications including tanker trucks, aviation fuel and aggressive chemicals. It employs 15 staff. Trelleborg said Dynaflex will be fully integrated with Unifluid Technologies, the company it acquired last year, and operate as a single combined unit within Trelleborg Engineered Systems. It said it expected synergies in both production and sales between the two firms.

The new MAXICONE multi-layer die for 5–7 layers marks an absolutely novel W&H blown film die design for the production of large width barrier films or polyolefine multi-layer structures. Available with die diameters from 350 to 500 mm, the MAXICONE is suitable for working widths from 1600 to 2200mm. Its compact design ensures very short melt flow paths and reduced melt residence times, which in turn result in minimum amounts of melt inside the die. The arrangement and shape of the melt channels and the spiral mandrel distributors guarantee optimal melt distribution inside the die, which also reflect in excellent purge properties and very tight basic tolerances. The newly designed MULTINIP system represents a valuable addition to W&H’s range of haul-off systems. The MULTINIP is characterised by a very long tube collapsing section, direct driven turning bars and a vibration free suspension system. The new haul-off features maintenance free components and uses a CAN bus system for maximum functional and operational reliability.

This year’s Middle East Coatings Show takes place on 9. and 10. March in Dubai/United Arab Emirates. Clariant’s Pigments & Additives Division is again exhibiting at this internationally known trade event. Its comprehensive portfolio of innovative products for paints and coatings will be presented on Stand 56 / Hall 5. The Division is highlighting high quality pigments and pigment preparations for coatings and print products as well as high performance additives. The Ceridust®-range of micronised waxes and the Exolit®-range of futuristic flame retardant systems are ideally suited for use in coatings.

You will find a selection of current new developments in the following sections. Further information is available from Clariant, please see the contacts on the last page.

Creative color perfectly implemented – colorants from the Pigments & Additives Division
New and improved pigments and pigment preparations from Clariant for the coatings industry exhibit excellent properties. These include the high fastness pigments Hostaperm® Yellow H5G, Hostaperm® Red Violet ERX/ERX-WD, Hostaperm® Blue R5R and Novoperm® THI Red 4G 70. Further products are Hansa® Brilliant Yellow 2GX 70-S for industrial and architectural finishes, Novoperm® Red F3RK 70-PCA and Hostaperm® Red Violet ER-PCA for powder coatings and the considerably extended range of phthalocyanine-blue pigments. In the field of pigment preparations, the VOC-free Colanyl® 500 range and Sandosperse® A und E ranges should be mentioned.
The Printing Industries Business Unit is showing first class colorants for its sector. Important developments are: Permanent-Rubine P-L7B 01 and Hostaperm®-Blue P-BFS for solvent-based packaging print, Novoperm®-Red F6RK with exceptionally good fastness properties combined with cost advantages, Reflex-Blue A6L-G MF 31 and Reflex-Blue A6L-R MF 31 for VOC-free sheet-fed offset inks and pigments for UV printing inks.
There are also important new products in the field of digital print. The performance profile of various innovations is perfectly matched to these requirements. Tonerwax S 80 distinguishes itself by a low and sharp melting point, TP Licocene PP6102 is the first metallocene wax for toners, the nanodispersed Hostajet PT pigment dispersions are suitable for even the most demanding print applications and the charge control agents of the Hostacopy range exhibit maximum triboelectric efficiency.

Texture required? Micronised waxes for coatings and printing inks
Waxes primarily improve the physical properties of coatings and printing inks and/or modify the handle and appearance of the surface. TP Ceridust® 6073, 6074 and 6075 from Clariant are new texture additives from the range of micronised Ceridust®-products. The new grades are recommended particularly for use in solvent-based, air-drying coatings systems. With TP Ceridust® 3921 F, Clariant offers a PTFE-containing wax blend based on novel polyolefins intended for use in lacquers, print products and coil coatings.

Flames haven’t a chance – Exolit®
Exolit® AP from the Pigments and Additives Division is a promising flame retardant, based on ammonium polyphosphate (AP), which is halogen-free, easy to process and extremely effective. Other advantages lie primarily in the low smoke density and the fact that, in fires, they do not liberate additional corrosive gases. Emissions are, however, not only reduced significantly in fires: Exolit® AP does not migrate but remains permanently in the system. Clariant recommends the AP range particularly for fire protection of steel structures. Sealants, adhesives, wood, paper, textiles, leather and coatings of all thicknesses can be effectively flame-retarded with Exolit® AP.

UK film extruder and converter Polyclear has acquired Amberdale, a printer and converter of PE products, for an undisclosed sum. The deal will almost double the size of Southampton-based Polyclear. Its current turnover is around E7.5m; Amberdale, located in Harlow, has sales of E6.4m. It is understood the two companies will retain their identities, but operate under the parent company Polyclear Holdings. Polyclear said it saw scope for a number of synergies including the supply of film, which Amberdale does not extrude, from the Polyclear site and some reconfiguring of the machine line-up. Polyclear was established by Paul Mehta about 30 years ago and retains the family tradition with two of his sons holding senior positions in the business.

The new HTFlex (TM) barrel heater provides plastics processors with the time-saving advantages of a one-piece band plus a substantial added downtime reduction due to its flexibility, it was announced today by Fast Heat Inc. While a conventional rigid one-piece barrel heater can take up to an hour to replace, users of the HTFlex band need only 10 minutes, according to Ian Renwick, engineering manager.

‘The thin-gauge steel sheath of the HTFlex heater band enables it not only to flex around any barrel diameter but to do so at any point along the barrel length, putting an end to the time-consuming task of replacing heater bands located in the middle of the barrel,’ Renwick said. ‘With machine time for an injection molder valued in the hundreds of dollars per hour, the increase in productivity made possible by this new band can yield substantial cost savings.’

Like other bands in Fast Heat’s HT series, the HTFlex barrel heater has a maximum operating temperature of 1,400 deg. F (760 deg. C), allowing processors to run a wide range of engineering resins, Renwick pointed out.

Installing or removing an HTFlex band is a one-person operation. After flexing the band open to fit the barrel diameter, the installer secures the self-centering screw clamps and attaches power to one set of terminal screws. If the band to be replaced is in the center of a series of band heaters or other equipment mounted on the barrel, there is no need to remove or disturb these other devices. In comparison with two-piece bands, the new barrel heater requires less assembly labor and eliminates the wiring of multiple terminations.

Drawing on its expertise as a source of technical information for plastics professionals, the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) will organize conference sessions to be offered free to attendees at the Plastics USA 2004 exposition, it was announced today by The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI). Visitors will also have the option of attending paid educational programs, including a new SPI South seminar on workplace management and training, 22 SPE seminars for professional advancement, and two single-topic conferences organized by industry publications.

Sponsored by SPI, Plastics USA 2004 will take place September 28-30 in the East Building (Lakeside Center) of McCormick Place in Chicago.

▪ The Plastics USA 2004 Conference will take place on Wednesday, September 29 and consist of four concurrent sessions on extrusion, injection molding, new technology, and automotive, according to Lesley Kyle, SPE’s senior event manager. Each session will have four morning and four afternoon presentations of 45-minute length, for a total of 32 presentations. Attendance will be free to any badge-holding show attendee. A list of the presentations will be posted at a future date on the Plastics USA 2004 website at www.plasticsusa.org/education.asp.

▪ ‘Investing in Human Capital to Build a Workforce Prepared to Compete’ will be a 5 ½-hour seminar sponsored by SPI South and held on Wednesday, September 29. Registration costs USD $249 and $399 for SPI members and non-members, respectively. For information and online registration, visit www.spisouth.org/events/seminar4.htm.

▪ SPE Seminars. There will be 22 intensive one- and two-day sessions scheduled over
the three days of the Plastics USA 2004 show. Session categories include blow molding, color
and appearance, engineering properties and structure, extrusion, injection molding, marketing and management, materials, product design, and thermoforming. Visit www.4spe.org/semconf/seminars/seminars.htm for information, fees, and on-line registration.

▪ Single-topic conferences by industry publications. Two magazines will sponsor conferences addressing emerging technology and issues in global competitiveness, respectively. At this date the schedule for one has been finalized: On Monday, September 27, the day before the opening of Plastics USA 2004, Plastics Technology will hold the technical program ‘Paint Free Color’ on in-mold coloring and decorating of molded, thermoformed, and composite parts. For more information contact Tricia Karsay at tkarsay@plasticstechnology.com.

Macro Engineering & Technology Inc., USA, will deliver late this year four more biaxially oriented PVDC barrier-film extrusion lines to a Chinese customer in Shandong Province. These lines, can produce 1200-mm-wide biax monolayer film from 32 to 70 microns thick. The film is extruded as a horizontal bubble. It is used mainly for heat-shrinkable, retortable sausage casings. That customer already has two Macro biax PVDC film lines that were delivered three years ago. With the delivery of the four new lines, Macro will have shipped 25 biax PVDC film lines to China.