Strictly-Extrusion

Austrian film producer Unterland Flexible Packaging has bought a 75,1 per cent stake in its UK distributor for agricultural stretch film, Norvic Associates of Norwich. Norvic managing director John Debbage will continue to work with the company and retains a 24,9 per cent shareholding. Unterland’s 2003 turnover was EUR 90 million with 400 employees. It has itself recently been bought by CMP, a Berlin-based private equity firm.

ThermoplasticBiologic (TBL) of Newton, New Jersey, has made its innovative tubing and product line a reality using the custom capabilities of a new Davis-Standard tubing system. The system, installed shortly after the company was established in early 2003, is being used to manufacture specialty and commercial grade tubing for bio-science, medical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and industrial applications, among others. TBL founders and owners Robert and James Dupont have quickly developed a reputation for providing new and unique products to the industry. This includes the company’s “Bio-Line” program of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) tubing, which offers a cost-effective and biologically enhanced alternative to traditional biopharmaceutical and silicone tubing.
“Davis-Standard exhibits a lot of responsibility to its customers. Their people make a strong commitment and this is backed by the best technology and equipment available,” said TBL president, Robert Dupont. “We have confidence in our relationship with Davis-Standard as we develop and grow the business.”
Primary components of the Davis-Standard system include a 2 1/2-inch (60mm) and 1 1/4-inch (30mm) extruder, an EPIC III™ control system, single and multi-layer extrusion tooling, an OD measuring and control system and associated downstream equipment. The company’s tubing and parts are extruded, fabricated, assembled and packaged in-house. In addition, TBL outsources its laboratory facility and extrusion system to customers for product trials, research and new product development.
Although TBL is a new business venture for the Dupont’s, the family is not new to extrusion with more than 50 years of industry experience. The company services a diverse customer base with products ranging from TPE tubing to specialty tubing for ground water remediation, fiberglass rod and analytical equipment. Specific to its Bio-Line product range, TBL offers four versions based on chemical resistance requirements. Each is engineered for demanding fluid transfer applications with a long peristaltic pump life as well as low permeability and low protein binding characteristics. The “Bio-Line IV” tubing is especially unique in that it is co-extruded with an inner core and outer lining of USP Class VI low density polyethylene. All TBL products are manufactured to meet exacting specifications with internal diameters as small as .032-inches (.8mm) and tolerances as low as +/- .00002.
Dupont added, “When my son James and I founded ThermoplasticBiologic, we wanted to grow the market by developing new products for new applications rather than manufacturing something that already exists. Our Bio-Line tubing is one example of the progressive technology we offer the marketplace.”
Due to impending business demands, TBL plans to purchase an additional Davis-Standard system in the near future. For more information about ThermoplasticBiologic and the company’s products, visit www.thermoplasticbiologic.com. For more information about Davis-Standard’s tubing capabilities, contact Wendell Whipple at wwhipple@davis-standard.com.

Presumably the largest pipe and fittings order in the history of the U.S. gas industry has been awarded to Uponor’s U.S. subsidiary Uponor Aldyl Company. Uponor Aldyl will supply almost 100% of the pipe and plastic fittings business for several northeast and midwest member utilities of Enporion, Inc., a leading provider of strategic sourcing services for both buyers and suppliers in the energy utility industry.The contract runs for three years and the value of the order is approximately 9 million dollars per year.

‘The order was secured by successful co-operation between Enporion, its members and the Uponor Aldyl team’, says Frank Bailor, President of Uponor Aldyl Company.

Enporion and its members had engaged in a standardization effort prior to competing this opportunity - with a goal of finding ways to minimize production costs and maximize common requirements among the buyers. Uponor’s participation in this process, along with other potential suppliers, was key to their ability to prepare a winning proposal.

With a strategy of becoming the most customer friendly company among all gas component suppliers, Uponor Aldyl specialises in gas pipes and fittings, serving the gas utility companies throughout the U.S. The company has production plants in Shawnee and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

New flexible vinyl profile compounds from Teknor Apex can be run at lower temperatures than the company’s previous products of this type, enabling extrusion processors to increase throughputs by 15 to 25% while maintaining close tolerances and achieving smooth, gel-free surfaces, it was announced today at Plast-Ex 2004 by the Vinyl Division of Teknor Apex (Booth 136).

Typical processing temperatures for the new Apex (R) compounds are around 300 deg. F, as compared with temperatures of approximately 350 deg. F required for processing earlier Apex profile extrusion products, according to Philip Morin, industry manager. ‘Because cooler material is more viscous, it can pass through sizing equipment at higher speeds while maintaining target dimensions,’ Morin said. ‘This improvement is particularly advantageous in the production of complex or thick-walled profiles, which are especially difficult to hold within tolerance when extruded ‘hot’.’

The new compounds are priced at levels comparable to earlier Apex counterparts and are available in three series, each with grades spanning a range of durometers: Apex 2000-H clear formulations; Apex 2500-H compounds, which are lightly mineral filled; and moderately filled Apex 3000-H products.

Typical applications include seals and gaskets, such as those for appliances and recreational vehicles; weather-stripping and glazing beads; furniture trim; automotive trim; and appliance rub strips.

Findlay, Ohio- Premier Material Concepts (PMC), custom manufacturers of TPE, ABS,HIPS, PP and acrylics for thermoforming, POP display material, converters and custom fabricators, has expanded its production capacity by adding a third extrusion line and a “haircell” roll.

The third line is a 2.5 inch extruder and features a 1.25 inch satellite, a co-extrusion block, 34 inch wide die, 24 inch diameter roll capacity and the ability to produce thicknesses from .005 to .080 inches.PMC has also purchased a new roll for its 76 inch wide extrusion line that will provide a ‘Haircell’ texture to extruded sheets featuring evenly spaced pores of uniform depth. It features the standard haircell pattern and depth of .007mil.

The multiple extrusion lines of PMC are equipped to accommodate custom extrusion needs including roll stock, a wide range of thicknesses — 005”(.4mm) to .220”(5mm) — application of films and hot stamp foils on- line and off-line; co-extrusion of materials, and extruded products with a width up to 72”(183cm). PMC also offers the ability to extrude a variety of materials (acrylic, ABS, HIPS, TPR, TPO, PP, PE). Surface sheeting and cut-to-size sheets are also available.

PMC, a division of Rowmark, Inc., serves diverse industries including marine, industrial, aerospace, government, agriculture, automotive, displays, signage, electrical and furniture.

For additional information: eric.hausserman@buypmc.com.

The SIAC infrared drying systems which have been sold alongside Kreyenborg reclamation equipment have now been absorbed into Kreyenborg. SIAC has been restructured and the man responsible for infrared dryer development, Sven-Olaf Zillmann, has joined Kreyenborg.
Kreyenborg will continue to build and develop the range which encompasses three dryers, from a laboratory scale unit to one suitable for large quantities and high moisture levels.

Extrusion Dies Industries, an international supplier of flat-die systems for extrusion and web converting, has established EDI GmbH as a wholly owned subsidiary to bring critical service functions closer to home for customers in Germany and seven other European countries. The new company will provide sales, technical support, and die-remanufacturing services to processors and converters in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. EDI GmbH will begin operation in January at a newly acquired 5000-sq-ft facility in Reichshof-Wehnrath, Germany. It will focus initially on sales service, die reconditioning, and customer inspection of new die systems prior to installation. EDI’s plan is to make the subsidiary a comprehensive service center that provides technical process support and spare parts as well as rework.

Cabot Corporation and GE Structured Products are to co-operate in the development of an energy-saving polycarbonate glazing panel intended to bring increased thermal insulation and light transmission levels between two and four times higher than currently available alternative products.
The idea is to fill GE’s Lexan Thermoclear multi-wall PC sheet with Cabot’s Nanogel translucent aerogel. Nanogel is a waterproof, lightweight, nanoporous insulation material that can be produced in a range of particle sizes to optimize appearance and window performance. In a 25 mm section panel, it delivers up to 40 per cent light transmission and provides thermal insulation down to 0•8 W/m2-K. It also provides acoustic insulation of up to 5 dB.
Combining Nanogel with Lexan Thermoclear is expected to bring a range of benefits to building applications including the ability to use larger panels for significantly improved light diffusion, without shadows and without the need for sunshades; reduced energy costs due to the improved thermal insulation; improved comfort due to better sound damping; and better aesthetic effects when viewed from outside or inside a building.

Verbruggen has presented its new multi-layer adapters MA-CARR and MA-CAFR. The Belgian manufacturer of flat dies and multi-layer adapters has developed a new concept of extremely flexible coextrusion adapters. The principle of the configuration cassettes and the rotating restrictor bars has been kept. The improvement is to be found in the heart of the adapter. Due to an ingenious system of sliding elements, one and the same adapter can perfectly be used for a wide range of coextrusion configuration. The system allows much bigger variations in thickness and viscosity than it ever did before, according to the company. Due to the modular concept, a total flexibility for future products is guaranteed. The more than thirty MA-CARR and MA-CAFR adapters with up to seven layers, delivered up to now, have proven their reliability and extreme flexibility.

Milacron Inc., USA, recently received a U.S. patent (No. 6,609,038) for its control system that incorporates advanced multimedia capabilities. The multimedia capabilities are an option on the Xtreem NT control, which is standard on Milacron’s injection machines and optional on extruders.

The multimedia capability lets processors create videos, photos, and advanced text messaging that operators can access at the machine for assistance in setting up new jobs or to troubleshoot problems during operation. The images and text can be programmed to appear automatically when an operator sets up a machine or a specific process error occurs. The use of images can help overcome language problems among operators.

Multimedia capabilities will be standard on the new Xtreem XP control, which Milacron claims is the first in the plastics industry to use standard Intel PCs to control the molding process. Tel: (513) 536-2428, www.milacron.com