• NPE moving to Orlando for 2012 and 2015 November 17, 2009
• Study claims prenatal exposure to certain phthalates affects boys' behavior November 16, 2009
• Berry buying Md. plant from Superfos November 16, 2009
• Medical-device tax would cost millions November 16, 2009
• Coke rolling out bottles made from plant materials November 16, 2009

• NPE moving to Orlando for 2012 and 2015 November 17, 2009
• Polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET resin prices rise in November November 19, 2009
• Report: Onex planning IPO for Husky November 15, 2009
• Berry buying Md. plant from Superfos November 16, 2009
• Foodservice packaging firm announces new acquisition November 16, 2009

ACS Group offering new shredder, robot

AEC Inc.’s new AXS Extreme Duty single-shaft shredder boasts rugged construction with heavy-duty bearings to handle large extruder purgings and reject parts, trim scraps, baled or loose film, synthetic fiber, wood processing scrap, medical waste, cardboard, paper and carpet.

Serrated ram plates hold the parts into the rotor. A “swing-style” ram minimizes space and allows product to fall into the robot. The large rotor measures 29½ inches in diameter. The low-speed robot runs as 54 revolutions per minute, so it transmits high cutting torque.

Bolted-in cutter seats allow for easy removal and maintenance. Square cutters are quick-change reversible.

Sterling’s Apex SC-W series beam robot is designed for injection molding presses in clamping forces from 50-220 tons. The company said the robot is ideal for high-speed applications, since all of its moving axes ride on a hardened steel rail with a bearing guide.

ACS is in Schaumburg, Ill.

Tel. 847-273-7700, fax 847-273-7804.

Prosthetics using Ticona’s UHMW PE

The firm incorporates vitamin E in its GUR UHMW PE resins, claiming the vitamin is a biocompatible antioxidant. The vitamin, alpha-tocopherol, is present at 1,000 parts per million. Ticona claims the new material will allow irradiation procedures as well as effective oxidation resistance.

Such prostheses replace hips, knees, shoulders, spine components, elbows and ankles. Ticona said its GUR UHMWPE has been tested and proved in the field since the 1960s.

Ticona’s North American headquarters is in Florence, Ky.

Tel. 800-833-4882 or 859-372-3244, e-mail prodinfo@ticona.com.

Kathabar marketing FRP dehumidifiers

Kathabar said the system can prevent condensation on molds, reduce cycle time, improve part quality and production rates and increase the life of molding equipment.

All Kathabar equipment is made from fiber-reinforced plastic.

Niagara Blower Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., acquired Kathabar in early 2008. Kathabar also is based in Buffalo.

Tel. 716-875-2000, fax 716-875-1077, e-mail jdorman@niagarablower.com.

Acrilex loads sheet for mineral effects

Acriglas minerals contain 20 percent mica and are designed for cosmetic displays, store fixtures and millwork. The mica flakes are encapsulated in an acrylic matrix, making them machinable and weather resistant. A range of colors is available, including sandstone, black galaxy mica, garnet and natural mica.

The Jersey City, N.J., company said the sheets are available in thicknesses ranging from one-eighth to one-half inch in a variety of sizes. They can be drilled, routed, glued and worked like any other acrylic sheet.

Tel. 800-222-4680, e-mail drustin@acrilex.com.

New ITWC polyol line contains biocontent

The Poly SR line is aimed at polyurethanes used as elastomers, coatings and sealants. It is based on DuPont Tate & Lyle’s Susterra propanediol made from corn sugar using proprietary fermentation technology.

ITWC of Malcom, Iowa, said the new polyol shows no difference in processing and finished products compared with products based on 1,4-butanediol. The polyol is available in a variety of molecular weights, with the most common between 1,000 and 2,000. Susterra-based elastomers can have up to 50 percent biocontent based on weight.

Tel. 641-528-3000, fax 641-528-4041.

RJG online courses give molding prep

Essentials is a starter course for people new to injection molding. RJG said users get a solid foundation for understanding molding and good production techniques.

Systematic Molding I focuses on stable processing strategies, methods for collecting and interpreting process data, and techniques for minimizing variation on resin viscosity.

Both courses are preparatory classes for RJG’s Master Molder certification series.

Tel. 231-947-3111, fax 231-947-6403, e-mail pat.hirst@rjginc.com.

Pura release agent enhances spray skins

Chem-Trend said that spray-skin is used to make soft-touch surfaces on automotive interiors and for seating on all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft.

The process creates a thin, durable soft skin that can be back-foamed. It also allows manufacturers to give a texture to the skin, such as simulated leather grain.

The release agent plays a vital role in controlling the gloss level and integrity of the final part.

Tel. 517-546-4520, fax 517-546-8910.

Beta LaserMike USA offers DataPro 3100

Laser diameter gauges and ultrasonic gauges can be combined, for monitoring and control of any two laser diameter gauges to control the extrusion process, according to Beta LaserMike.

Another feature is automatic shrinkage compensation.

Tel. 937-233-9935, fax 937-233-7284.

Advapak eliminates lead from PVC pipe

Advapak Neo systems have a wide processing window and provide early and lasting color retention. They also deliver correct lubrication levels in equipment to enhance fusion and processability, according to Philadelphia, Pa-based Rohm and Haas.

Advapak Neo contains all the additives needed for users that want to eliminate lead-based stabilizers from their process. Based on the firm’s patented blocked thiols technology, the products do not cross stain or emit unpleasant odors. Compared with calcium/zinc systems, vinyl is easier to recycle when Advapak Neo is used, the company said.

Tel. 33-1-4002-5245, e-mail fbizeray@rohmhaas.com.

Borealis adds PP for medical packaging

Bormed RE806CF is designed for cast film where it provides  excellent optical properties and high purity and good sealability even after steam sterilization.

The resin is a medium ethylene copolymer without slip or anti-blocking agents. Transparency is retained during and after steam sterilization. It provides good thermal stability with a melting point of 289° F.

Vienna-based Borealis said RE806CF is well-suited to pharmaceutical, diagnostic and medical-device packaging.

Tel. 43-1-22-4000, fax 43-1-22-400-333.

Hurricane winds rage in MOD test chamber

The chamber creates the intense rains of a hurricane and the driving, 70-mph winds of an F1 tornado.

Ashtabula, Ohio-based MOD uses the hurricane chamber to test products such as above-ground utility boxes, telecommunications enclosures and bulk-transport containers.

Tel. 800-772-7659, fax 440-992-4667, e-mail tcooper@modroto.com.

KM, Greiner expand supply partnership

The alliance has yielded customers around the world, with KM Bertstorff supplying Greiner with about 400 extruders since the partnership began in the mid-1990s.

Joint projects are being implemented in the Ukraine, Iran, Columbia and Russia. The partners currently are building a large-scale plant in Venezuela to serve prefabricated house production.

Greiner is based in Nussbach, Austria. KraussMaffei Berstorff is part of KraussMaffei AG, based in Munich.

In other news, KraussMaffei Berstorff has developed a new screw to optimize PVC pipe extrusion, called HPG (for high performance geometry). Company engineers have eliminated atmos­- pheric venting in the new 36D twin-screw extruders, so the extruder has only one venting zone. That design, combined with the HPG screw, allows the use of the entire length of the barrels.

Features include longer preheating and metering zones.

Tel. 49-89-8899-2592, fax 49-89-8889-3092.

Hungry Giant inventor turns EPS waste into export niche

And he has created an export market to China. Chris O’Brien’s Sydney-based company, Hungry Giant Pty. Ltd., now sells compacted EPS to recyclers in China that use it to make molded products, such as PS coat hangers.

Four years ago, O’Brien — then 22 and working on the loading dock — saw a huge volume of EPS in the store’s bins that was collected regularly and dumped.

“That’s when I had a great idea,” he said. His idea was to compact the EPS to reduce its volume, cut the frequency of waste collections, and make a product that was more attractive and economical to export to recyclers in China.

O’Brien designed and developed a compacting machine he christened the Hungry Giant, which is suitable for on-site use by retailers.

He set up the Hungry Giant company to manufacture and market the machines. As managing director, O’Brien oversees the firm’s operations in Sydney and Brisbane, and plans to expand into other major Australian cities.

On-site compacting has shifted the concept of waste collection from a system based on volume to one focusing on recoverable commodities, O’Brien said.

His firm has widened its collection system beyond PS and now has a range of compactors that can handle other commercial waste, such as paper and cardboard.

Hungry Giant provides the compacting machines to clients and offers free collections for waste that it can sell to recyclers, charging only to take away non-recoverables.

O’Brien said the system has made a significant difference for clients.

“One customer, an appliance retailer, was previously having its PS waste collected every Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” he said. “On each collection day they needed to get rid of two bins each of about 100 cubic feet.”

Now the same store has two bins each of 100 cubic feet collected only every 10 days, O’Brien said.

Tel. 02-1-300-101-552, e-mail info@hungrygiant.com.au.

Briefly …

* SSD Control Technology Inc., which manufactures fabrication machines for the vinyl fence industry, has introduced new notching equipment, a four-bay router, a single-bay router and an expanded line of computer numerically controlled cutoff saws. The company is based in South Bend, Ind.

* Toshiba Machine Corp., the injection press supplier in Elk Grove Village, Ill., has named CNSmith Machinery Sales Inc. of Georgetown, Ontario, as a manufacturers’ representative covering Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Maritimes. Toshiba also named Southeast Polymer Solutions of Kennesaw, Ga., to represent its machines to Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. … Frigel NA of East Dundee, Ill., which makes the Ecodry closed-loop, dry-cooling system, won the 2008 Illinois governor’s Pollution Prevention Award, offered in conjunction with the University of Illinois’ Sustainable Technology Center. Ecodry saves up to 95 percent of water consumption, Frigel said. … York, Pa.-based Engel North America has donated an all-electric E-motion injection press to Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan., and Engel Canada Inc. has donated an E-motion to St. Clair College of the Applied Arts and Technology in Windsor, Ontario. Separately, Nypro Inc. molding manager Joe Cates won a 42-inch high-definition television in an Engel drawing after he visited the firm’s Web site seeking information on its E-max injection molding machines.

New PKA pulverizers feature direct drive

PKA stands for Powder King Anthem, since the machines are made in the company’s new factory in Anthem, Ariz. The company also has expanded its customer services to include disk grinding, 24-hour technical support and test grinding from laboratory trials.

Features of the PKA line include better reliability with the company’s direct-drive system and horizontal grinding mills for more-even grinding and longer disk life. It has a 20-inch diameter.

A new streamlined mill design improves quality, consistency and production rates. Direct drive means the PKA runs quieter than traditional belt-drive models, and the Hy-Pro Disk design makes disks last three or four times longer between sharpening, according to the company.

Also, disk gap adjusters are simple to use, with an Allen wrench, the firm said.

The machine also has a new pocketed-disks mounting feature on the flywheel and water jacket.

Tel. 623-551-9897, fax 623-551-8571, e-mail jhummel@powder-king.com.