The NPE 2012 Exhibition Takes Place in Orlando

The NPE 2012 exhibition takes place in Orlando, the US, on 1-5 April. Our preview takes a look at a selection of the machinery, materials and service companies that will be exhibiting at the fair. American Kuhne Stand 3551 American Kuhne is showing a range of extruders this year, including the E_ Energy Efficient extruder, the Convertible extruder and the Modular extruder. The E_ Energy Efficient extruder is a L/D air-cooled model which results in 15% energy savings, while the Convertible extruder is designed for swing lines that transition between grooved feed processing of HMW-HDPE and smooth feed processing of LLDPE blends, says the company. The Modular extruder provides simple and fast changes of barrel diameter and/or L/D. Apex Machine Stand 2043 Apex Machine Company is exhibiting its high speed C-90 fully automated turnkey cylindrical part printer. The printer can be configured for a variety of product sizes and provide high quality print using either dry offset, FlexApex or a combination of printing technologies, it claims. The US-based company produces turnkey systems for printing on medical packaging, pencils, pens, plastic tubes, synthetic corks, food containers, razor handles, pill containers and coat hangers. Arburg Stand 3729 Arburg is focusing on 'efficient production' this year, bringing six exhibits specifically addressing the US market. The stand will show the new Edrive series, as well as electric and hybrid exhibits from the Alldrive and Hidrive series. "The focus during our appearance at the NPE will be on efficient moulded part production, " explains Friedrich Kanz, managing director of the Arburg subsidiary. "Important factors in reducing unit costs are energy efficiency, optimised production and, above all, cycle times. " Asahi Kasei Stand 33013 Asahi Kasei Plastics is exhibiting new resin technologies this year, focusing on improved eco-friendly products. Resins on show include Xyron PV grades, Leona PA66 materials, the Tenac Z-Series of low formaldehyde acetal grades, and Thermylene short-glass fibre PP. B&P Stand 2108 B&P Process Equipment and Systems has announced a partnership with Matsubo for sales, marketing and service of B&P's full range of industrial mixing and separation equipment in Japan and the ASEAN region of southeast Asia. Matsubo is a manufacturers' representative based in Tokyo. The firm's branch office in Osaka, Japan, focuses on the powder segment. B&P and Matsubo announced the partnership during the Powtex show in Osaka in October, and B&P issued a news release about the news in December. At Powtex, the companies showed a model of the new TriVolution Series Tri-Kneader, a reciprocating kneader for compounding. The model - which B&P will show at NPE - features an acrylic barrel, allowing a look inside to see the interaction between the mixing flights and pins. BASF Stand 24000 BASF says it will demonstrate how Ultradur Structure was instrumental in the design of the smart forvision car's thermoplastic wheel rim. The company will also offer seminars on how to "combine our unique solutions for biodegradable plastics, acoustical foams, laser marking pigments, high speed thermoplastics resins, engineering plastics, pigments & additives, and thermoplastic polyurethanes". Battenfeld-Cincinnati Stand 911 Battenfeld-Cincinnati USA is focusing on customised extrusion solutions, including pipe tooling and downstream equipment for pipe and profile applications. The company's selection includes the solEX series of 40D single screw extruders, Particularly suitable for PE-HD and PP pipes, as well as twinEX series of parallel twin screw extruders. Boston Matthews Stand 5862 Boston Matthews is showing extrusion lines integrated with quality control management systems at this year's NPE show. These systems include wall thickness measurement, tube diameter measurement control, lump recognition and defect analysis. The data gathered by the systems allows users to achieve greater and more consistent production while reducing scrap and overall operating costs, says the company. DME Stand 2803 DME's D-Max line of single hot sprue bushings incorporates DME's standard slip-on, cast-in heaters on the nozzle body. The US-based company said these provide a more uniform heat profile than traditional square coil heaters. DME will showcase the D-Max line at the show. The sprue bushings are ideal for prototyping and short-run production. The standardised bushings allow mouldmakers to exactly simulate multi-drop systems using the same basic components, with no need for special heaters, tips, retainers or needles. "Slip-on, cast-in heaters give moulders better control of the heat in the nozzle body, so they can reduce stringing, " said Craig Kovacic, DME's hot runner manager. They also last about 50% longer than square coils, he said. DuPont Stand 35013 DuPont says this year it will demonstrate its commitment to "some of the world's major challenge", such as energy, transportation and the growing population. The company says its solutions help reduce dependence of fossil fuels. Elastocon TPE Technologies Stand 57021 Elastocon TPE Technologies has a new entrant in its Elastocon 8000 series of thermoplastic elastomers. The firm says Elastocon 8078NL gives a surface that minimises dust and debris adhesion, making it well suited for a storage compartment or tray bin in a vehicle. It has 80 Shore A hardness and combines softness with scratch and mark resistance. Other potential applications include farm equipment, marine products, and lawn and garden tools. Engel Stand 943 'Engel makes the Difference' is the motto at the Engel North America stand this year, where visitors can see machinery related to the automotive, technical moulding, packaging and medical sectors. The company says it is showing how "high-quality injection moulding parts can be produced efficiently and economically with solutions suited to each single industry". For example, the company is showing an all-electric Engel e-motion 180 T WP combi producing components for auto-injectors. The machine uses a two-component injection moulding process with a servoelectrical 16+16-cavity index platen mould. Gamma Meccanica Stand 8644 Gamma Meccanica of Italy has developed a patent-pending Ecotronic control unit for use with its Compac line of reclaim systems for film, fibres and sheet. The controller allows the Compac to save more than 40% of the energy from older Compac systems, and competitors' units. A new transmission design has the latest frequency drive technology for rotor control, plus a software program that gives precise temperature control when operating the unit. Water is no longer used to control temperature. Because the Ecotronic allows the reclaim system to run at much higher temperatures, the company can guarantee up to 10-15% moisture removal for most applications, without hurting throughput and quality of the granule. Herrmann Ultrasonics Stand 3073 Visitors to the Herrmann Ultrasonics stand will see a digital ultrasonic generator that enables a user to weld, bond and seal larger thermoplastic parts than a previous digital-signal-processor series allowed. Over two years, Herrmann identified a market requirement and designed a generator with the latest input-output capabilities, available capacity up to 6, 000 watts, fast cycle times and, for automation integrators, compact housing. Using precisely controlled parameters, the generator amplifies incoming electrical voltage to a high-frequency signal that is passed to a converter to create frictional heat during welding. Neither external voltage fluctuations nor temperature changes affect output. The result: A stable ultrasonic welding process. KraussMaffei Stand 1503 The German company will show hydraulic and all-electric machines of the CX, EX, and MX series, demonstrating their energy and resource efficiency in the entire clamping force field in conjunction with fast robots. KraussMaffei will demonstrate the MX 650+ machine, geared to the needs of packaging. An MX+ 650-4300 will produce large screw closures made of polypropylene in a 48-cavity mould. The firm will also demonstrate production efficiency on a reversing plate machine, CXW 200- 380/180 SpinForm, using integrated assembly with TIM Stack (Total Integrated Manufacturing). In addition, a production cell centred on a EX 160-1000 machine with an SR 80 side-removal robot will mould thin-walled disposable drinking cups made of polypropylene in a cycle time of approximately 3s. Leister Technologies Stand 1273 The Swiss company has developed the Triac AT hot air hand tool for plastic welding applications such as bending, forming and fabricating. The AT is the successor to the Triac PID, and is a cost-effective alternative to the Triac S. Compared to the PID, the Triac AT's display is easier to read and use. It can be set to save preferred parameters for speed, temperature and air volume. Leister said it also allows for more intuitive operations, since users simply press and turn the button to begin. Meech Stand 608 Meech has developed three specialist product ranges - static control, air technology and web cleaning systems - and is showing three of the newcomers at NPE. The company is exhibiting its latest high voltage generator, the 994 IML, which works in conjunction with the Meech Hydra in-mould labelling pinning system. Visitors to the stand will also see the 977CM Pulsed DC controller, the first true closed-loop Pulsed DC static control system, and the TakClean web cleaning system. Netstal Stand 1903 The Swiss company is presenting highly efficient closure production on the Elion 2800 machine based on the new electric form closure with energy recuperation. Caps will be produced at a cycle of 3.5s using a 72-cavity mould made by Messrs z-mould, in combination with the optical quality control system of the Intravis company. The hybrid Elion 2800 is equipped with the new aXos controls. Nissei America Stand 3503 Nissei America is rolling out its new NEX-III series injection moulding machine at NPE2012. The NEX-III is the latest generation of Nissei's NEX line of all-electric machines. Small and mid-size presses ranging in clamping force from 30 tonnes to 180 tonnes, have been updated as the NEX-III series. New features include an updated injection unit and a new TACT IV controller. PTi Stand 6885 A dryer-less PET/PLA sheet extrusion system "an eco-conscious manufacturing solution which delivers major energy savings and cost reduction" is on show at the PTi stand. The unit, which is capable of processing rates of 900 kg/hr and comes with Luigi Bandera's patented High-Vacuum Twin-Screw Extruder (HVTSE) technology, which allows PET to be processed without the need for raw material drying and crystallising. The energy savings from the elimination of drying and crystallisation can approach 30-35% versus the conventional method, says the company. RJG Stand 2883 RJG has developed a new user-friendly interface for its eDart data management system and process control system, which the company will show at NPE 2012. The touchscreen interface still enables you to minimise process variation and produce repeatable parts, the company said, Features include simplified graphical analysis, a dramatically reduced learning curve, containment of bad parts and faster sample rates. RTP Stand 39027 RTP has added more options to its series of polylactic acid bioplastic compounds. New impact-modified grades with higher heat deflection temperatures are suited to semi-durable and durable applications, according to the firm. These properties give performance equal to traditional thermoplastics, RTP claims. The new PLA materials are available in injection moulding and extrusion grades with varying degrees of impact modification and several combinations of stiffness and ductility. RTP's PLA lineup also includes grades alloyed with conventional thermoplastics, glass fibre-reinforced types, mineral-reinforced grades and nucleated versions. Sodick Plustech Stand 363 Sodick Plustech will showcase its V-Line two-stage plunger system to mould a medical syringe made of Topas cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) from Topas Advanced Polymers, using a mould developed by Nypro. A Topas COC staked needle syringe offers excellent barrier properties, without the release of ions or heavy metals and with lower particle levels especially in protein-based drugs compared to glass, says Topas. The resin has very low fluorescence and can be aseptically filled or terminally sterilised in break-resistant, lightweight configurations. SRS Stand 4153 Size Reduction Specialists has developed the SRS Deduster, a compact system for removing dust, powers and fines from regrind or virgin material. It uses a patented, rotating tumbling process. "I saw a need for a small, economical product, " SRS CEO Don Maynard said. "The small, compact footprint allows this Deduster to be easily installed and used press-side and/or in a central grind area. " Serving and cleaning are easy, thanks to a tilt-back cover. Trexel Stand 1303 Trexel will demonstrate the Rapid Heat Cycle Moulding (RHCM) process utilised in conjunction with its MuCell microcellular moulding technology. It will mould a tackle box and show how users can take advantage of the RHCM/MuCell combination to achieve a superior surface appearance which was not previously available. The tackle box, to be produced on a 250 tonne Arburg hydraulic Allrounder 630 S, demonstrates that variable wall thicknesses and 1: 1 rib structures that are possible through use of the MuCell process. The tackle box lid will be moulded using RHCM in combination with the MuCell process to demonstrate the excellent high gloss surface appearance now possible. The tackle box mould is from Proper Group of the US and Synventive is supplying its new eGate high performance electric valve gate hot runner system for this application. Wittmann Battenfeld Stand 2843 The company has announced a "Retire Your Robot" programme for the first day of NPE 2012. During that time, processors can trade in any brand of used robot and get rebates of up to $8, 000 (, 070) on the purchase of an all-new Wittmann robot. The company will accept up to five old robots in trade from one moulder. Source: Europeanplasticsnews. Com