Thermoforming

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly in the spotlight in trouble spots throughout the world, but they are also finding increased use in civilian applications. In parallel, suppliers of advanced thermoplastics such as Sabic are addressing demands for aerospace grade materials that meet a number of stringent operational requirements.

Two new members of BASF's biodegradable plastics family have been introduced: a thermoformable version for food trays and the first injection-molding grade for complex and high quality packaging, including thin-wall applications.

TEQ Thermoform Engineered Quality is installing four Kiefel thermoforming machines, including two lines in a second ISO 8 level (Class 100,000) cleanroom at its headquarters plant in Huntley, IL, 50 miles northwest of Chicago.

Placon, a manufacturer of thermoformed plastic packaging, has launched a new package that puts consumer food packaging safety at the forefront. The new Crystal Seal tamper-evident PET thermoformed food containers are 100% recyclable with a patent-pending feature that helps minimize the potential of food tampering.

The tamper-evident containers are available now in seven grab-and-go sizes from 8 to 64 oz.

Sabic Innovative Plastics has unveiled two new grades of Lexan CFR polycarbonate (PC) copolymers that will help aircraft OEMs, designers, and manufacturers realize new weight-out strategies while meeting the industry's strict regulatory demands at the Aircraft Interiors Expo running April 9-11 in Hamburg, Germany. These compliant materials reportedly enable processors to produce parts with thinner walls, which help reduce interior weight of an aircraft. 

2012 was a capital year for North American plastics capital equipment, with orders for injection molding machines, blown-film lines, auxiliary equipment, thermoforming equipment, and hot runners all up compared to 2011. Even for single-screw extruders, where annual orders were down, albeit less than 2% (13 units), the full-year dollar value was up a gaudy 38% compared to 2011. The only market truly off in 2012 was the blowmolding segment. There, the total number of new of blowmolding machines ordered in 2012 was 67 units, down 18 from 2011, with the full-year dollar value off 34%.

New Orleans—A record number of attendees and exhibitors helped substantiate the enthusiastic statements regarding the plastics recycling sector delivered by the leaders of three prominent industry associations at the recent Plastics Recycling Conference (March 19-20; Sheraton New Orleans; New Orleans, LA).

Companies spend a lot of money in hard assets such as buildings, machinery and equipment and software. But when it comes to financing non-capital assets such as marketing, sales, and people, they aren’t as willing to make those other investments needed to optimize the so-called soft assets.

Microstructured plastic inner lenses enable even illumination and design freedom in rear tail lamps, while reducing the number of LEDs required and part complexity in lamp. The first such inner lens thermoformed from polycarbonate (PC) has debuted in the 2013 Buick Enclave.

One of the interesting products introduced at Compamed 2012 held last week in Düsseldorf, Germany was aliphatic polyurethane foam for wound management from Bayer MaterialScience.