Injection Molding

A revived and growing automotive industry along with an overall strengthening in manufacturing made 2011 a banner year for robotics sales in North America. New statistics released by the Robotics Industries Assn. (RIA) last week (Feb. 2), showed a total of 19,337 robots valued at $1.7 billion were sold to companies in North America, beating the previous record of 18,228 robots sold in 2005.

The initial application for the industry's first cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) elastomer is expected to debut soon in an extruded medical application.

The newly developed material targets plastics such as nylon and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in medical applications including tubing and bags. The benefits of the COC elastomer for film are toughness, purity and moisture barrier.

Polyzen (Apex, NC) is expanding capacity and adding employees to meet rapidly growing demand for its proprietary medical materials, including a new polyurethane film for low-pressure balloons used in cardiovascular and other surgeries.

Tessy Plastics is investing $4.8 million to expand its plant in Lynchburg, VA, to target the medical disposables market.

The expansion will create 60 new jobs, according to an announcement by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

"As the second injection molding company expansion announcement in Virginia in the last 45 days, this project is testament to this important plastics processing sector," said McDonnell.

Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo) concluded a technical partnership agreement with Gordon Murray Design Limited (GMD; Shalford, U.K.) on the side-lines of the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show 2011 aimed at promoting GMD's iStream hybrid production process in vehicle manufacture and other industrial sectors.

Hinges in a newly developed knee replacement technology are made from carbon-fiber reinforced (CFR) polyetheretherketone (PEEK).

Aesculap, a division of healthcare supplier B. Braun Melsungen, is using  PEEK-OPTIMA CFR in its FDA 510k-cleared and CE-Marked EnduRo knee revision system.

Industrial Molds Group announced the addition of a Makino F-5 CNC high-speed machining center that will complete the company's robotics cell, which also has an S56 Makino high-speed machining center. Industrial Molds (Rockford, IL) is a manufacturer of injection molds specializing in complex part tools for Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers, industrial equipment, commercial appliance OEMs, medical and consumer packaging markets, building molds up to 1500 tons.

Retirement brings with it a lot of major decisions, especially for company owners who've grown a successful business over many decades like James Dow, founder, President and CEO of Diversified Plastics Inc. While there are many options, the one that Dow chose to continue the success of his 35-year-old company was to sell to the employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

In a demonstration at NPE2012, Sodick Plustech (Schaumburg, IL), a manufacturer of high-precision injection molding machinery, will mold a medical syringe made of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) in a mold developed by Nypro (Clinton, MA).

Plastic replaces metal in a device that applies dental fillings, making it lighter and easier to handle.

The working parts of the DinoPress applicator, which are subject to heavy mechanical stress, are now made from polyetheretherketone (PEEK) from Evonik Industries. The device can be steam sterilized up to 134°C.

The new DinoPress has been developed jointly by Gossau, Switzerland-based Alfred Schmid AG, producers of plastic parts for the dental industry for more than 40 years, and Basel, Switzerland-based Dolder AG.