HYBRID PRESS INCREASES OUTPUT

American Technical Molding (ATM; Clearwater, FL) has added a 650-metric ton, hybrid Husky Hylectric press for high-speed injection, a reduction in tonnage force requirements of 20% to 30%, and a dry-cycle time of 3.2 seconds. The press will be used to prove, produce, and assemble component parts created in molds from ATM?s sister company American Tool & Mold. The company is hoping the machine will reduce overall molding time, increase output, and allow it to design and build turnkey production systems with tooling and injection capabilities in the company portfolio. The 650-ton press joins a clamp-force profile ranging from 55 to 720 tons. For more information contact Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. at (905) 951-5000 or visit www.husky.ca.

UNIQUE BOTTLE DESIGN APPLIES INNOVATIVE

Precision Pour (Houston, TX) and FGH Systems (Denville, NJ) chose Uniloy Milacron (Manchester, MI) and its UMS5000DE shuttle blowmolding machine to create a new blowmolded HDPE bottle that incorporates a measuring chamber into a bottle base so it delivers the same amount of liquid with each pour. Precision Pour developed the design and FGH blowmolded it using the Uniloy model.

In addition to the measuring cavity within the bottle?s main chamber, the new design features a vent channel inside the handle and a pour channel inside a rib on the opposite side. A hydraulic cylinder mechanism created by FGH was used to collect the parison and maneuver it to form the measuring base. The mold then pinches the parison, creating the measuring base and pour channel. After blowmolding, the bottle?s neck has three holes: a large fill hole, a smaller vent hole, and a pour hole. After the bottle is filled, the main hole is closed off and finishing is done via a spin-off trimmer. For more information contact Precision Pour at (713) 785-9995 or visit www.precisionpour.net; call FGH Systems at (973) 625-8114 or visit www.fghsystems.com; call Uniloy Milacron (734) 428-2244 or visit www.uniloy.com.

SCREW, VALVE MAINTENANCE POWERS PERFORMANCE

Machine performance is directly related to screw performance, which can be hindered by levels of stress and wear over time, but a simple refurbishing can reinvigorate an older screw and increase plasticating rates, according to a recent study by screw manufacturer, Spirex (Youngstown, OH). A customer recently brought in a 120-mm, 22:1 screw for a 220-oz injection unit that was molding PP and PE in fast cycles to create thin-wall containers. The screw had substantial wear on the outer-diameter flight lands as well as the check valve, so Spirex went to work rehabilitating the screw and replacing the worn valve with a Polycheck nonreturn model. Using Wall Colmonoy C5 hardfacing, the flight?s outer diameter was rebuilt, and the screw?s body was hard-chrome plated and polished.

Before the work, the screw?s flight had .01-inch wear on the flight, worn-out chrome, and a build-up of material at the flight?s base. Due to this, the machine was only plasticating at a rate of 2.6 oz/second or 585 lb/hr. Recovery from a full 220-oz shot took 84.6 seconds. The original machine specs said the unit should rate at 3.8 oz/sec for 855 lb/hr and take 58 seconds to recover from a full 220-oz shot.

After Spirex?s work, output increased to 4.8 oz/sec for 1080 lb/hr, and a recovery time of 45.8 seconds from a 220-oz shot, reflecting a 46% improvement in shot recovery compared to the worn screw and valve and a 21% improvement over the original factory specs. For more information contact Spirex Corp. at (330) 726-4000 or visit www.spirex.com.

PROFILE MANUFACTURER ADDS EXTRUDERS

To meet growth demand for vinyl window profiles, Silver Line Windows (North Brunswick, NJ) recently purchased three Davis-Standard (Pawcatuck, CT) GP-94 extruders for its plants in New Jersey, Ohio, and Georgia. The machines will service the construction and replacement window markets with individual throughputs of 800 lb/hr.

The three new machines bump Silver Line up to 70 Davis-Standard machines company-wide. The Gemini parallel extruders that were purchased are reportedly popular among PVC window, pipe, and profile manufacturers and come in 94-, 114-, and 140-mm lines. Longer screws and a higher torque capacity are said to provide greater throughput, and they feature a control cabinet and drive motor mounted on a common base for easier maintenance. Silver Line?s new machines will feature feeding systems and MESA III controls to strengthen dimensional stability for the profiles. For more information contact Crompton Davis-Standard at (860) 599-1010 or visit www.davis-standard.com.