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What's New at K 2007?

K 2007 - Feature Articles:

• What's New at the Show in Injection Molding - Top billing goes to new all-electric machines aimed at every segment of the market. Suppliers will introduce new lines and fill out their existing ranges with smaller or larger sizes. Hybrids, too, will make news with a range of designs.
• What's New at the Show in Extrusion - It's all about higher speeds and higher outputs at this year's show. The most unusual new phenomenon is high-speed (high-rpm) extrusion of thin sheet, film, and tube. You’ll see lots of (small) long, thin extruders designed to turn astronomically fast.
  
• What's New at the Show in Blow Molding - There will be a strong emphasis on energy savings in blow molding machinery. This will be the main rationale behind introduction of all-electric extrusion and injection-blow machines, as well as a new electric-hydraulic hybrid shuttle. Other innovations will include a compression molding system for PET preforms and a new way to produce lightweight PET water bottles.
  
• What's New at the Show in Thermoforming - Continuous in-line packaging systems will be the main emphasis in thermoforming. New equipment on display will include a pair of high-output tilt-mold machines for packaging, a three-station form-cut-and-stack unit, improved in-line systems for high-speed cup production, and a specially designed cut-in-place former for APET containers.
  
• What's New at the Show in PUR/RIM - Look for the launch of fiberglass/polyurethane pultrusion into window frames, as well as several new high-efficiency mixing heads, MDI prepolymers for cast elastomers, and an energy-absorbing PUR foam for car bumpers.
• What's New at the Show in Compounding - Compounding machinery news focuses on more torque, more output, and sometimes both, for kneaders, mixers, and twin-screw extruders. There are also new productivity enhancements for multi-screw and planetary extruders. Other developments promise improved dispersion and degassing for specialty compounds and masterbatches.
• What's New at the Show in Materials - The major thrust in new materials is engineering thermoplastics for automotive, appliance, medical, and electrical/electronic parts. There are plenty of new nylons, acetals, PBTs, and LCPs. There's also news in TPEs, including crosslinkable TPUs with properties closer to thermoset rubber. Also look for a brand-new, high-heat amorphous polyphenylsulfone line. There will be some news in PP and PE materials, and even in thermoset LSR.

K 2007 - Close Up On Technology:

• Hot-Runner News at K 2007 - While a number of exhibitors at the “K” show are keeping their new entries under wraps until showtime later this month, some suppliers have released a few details on their new hot-runner components and controls.
• Robots Make News at K 2007 - Low-cost dual-arm servo models, zippy side-entry units for IML, and heavy-duty versions for large parts are some of the new robot models that will be on view at the K 2007 show later this month.
• Long Fiber - New Screw Design for Long-Glass Microcellular Foam Molding - A combination of microcellular foam molding and long-glass fibers offers new potential for injection molding to penetrate large structural automotive parts such as door-module carriers, brackets, and front-end systems.
• New Injection Machines & Processes To Debut at K 2007 - A brand-new line of all-electric machines priced on par with comparable hydraulic presses and the first public demonstration of insert molding RFID chips into plastic parts will be two highlights of the Engel display at the K 2007 show.
• New Additives & Colorants To Debut at K 2007 - Highlights will include an unusual mix of new polymer additives, including some based on novel chemistries that reportedly set new levels of performance. These include PP clarifying and nucleating agents, an anti-scratch-and-mar additive for PP, a stabilizer for nanocomposites, and “all-natural” color and additive masterbatches for biopolymers.

K 2007 - Keeping Up With Products:

• Injection Molding: Micro Press to Debut at K—October 2007 - A new all-electric injection press called the e-micro 10, with a clamp force of 11 tons, will be unveiled this month at the K 2007
• Injection Molding: Induction Barrel Heating Saves Energy Big-Time—August 2007 - A novel method of heating injection barrels by electromagnetic induction will be unveiled at the K 2007 show by Xaloy Inc.
• Extrusion: Controlled Cooling of Asymmetrical Profiles—October 2007 - For cooling some profiles, the old-fashioned way is the view of Allianz Extrusion Services GmbH (formerly TD Tools), a German custom profile toolmaker that specializes in traditional calibrators with individual water and vacuum circuits for each drycalibrator section.
• Extrusion: Gravimetric Control of Coex Layer Thickness—October 2007 - K-Tron Process Group has developed its first gravimetric extrusion controls, designed for durable applications like multilayer films or sheet for automotive use or wire and cable coatings.
• Extrusion: Faster Pipe Die Changes—October 2007 - Unicor GmbHA will launch a new compact die head with a spiral-mandrel distributor whichc allows die changes without time-consuming recentering at the K 2007.
• Extrusion: Air-Cooling Device Doubles Bubble Diameter—October 2007 - A tiered IBC device and air ring from Kuhne GmbH enlarges the diameter of blown film bubbles as much as two-fold, using very high air pressure and optimized air-channel distributors.
• Extrusion: Hyper Drive For Seven-Layer Film—October 2007 - Esde Maschinentechnik GmbH will show the first high-speed, high-output extrusion system for seven-layer barrier film at the K 2007 Show.
• Extrusion: Extruder Line Converted To Four-Motor Drives—April 2007 - Addex Inc. is believed to be the first machine builder anywhere to offer a single small extruder size with four-motor drive on all its blown film extruders from 50 to 120 mm.
• Extrusion: Software Optimizes Coex Tubing Die—April 2007 - Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik is combining the die with a breaker plate to achieve more uniform layer distribution and to use the improved arrangement to coextrude polyolefins.
• Extrusion: Dual-Motor Deckle for Extrusion Coating Is Automatic—August 2007 - EDI’s new automatic deckling system uses two AC motors creating automatic adjustment and is more consistent and safer for operators.
• Extrusion: Single-Screw Extruders With Quick-Change Barrels—September 2007 - An unusual series of modular single-screw extruders with interchangeable barrels is being introduced in three sizes by American Kuhne Inc.
• Extrusion: IR Camera Gauges Film Thickness on Temperature—September 2007 - A new thickness gauge can calculate film thickness from surface temperature, IndiCam 100, developed by Betacontrol.
• Extrusion: Extruder with Planetary Section ‘Dries’ PET—September 2007 - Gneuss Kunststofftechnik GmbHA will show its single-screw extruder with a bulge in the middle for a multi-screw planetary section which is said to degas undried PET flake and extrude it directly into strapping, film, or other products.
• Extrusion: Biggest Blown Film Die Ever Made for PVC—September 2007 - Macro Engineering & Technology, Inc., has built what is believed to be the largest coex blown film die for PVC in the world.
• Materials: PPA, PET, & LCP Resins For High-Heat E/E Parts—August 2007 - DuPont Engineering Polymers, will be highlighting a number of recent developments including several high-heat resins for electrical/electronic applications.
• Additives: Enhanced Process Aids for ‘Challenging’ Polyolefins—October 2007 - Two new fluoroelastomer processing aids for polyolefins are said to eliminate melt fracture, reduce extrusion pressure, amperage, torque, and die build-up.
• Additives: ‘Greener’ Liquid Phosphite Contains No Nonylphenol—October 2007 - A novel liquid phosphite antioxidant is said to offer a more worker-friendly alternative to the workhorse secondary antioxidant, TNPP, while providing very similar cost-performance...new from Chemtura Corp.
• Additives: Ultramarine Pigment Is Acid Resistant—October 2007 - New Premier XAR ultramarine pigment from Holliday Pigments is an acid-resistant ultramarine blue pigment that has been further optimized for use in outdoor applications ranging from stadium seating to automotive parts, which can be exposed to acid rain.
• Additives: Novel Glass-Based Special-Effect Pigments—October 2007 - Xymara Nordic pigments from Ciba Specialty Chemicals are making their debut at this month’s K 2007 show with a new range of unusual glass-based effect pigments said to be suited to plastics applications in packaging, household goods, and leisure items.
• Additives: New Source for Heat and Light Stabilizers—August 2007 - South Korea’s Songwon Industrial Co. opened a new Korean world-scale plant for phenolic and phosphite antioxidants and the firm has been expanding its product line which it will introduce at K.
• Auxiliary: Screwless Micro Feeder To Debut at K 2007—August 2007 - A new model of Micro Cone low-rate feeder (volumetric or gravimetric) will be introduced by K-Tron Process Group.
• Auxiliary: Versatile Corona Treater And Power Supply—September 2007 - Pillar Technologies will introduce a new corona-treating station with interchangeable magazines that can operate as a bare-roll, covered-roll, or dual-dielectric system and can be changed in a matter of seconds.
• Auxiliary: Flexo/Screen Printer For Tubes—September 2007 - A new servo-driven, hybrid flexo and screen printer boasts unmatched flexibility for tube decoration and will be shown by the German parent of Isimat North America.
• Auxiliary: Improved Resin and Software For Rapid Prototyping—September 2007 - An new FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) rapid-prototyping and rapid-manufacturing system from Stratasys reportedly builds significantly better parts than previous entry-level FDM systems.
• Tooling: New Mold Components to Debut at K 2007—September 2007 - D-M-E Co introduces several new injection mold components including off-the-shelf packages of helicalgear devices for stack-mold centering that simplify the design and manufacture of stack molds.