Two of the industry’s biggest names changed hands last month as mergers and acquisitions continue to grab headlines in plastics.

Engel’s technical symposium in June attracted 2700 visitors from 35 countries to two days of technical presentations and 18 injection molding exhibits at the company’s plant in St.

Novel conformal cooling technology from Ritemp Pty.

Tooling innovations at NPE focused primarily on multi-cavity closure and medical applications, though there was also a substantial emphasis on large automotive and appliance parts.

Hot-runner supplier Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont., has obtained rights to exclusive global use of Ritemp evaporative cooling technology for hot-runner molds.

Most of the emphasis is on valve gating and on doing more in less space. Other highlights include standardized mold components, some impressive feats of moldmaking creativity, and advances in mold simulation.

Hot buttons at the show will be multi-component molding, in-mold labeling/decorating (IML/IMD), in-mold assembly, medical molding, liquid silicone rubber (LSR), micro-molding, and high-speed packaging.

At the world’s largest plastics show in Dusseldorf last fall, hot-runner and controller manufacturers introduced a flood of new developments in speed, size, accuracy, and reliability.

A U.S. custom injection molder that’s hiring?

Show goers will see an electric injection machine in nearly every press maker’s booth this year, and electric/hydraulic hybrids in several.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Several suppliers of hot-runner nozzles and controls have come out with new or enhanced products in the last few months.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: In November, we incorrectly reported that Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont., had introduced at the NPE show complete hot halves for PET preforms with up to six drops.

Although we previewed a number of new developments in hot-runners at NPE 2009 in our May and June issues, the big show in Chicago served up still more new offerings for PET preforms, medical parts, caps and closures, and more.

Add-on injection units with electric or hydraulic actuation are a newproduct line from hot-runner supplier Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown,Ont.

ABBA Systems Ltd., Brantford, Ont., and Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont., are teaming up to supply complete PET preform injection molds under the name iPET Systems.

If a better machine can help your company beat challenging economic conditions, you’ll probably find it at NPE. And finding it will be easier, thanks to our editors’ efforts to sift out of some 2000 exhibits the most significant news in injection and blow molding, extrusion, compounding, and thermoforming.

A new electric valve-gate (EVG) series for tight-pitch situations is said to perform better than pneumatic alternatives.

A new manual shut-off feature is available for the Melt-Disk side-entry, hot-tip gating system from Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont.

The accepted ground rule for balancing melt flow in multi-cavity injection molds is to achieve equal flow distance from the injection point to each cavity.

Hot-runner equipment supplier MoldMasters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont., is moving its U.S. service center from Spartanburg, S.C. to Romeo, Mich.

A new controller for sequential valve gates (SVG), and a new temperature controller were introduced recently by Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont.

WEB EXCLUSIVE A new hot-runner flow controller based on pressure rather than temperature was introduced recently by Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont.

A new electric valve-gate actuator is said to move the pins four times faster than conventional designs.

While a number of exhibitors at the “K” show in Dusseldorf 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.D-M-E will introduce the Bacchus hot-runner system for crates and packaging.

A hot-runner seal made of a new ceramic suited to high-temperature, high-pressure, fast-cycling applications such as packaging is offered by Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont., as an optional alternative to its standard seals.

New valve gates for single-cavity or prototype molds and for production molding of commodity or engineering materials have arrived from Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont.

Electrically driven valve pins, a low-cost alternative to valve-gating, mold-mounted temperature controllers, and new components for fast color changes are some of a host of new components and systems unveiled at the giant NPE 2006 show in Chicago this past June. (Some brand-new introductions since the show are also included in this report.) The news includes runnerless products aimed at everything from micromolding to shot weights up to 17.4 lb.

Thermal and mechanical testers, color and appearance sensors, vision inspection devices and CMMs—the NPE had them all in more compact, economical, and easy-to-use models.

Georgetown, Ontario - Mold-Masters® Limited, the global leader in the manufacture of leading edge Hot Runner Solutions, introduces the new Accu-Valve™ line of precision valve gates.

Georgetown, ON. – January 12th, 2006. – Mold-Masters Limited, the global leader in the manufacture of leading edge Hot Runner Solutions, announces the new Melt-Disk™ (patents pending) hot runner system.

Georgetown, ON - Mold-Masters Limited, the global leader in the manufacture of leading edge Hot Runner Solutions, introduces the new Fusion-Series™. The Fusion-Series™ represents Mold-Masters substantial expansion into products and technology aimed at large part molding.

The question John Winzeler keeps asking is, “How do you take the next step?” In the last two decades, he has transformed the Chicago metal-stamping company he inherited from his father into a high-tech specialty molding business focused only on plastic gears.

Energy-saving all-electric machines will continue to be a big draw at NPE, where new designs or upgraded models will be found in virtually every press maker’s booth.

This emerging market promises to be big but challenging. Polycarbonate car windows require specialized machinery, high-end processing capability, premium polymers, advanced coating technologies, and innovative mold and runner designs.

Minneapolis custom molder Midwest Plastics Components (MPC) hopes that helping to pioneer a novel high-speed injection molding concept will give it a leg up in the emerging micro-molding market for precision thin-wall parts that weigh less than a gram.

The Melt-Disk direct side-gating hot-runner system from Mold-Masters Ltd., Georgetown, Ont., has been upgraded with a new size and an ability to angle the hot tips.

Friedrichshafen, Germany - The new Melt-Disk™ (patents pending) hot runner system provides simple, versatile horizontal hot tip processing for direct side gating applications.

Georgetown, ON. – December 2nd, 2005. – Mold-Masters Limited, the global leader in the manufacture of leading edge Hot Runner Solutions, announces that its Mold-Masters Business Intelligence (MMBI) initiative has been selected as one of InfoWorld Magazine’s 100 Best Projects of 2005 the highest honour the magazine awards.

The diversity of electric machines will be on display at this year’s show, with several new all-electric versions in direct-drive and belt-driven versions.

The internet is redefining the tool-design process. Some mold designers are finding that using the Web to manage a tool project can shorten lead times, cut costs, and make sure vital data get to all participants in a project.

Visitors to NPE can get a taste of how the Internet will serve as a gateway connecting processors to their process or linking customers to their orders.

Ultimate Control for the Toughest Molding Jobs

Sophisticated hot-runner temperature controls introduced at the NPE show in Chicago store set-up data right on the mold, detect (and even fix) thermocouple wiring mistakes, and employ easier-to-use icon-based displays.

From complete hot halves to individual nozzles, a host of new products promise smaller gate vestiges, less maintenance, better temperature control, and lower cost.