INJECTION MOULDING NEWS

Austrian machine maker Engel has expanded its working relationship with US-based MuCell foam injection moulding technology supplier Trexel by fully integrating MuCell units into the victory and e-victory series machines, thereby improving the price-performance ratio of system solutions.

Full integration includes both the hardware and the software. Since the compact control cabinet of the MuCell foam unit is completely enclosed by the guarding below the injection unit in the integrated victoryMuCell system, it requires no additional space. The foaming process is built into the CC 200 control unit of the injection moulding machine; it is monitored and regulated via the display on the injection moulding machine. Another new feature is the nitrogen consumption calculator, which makes it possible to schedule bottle changes in advance. Since the MuCell unit does not require visualisation of its own, integration also cuts system costs.

Foam applications generally require only low clamping force, although the moulds are relatively large. Since the mould fixing platens can be used to the hilt on tie-bar-less injection moulding machines, relatively small machines are able to accommodate large moulds. This means low investment and operating costs for the system.

Engel’s victoryMuCell integration therefore conforms with the trend towards downsizing production systems. In many MuCell applications, for example, a victory machine with 500 tonnes of clamping force can replace a large-scale Engel duo machine with 700 tonnes of clamping force as the usable mould mounting surface is the same in both machines. This makes the victoryMuCell one of the most cost-effective solutions to foam injection moulding on the market, says the firm.

US private equity firm Carlyle Group has paid US$4.9 billion to acquire DuPont Performance Coatings.

German chemicals firm BASF has set up a new research laboratory for thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) in the US.

German automotive products supplier Mann + Hummel GmbH is expanding in China by acquiring Bengbu Haoye, a manufacturer of filters for the automotive industry.

US-based Emerald Kalama Chemical is building a facility to manufacture environmentally friendly materials in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, at the plant it acquired from DSM in 2010.

Mitsui Chemicals of Tokyo has established a company for functional polymeric materials in Shanghai’s Jinshan district.

Five years after Huntsman Polyurethanes teamed up with renewable resource-based polyol producer Alberdingk Boley to co-develop PU solutions for the coatings market.

Solvay Advanced Polymers is upping capacity for its Spire polyetheretherketone (PAEK) by 70% at its Panoli, India, plant.

In lieu of a growing lighter vehicles trend, Lanxess opens its first US$20 million worth production plant for high-tech plastics plant in Gasronia in the U.S. state of North Carolina, to help meet the increasing demand for premium, lightweight plastics.