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Suppliers Team Up to Run Precision Fluoropolymer Tubing at Medical Show Apart from the triennial K Show in Dusseldorf, extrusion system suppliers don't operate lines at trade fairs that much anymore. But at February's MD&M; West 2017 show in Anaheim, Calif., four suppliers teamed up to display a coextrusion line running a 1.4-mm-OD FEP fluoropolymer catheter tube throughout the exhibit. The ¾-in. main extruder was from Davis-Standard, Pawcatuck, Conn. (davis-stan- dard.com). A second D-S ¾-in. extruder pumped equally spaced white FEP stripes filled with barium sulfate for x-ray opacity. The extruders are part of D-S' signature MEDD (Medical Extruder Direct Drive) line, which uses direct drive for more efficient operation as well as greater materials flexibility. MEDD also has a replaceable feed-section liner, interchangeable barrel assembly, and Windows PLC control system. Material streams were combined in a crosshead coex die from Guill Tool & Engineering, W. Warwick, R.I. (guill. com), so that four white stripes were embedded at 90° intervals around the circumference of the tube. Both the extruders and die package had stream- lined designs to minimize residence time, owing to FEP's tendency to burn. From the die, the tube entered a MedVac vacuum-sizing/cooling tank from Conair, Cranberry Township, Pa. (conair- group.com). An ultrasonic gauge inside the tank monitored the 0.4-mm wall thickness, while a 3-axis laser OD gauge from Zumbach Electronics, Mt. Kisco, N.Y. (zumbach.com), downstream of the tank provided closed-loop dimensional control and displayed the tube for concentricity adjustments. A vision system was also incorporated into the line to detect gels and surface imperfections and enable automatic separation of rejects inline. The tubing then passed through a Conair MedLine puller/cutter, and cut lengths were carried away on a Conair medical belt conveyor. On the conveyor, cut pieces tagged as rejects by the OD/ID gauge readings and inline machine vision could be removed from the production stream with a puff of compressed air. The MedLine puller/cutter has a scrap/QC mode that accepts all three inputs (from the wall-thickness gauge, laser OD gauge, and cameras) and automatically sets a length offset so the cutter "knows" when the defective piece will reach it. Then the cutter can be programmed either to cut tubing differently from good product or not cut at all, or it can change the way a defective section is handled by the conveyor. HPM Changes Name to Yizumi-HPM HPM North America Corp., Marion, Ohio, a century-old maker of injection mold- ing and die-casting machines, is now called Yizumi-HPM Corp. The change reflects closer alignment with its Chinese parent, Yizumi Precision Machinery Co. Yizumi- HPM President John Beary says there will be no operational or personnel changes as the new name is implemented. 740-382-5600 • yizumi-hpm.com Beaumont Technologies Buys Material Characterization Business from Autodesk Moldflow Beaumont Technologies Inc., Erie, Pa., has expanded its range of services by acquiring the material characterization business of Autodesk MoldFlow serving North America and Europe. The opera- tions, laboratory equipment, and propri- etary software will be transferred from Ithaca, N.Y., to a new facility in Erie. The material characterization services to be conducted by Beaumont are used to determine essential material proper- ties for accurate molding analysis by Autodesk MoldFlow and other simulation software. The tests include both special- ized proprietary Autodesk methods and more conventional material characteriza- tion techniques. Autodesk will maintain its materials testing and development lab in Australia to serve customers in Asia and other global markets, as well as for its own research. "Beaumont's American Injection Molding Institute is the preferred training partner in North America for our injection molding simulation customer," says Greg Fallon, Autodesk's v.p. for simulation. "With Beaumont handling the majority of our training and material characterization activities, Autodesk will focus on develop- ment and validation of new process solv- ers and characterization methodologies." Beaumont Technologies' founder, president, and CEO John Beaumont, is professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University in Erie and was formerly technical manager for MoldFlow's U.S. operations in its early years. He invented the MeltFlipper and Therma-flo moldabil- ity analysis, a specialized form of material characterization. 814-899-6390 • beaumontinc.com 10 APRIL 2017 Plastics Technology PTonline.com T E C H N O L O G Y A N D I N D U S T R Y N E W S St ar t ing Up