Plastics Technology - Dedicated to improving Plastics Processing.
Issue link: http://pty.epubxp.com/i/864540
ances that we need to maintain on these parts are within 10 thousandths of an inch," Czekalski says. "And since repeatability and shot size are an absolute must, there's no room for deviation." That repeatability extends to the color that the Plastrac units feed, according to Czekalski. "I've not come across anything as precise and trouble-free as this unit," Czekalski says. "A lot of the other systems require someone to calibrate and tune them when they change molds or color, but this one here requires nothing." Weiss-Aug has come to appreciate that accuracy and hassle-free operation, particularly given the market its Fairfield operation serves. "There's a high visual standard for these components, seeing that they're used in surgery," Weissenrieder- Bennis says. "There are very specific color standards where you can't really have any variations." NEW LOW-RATE FEEDING PLAYER At K 2016, Dutch firm Movacolor B.V. (distributed in the U.S. by Romax Inc., Hudson, Mass.; romaxinc.com) launched its own low-rate feeding tech- nology—the MCNexus—which it says can feed as little as one to five pellets per second (see Feb. '17 K show report). A Movacolor spokes- person said the MCNexus is currently being tested by several customers in Europe, which are using it to precisely meter low amounts of colorant for toys and household products. Movacolor will feature the MCNexus at the Fakuma 2017 show next month in Friedrichshafen, Germany, which will also mark its official commer- cial launch. to make finely tuned sub-assemblies for the medical-device, automotive, aerospace, and interconnect industries. Parts are usually quite small, typically measuring 1 in.2 or smaller, according to Elisabeth Weissenrieder-Bennis, director of strategic planning. The 12 Plastrac units at Weiss-Aug were specially modified by Plastrac to run on the molder's Arburg vertical injection presses, according Leo Czekalski, molding operations manager. The Plastrac units feed machines with shot sizes ranging from 2 to 6 oz and screw diameters from 16 to 18 mm. "Our shot sizes and the toler- Preform Solutions focuses primarily on injection molding custom preforms in various colors; here, however, it uses a Plastrac feeder for dosing accuracy and quick changeovers on an injection stretch-blow molding line. 1 gram 90 pellets 1 gram 45 pellets 1 gram 1 gram 0.5 gram 45 pellets 0.5 gram 22 pellets 0.5 gram 0.5 gram 0.1 gram 10 pellets 0.1 gram 6 pellets 0.1 gram 0.1 gram 0.05 gram 5 pellets 0.05 gram 3 pellets 0.05 gram 0.05 gram 0.012 gram 1 pellet 0.021 gram 1 pellet 0.01 gram 0.01 gram 30 lb/cu ft, PE Pellet 71 lb/cu ft, FEP Pellet 21.5 lb/cu ft, Wood-Fiber Powder 30 lb/cu ft, Regrind PP Movacolor's MCNexus is currently in customer testing after a soft launch at K 2016; the low-rate feeder's commercial debut will be at next month's Fakuma show. How many pellets are in 1 g? How many in 0.01 g? Orbetron developed this graphic to illustrate. 56 SEPTEMBER 2017 Plastics Technology PTonline.com T ips & Technique s