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Inventor’s reimagined injection molding machine

finds its niche

In one hand, Rick Fitzpatrick holds a pile of plastic pellets, in the other, a finished part. "How much energy do we need to convert this," he says, raising the hand with the pellets, "into that," he finishes, lifting the part. That essential question should be the only one injection molding technology answers, but to Fitzpatrick, many of the accepted material, machinery, and design norms taken as a given in injection molding, are old paradigms. "We're taught that you generate shear heat in the screw barrel interface with pressure and that material will transfer heat to the full volume of plastic wrapped around the screw. " Fitzpatrick says, "but plastic is an insulator; it doesn't transfer heat well." To overcome this, Fitzpatrick says molders still must rely on excessive injection pressure and velocity to induce shearing during injection and generate heat at the nozzle, runner system and gate. In the end, "You use more energy to create the force than you would to electrically generate the heat than is needed to melt the volume of plastic required for the part. "No more banging, crunching, slamming Fitzpatrick is standing in a leased, unmarked garage on the outskirts of Loveland, CO. The two-bay space, with an attached office, has been his home for three months now, after initial interest in his revamped injection molding machine grew strong enough to justify a move out his two-car garage. On this day, four of his MYOS (Make Your Own Stuff) Plasaver molding machines in various stages of completion sit atop homemade plywood and 2X4 work benches.

~ 3 ~ After warming up for about 8 minutes, the machine at the front of the shop begins producing parts for a client's cookie dipping invention, with, as Fitzpatrick notes, none of the "banging, crunching, and slamming" of a traditional machine, or, for that matter, the purging required at the start of a machine's run. After a 20-second cycle, Fitzpatrick removes the slender sickle shaped part from a bin beneath his machine's single-cavity tool. "Traditionally, you slam material into the mold and rely on gate freeze to seal the cavity," Fitzpatrick says, "but you also get sinks." With the Plasaver, there are no sink marks on the part with a .045 to .350-inch wall thickness. Fitzpatrick says his "extrusion injection" technology almost works like gas-assist molding, with a steady stream of molten resin taking the place of gas, preventing sink by holding internal pack pressure and forcing sustained contact with mold cavity walls to force cooling. The extrusion injection technology also delivers larger shot sizes than thought possible with smaller machines. The machines use a constant pitch screw that's really designed to act as a pump, delivering material that's been brought to its melt temperature in a static state. This machine represents his smallest standalone model. Fitzpatrick admits for his machines he doesn't really talk in terms of clamp tonnage. If he had to put a figure on it, this machine would have around 5-6 tons of clamp pressure, utilizing a toggle clamp. Where a conventional machine may start with injection pressures of 25,000psi to deliver 2000psi to the mold cavity, the Plasaver machine operates with much less pressure loss in the process and this means holding the mold shut with ½ to 1 ton of clamp pressure per inch of projected area as opposed to the industry standard 3-5 tons of clamp.

~ 4 ~ The smallest molding machine produced by Plasaver, which Fitzpatrick says would sell for just under $17,000, is plugged into a standard power strip, which itself, is simply plugged into a wall socket. Fitzpatrick figures about 1-1.5 kilowatt hours of power are drawn, for about $0.10-$0.15 of electricity per hour. Fitzpatrick can build out custom designs, with a vertical press for insert molding in his shop at this time, as well as some standard output designs: the MP-20, with a 20g shot size; the MP-50 with a 50g shot; and an MP-100 with 100g shot size. Fitzpatrick figures the MP-100 could run an 8- or 16-cavity cap mold, while still only requiring 3 kilowatt hours of electricity. A high mix, low volume solution Rich Kopcho, Fitzpatrick's MYOS Plasaver business partner, came to the venture with a background in high-mix low-volume manufacturing, a sector that traditional injection molding struggles to serve because of the underlying economics. "When I came up in manufacturing, a lot of companies were vertically integrated, but that's not the case now," Kopcho says. "Plastics are the problem when you're in high mix. Economies of scale are key in traditional plastics molding, so some companies steer away from plastics." That could be different, Kopcho notes, if the required molding machines didn't take up swaths of floor space or need to run 24/7. Kopcho says just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing requires balanced resources, where a shop with five work stations, for instance, would have to consider how much time is consumed at each, making a custom mix a challenge. "That's where this machine excels," Kopcho says, gesturing towards the Plasaver, "you can change [the workload] up." Fitzpatrick notes that his Plasaver, with a four-cavity mold and running 24/7, could achieve production-scale quantities as well.

~ 5 ~ That potential output, the approachability of the technology, and lower investment have helped pique interest, according to Fitzpatrick. "People are seeing costs of manufacturing in places like China go up," Fitzpatrick says. "They tell me, 'Costs are getting out of hand; how do we mold this ourselves.' They see the machine and say, 'We can do this.' [The Plasaver] is like an appliance, not a lot different from a copier or a printer." In addition to a low-cost route to vertical integration for companies intimidated by the cost and technology of standard injection molding machines, Fitzpatrick says his design has generated interest from researchers as well. He is currently building a machine for Singapore's Institute for Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), which is partnering with the Singaporean Institute of Manufacturing Technologies (SIMTech) to develop molding processes for unconventional materials. Like shooting a gun One of Fitzpatrick's early jobs in the molding industry involved work on the first inkjet printers, at a time when it wasn't assumed that everyone would have their own printer. He hopes this molding process, with more predictable temperatures and pressures than traditional injection molding, will make molding more accessible. "Traditional molding is like shooting a gun," Fitzpatrick said, noting the power and pressure involved. "It's a fixed-input/variable-output machine, you have to inspect what came out of the machine to see if it is good. On this control, output is exact. We can control the injection process during the molding cycle to dictate a specific outcome."

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Faurecia opens auto R&D center in Pune, India

NANTERRE, FRANCE Automotive supplier Faurecia SA inaugurated a technical center for automotive interior systems, automotive seating and automotive exteriors, three of its four business groups, on June 21 in Pune, India. The center is designed to accommodate 800 Indian automotive engineers and includes computer aided design & engineering and product and process validation activities. The center will help in expanding its three core business groups in India -- Interior Systems, Automotive Seating and Automotive Exteriors. Currently, Faurecia in India is headquartered in Pune and has two R&D centers in the country, in Pune (Interior, Seating & Exterior) and in Bangalore (Emissions Control Technologies). Nanterre-based Faurecia also has nine production facilities covering the main Indian automotive production base in Pune, Manesar (Delhi), Chennai, Bangalore and Sanand (Gujarat) with over 1600 employees (18 percent of the Group’s total Asian staff). In India, Faurecia serves automobile OEMs including Ford, Hyundai, Mahindra, Maruti-Suzuki, Tata, Toyota and Volkswagen.

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Flexible clothes hanger wins Design Innovation

in Plastics award Jamie Mansfield, a second year design student at Nottingham Trent University, has won the 27th annual Design Innovation in Plastics Award with his flexible clothes hanger. Mansfield collected his award, which included a cash prize of £1,000 plus a two week-placement at Bayer MaterialScience in Leverkusen, at a ceremony held last week at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) in London. The theme of this year’s competition had been ‘universal design’ – products that could help those with disabilities and yet appeal to the mass market – and judges considered more than 100 entries. Mansfield’s hanger caught the judges’ eye, with Robin Kent, managing director of Tangram Technology, noting that his device worked well “because it offers strong initial resistance to movement, but once the ‘break’ has been made it is quite flexible”. Another judge, James Steiner, senior design researcher at PDD Group, said Mansfield’s hanger was “elegant”. The judging panel was also taken with the product’s robustness and the fact that it met the key sustainability criteria of the brief, being produced from polypropylene sheet. On winning his award Mansfield told PRW he hoped to commercialise his design, a prospect which has been boosted by a patent application.“In total it took about eight months to develop the hanger and I’m delighted to win the award,” he added.

Jamie Mansfield with his award-winning clothes hanger

~ 8 ~ Second-place in the competition went to Rowan Williams, currently studying industrial design and technology at Loughborough University, for his ‘Pego’ kitchen aid board – which also has a patent application – while third place went to Oliver Brunt from Northumbria University, for his ‘Sense See Remember’ textured and coloured memory aid. Bernie Rickinson, IOM3's chief executive, said he had been “fascinated" by the six finalists’ designs, which included ‘Floor Mouse’, a foot-operated computer mouse and ‘Clean Cut’, a device enabling people with visual or physical disabilities to make sandwiches. Rickinson said he was also impressed at how ‘market-ready’ the finalists’ products were.Martin Sixsmith, chairman of Design Innovation in Plastics, said the calibre of the entries this year from 25 universities across the UK “clearly shows that these awards go from strength to strength”. He added that the theme of next year’s competition was ‘Saving Lives – Design for Disaster Relief’, details of which will be available soon at http://www.designinnovationplastics.org/. Highly commended designs in this year’s final were: Gediminas Kuprys (University of Bradford): ‘Floor Mouse’ Danny Lynch (Nottingham Trent University): ‘Clean Cut’ Michal Mojduszka (University for the Creative Arts, Rochester): ‘Plug Pull Adaptor’

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Case Study: Vulcanator® Reduces Rubber Bales and Processing Time

Problem: A manufacturer of surgical gloves had a problem in establishing a new production line to meet their capacity requirements and quality standards.

The major raw ingredient in surgical gloves, natural rubber, was received in the form of full 75 lb. bales of raw rubber.

The first step in the process was to reduce the bales to a small size, since dissolving of the full rubber bales would take an unacceptably long amount of time and be very costly.

A granulator was required that had to meet a number of requirements.

It had to be able to reduce the tough rubber and be built to medical standards for cleanability and corrosion resistance.

It also could not employ talc in the process because of concerned about allergic reactions.

It turned out finding a unit to meet these requirements wasn't going to be easy.

A number of approaches were studied

The key to the Vulcanator design is a unique cutting design that reduces the rubber bales into progressively smaller pieces with rotating knives while minimizing heat rise.

With this design the need for expensive to operate auxiliary cooling equipment is eliminated.

A variety of screens are provided to optimize output for each application requirements.

To keep the material from re-agglomerating a partitioning agent is typically used such as talc, or limestone or surfactants.

A number of Vulcanator models is available for handling from 500 lbs to 5000 lbs per hour of rubber.

~ 10 ~ and ruled out including guillotine cutters, hammer mills and extruders.

The problem is this rubber material, like most rubber, is a sticky, cold flowing product that can easily gum up in equipment.

The cut pieces are sticky to the touch and can quickly re-agglomerate.

The handling of this material is amongst the toughest of size reduction applications which has vexed many manufacturers for years.

The granulator manufacturers they approached either didn't have a unit that could handle the tough rubber bales, had equipment that required expensive cooling equipment, or couldn't supply a unit that could meet the sanitary requirements demanded by this application.

In fact, several standard granulators they considered failed completely in performance tests.

The key to the project's success was finding a solution and time was quickly running out.

That's when the company's project engineer contacted Franklin Miller.

Solution: FMI's application engineers, working closely with the customer,

These unit use from 60 HP to 250 HP motors.

For this application the Vulcanator was designed with all contact parts constructed of stainless steel and with a special seal system to operate in a wet environment.

Access doors were provided for easy maintenance of all major cutting elements for maintenance, cleaning and sanitizing. The unit is built with a rugged welded frame contruction for rigidity .

A special hopper was designed to meter the bales into the chamber and insure that the material is effectively processed by the cutting knives. .

The Vulcanator can be mounted directly above a dissolving tank or used in conjunction with a discharge conveyor such as a belt conveyor or pneumatic system.

Feeding is either manual or automated with conveying equipment.

After completion of construction, the machine was put through a final shop performance test with the actual material.

The powerful Vulcanator dependably reduced a number of the full bales and met the required output size.

The unit was then installed at the plant

~ 11 ~ performed some preliminary tests on the rubber bales.

Through this evaluation process, it was determined that their 100 HP Vulcanator could handle the application and with some special modifications.

An order was placed. To meet the tight delivery schedule the machine had to be built on an accelerated time table

The Vulcanator® is a special granulator designed specifically for the rubber industry.

It is typically used in this type of applications to promote dissolving of rubber into solution in the molding of rubber products, adhesives, and synthetic fuel oils.

The units are typically sold for use before a mixing tank or sold as part of a complete mixing system for accelerated dissolving.

The unit can handle various types of natural and synthetic rubber such as Butyl, Viton, EDPM, Solprene, Hypalon, Hycar and more.

The Vulcanator can handle all types and shapes including full bales, sheets and chips. Additionally, the Vulcanator can be used for foam rubber recycling applications of such items as mattresses,

site. After installation, the unit was started up and the results were impressive.

Not only is the new process with the Vulcanator meeting production goals, but a higher quality product is being produced.

The Vulcanator has shaved a great deal of time off the dissolving process and in so doing has made the operation more profitable.

In fact, according to the plant engineer the dissolving time has been reduced by 93%. "Without the Vulcanator, the project would not have been a success," he said.

~ 12 ~ car seat cushions and covers.

It can even cut the metal springs trapped in these items.

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K show reports strong demand for exhibit space

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY -- The organizers of the K trade show say demand for exhibition space in 2013 has risen sharply. At K 2013 there will be about 3,000 exhibiting companies showing machinery and equipment, raw materials, auxiliaries and semi-finished products. Suppliers from Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and the United States will be strongly represented, and the number of manufacturers from China, Taiwan and India has risen, says Messe Düsseldorf. The show is scheduled for Oct. 16-23, 2013, at the Messe Düsseldorf fairgrounds.

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Saudi PP compound venture

beckons for Schulman Starting 2014, polypropylene compounds will be manufactured in Saudi Arabia at a joint venture of A. Schulman (Akron, OH) and National Petrochemical Industrial Company (NATPET, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). The 50-50 joint venture, expected to be named NATPET-Schulman Engineering Plastic Compounds, will produce and globally sell polypropylene compounds. The joint venture is planning to build a polypropylene compounding plant in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, where it expects to begin production by the end of 2014. A. Schulman's initial equity investment in the relationship is approximately $14 million. Initial project costs, including construction of the facility, infrastructure needs as well as working capital requirements are approximately $70 million. Beyond the initial equity investment by the partners, the joint venture intends to take advantage of various low-interest loan options provided by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund and other lending institutions. The joint venture will manufacture a line of customer-preferred engineered plastic compounds based on A. Schulman technology. NATPET, a well-established petrochemical producer in the region, will provide the joint venture with its regional infrastructure as well as its high-quality polypropylene resin. The joint venture's new plant will enable A. Schulman and NATPET to serve a broad range of customers in the Middle East, Africa and India to capitalize on the growing demand for durable goods and transportation products. All sales outside of these regions will be sold directly through A. Schulman. In addition to the joint agreement, NATPET also agreed to enter into a distribution agreement, where A.

~ 15 ~ Schulman will, effective immediately, distribute polypropylene resins for NATPET in Europe to specified customer segments. "Several aspects of this deal will accelerate A. Schulman's expansion and visibility in its priority growth markets of Africa, India and the Middle East while better serving our existing global customers with high-quality polypropylene compounds," says Bernard Rzepka, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of A. Schulman, Europe, Middle East, Africa. "At the same time, these actions will allow us to serve global customers more effectively by creating an efficient, cost-effective and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the Middle East." "By partnering with NATPET, our Company has the ability to add significant value to our supply chain as well as broaden NATPET's global exposure. As our Middle East markets continue to grow, we believe a strong presence in the region will be critical to achieving our goal of becoming the number-one niche engineered plastics manufacturer globally," says PojhanVahabi, Business Director Middle East. "This joint venture furthers NATPET's vertical integration plan. It is a crucial enabler of creating further downstream projects by providing the key ingredients to manufacture auto and appliance parts in the Kingdom," says Marwan Nusair, President of NATPET's owner Alujain Corporation. Jamal Malaikah, President of NATPET, commented, "The project supports the Saudi government's program in developing downstream projects and adding value to the intermediary petrochemical production in KSA. It will create employment opportunities for Saudis and bring new technology to the Kingdom."-mpweditorial@ubm.com Microsoft Takes on Apple with a Bold Move into the Tablet Market

~ 16 ~ The Surface steps up to the iPad by mixing new productivity with the entertainment value tablet users expect. After long days of anticipation -- and a great deal of speculation -- Microsoft (IW 500/16) unveiled its newest gadget to the market this week: the Surface tablet. Presented to a select crowd of enthusiastic journalists and bloggers in an elite Los Angeles venue, the wide-screen device promises a heavy load of innovative new features packed into a slight, 9.3 millimeter frame. Most notably of these are an integrated stand and a three millimeter pressure sensitive cover that doubles as a fully-functional keyboard, which drew spontaneous applause from the crowd.

The secrecy leading up to this presentation and the flash of its delivery recalled Apple's (IW 500/14) preferred style rather closely -- and the allusion seems intentional. With its HD screen and light-weight, user-friendly design, the device is clearly designed with the consumer in mind, which places Microsoft squarely into Apple's turf. Moving focus on the consumer rather than the enterprise, said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, marks a fundamental pivot in Microsoft's product strategy. Doing so, she said, "lets Microsoft compete with vertically-integrated Apple on more even ground."

Taking the iPad head on like this may seem like an overly ambitious position for the company's first step into the tablet market, but CEO Steve Balmer is confident that this new device has what it takes to face that perpetual market-dominator, even after so many competitors have fallen in the attempt.

The Surface will be available with either the Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro OS. No information on price or release date has yet been released.

~ 17 ~ The trick to this, he said during Monday's event, is to give users the entertainment value they expect from tablets and add something new to the mix: productivity. "People want access to information and the ability to create content anywhere anytime," he said. "People want to do all that without compromising the productivity PCs are uniquely known for, from personal productivity applications, to technical applications business software and literally millions of other applications written for Windows." The Surface, and the technology it represents, is the culmination -- and hardware manifestation -- of the much anticipated Windows 8 expected out by Microsoft later this year. This newest version of Windows represents a fundamental shift to the basic platform, featuring upgraded cloud computing services and supporting a wider-range of devices. In a previous press event, Ballmer placed heavy stakes on this update, going so far as to call its release the "dawning of the rebirth of MS Windows." At Monday's event, he explained that the Surface is the vehicle to this rebirth. "Much like Windows 1.0 needed the mouse to complete the experience, we wanted to give Windows 8 its own companion hardware innovation," he said. That innovation is the Surface -- "a whole new family of computing devices from Microsoft," he said.Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division noted the revolution this represents. "Just as we have re-imagined Windows, we have a vision for re-imagining the tablet," he said. The result is "a tablet that is a PC. A PC that is a great tablet" -- a combination that finally gives users an integrated platform for both their "Angry Birds" and Microsoft Office needs.

~ 18 ~ Though certainly flashy, the presentation was not without its due kinks. Most notably was a tense moment when Sinofsky's Surface model failed to respond to a touch command while attempting to show off a native Netflix app. While, another functional model was on hand to complete the presentation, the glitch was enough to create some concern for the system's stability -- a claim that has often dogged Microsoft in the past. With no official release date yet assigned to either Windows 8 or the Surface, though, the company will certainly have time to work out a few of the bugs.

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Degradation of polyethylene—not a myth?

I recently talked with some U.K. students who believe a solution to reducing plastic waste is to plant polystyrene. The central aim of the project is to try to isolate the genes that encode the polystyrene digesting pathway that allows microbes to use polystyrene as their sole carbon source. They will then use a synthetic biology technique to isolate the genes involved to create a genetically engineered machine cell that can degrade polystyrene. It's a pretty fascinating endeavor because not only does it show students interested in plastics, it can also be a potential positive development for recycling packaging waste.

As I was doing research for this story, I randomly came across another interesting concept—a bacteria strain that could degradable polyethylene. In 2005, researchers from Department of Biotechnology Engineering, at theBen-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, published a paper in theJournal of Applied Microbiology regarding the biodegradation of polyethylene. This study claims that polyethylene, which is

considered to be inert, can be biodegraded if the right microbial strain is isolated. Polyethylene, while it's recyclable, can last up to hundreds of years in the environment if it's left untouched.

~ 20 ~ According to the researchers, previous studies showed no signs of deterioration could be observed in a polyethylene sheet that had been incubated in moist soil for 12 years and only partial degradation was observed in a polyethylene film buried in soil for 32 years. "It is widely accepted that the resistance of polyethylene to biodegradation stems from its high molecular weight, its three-dimensional structure and its hydrophobic nature, all of which interfere with its availability to micro-organisms," the researchers stated. Nevertheless, the researchers said several studies have demonstrated partial biodegradation of polyethylene. The researchers goal was to select a polyethylene-degrading micro-organism and study the factors affecting its biodegrading activity. They isolated from soil a thermophilic bacterium Brevibaccillusborstelensis strain, which utilized low-density polyethylene as the sole carbon source and degraded it. Get ready for a science lesson. Incubation of polyethylene with B. borstelensis (30 days, 50ºC) reduced its gravimetric and molecular weights by 11% and 30% respectively. Enrichment culture methods were effective for isolating a thermophilic bacterium capable of utilizing polyethylene as the sole carbon and energy source, the researchers stated. Maximal biodegradation was obtained in combination with photo-oxidation, which showed that carbonyl residues formed by photo-oxidation play a role in biodegradation. Brevibaccillusborstelensis also degraded the CH2 backbone of non-irradiated polyethylene.

~ 21 ~ According to the researchers, the significance of the study was that biodegradation of polyethylene by a single bacterial strain contributes to our understanding of the process and the factors affecting polyethylene biodegradation. Obviously, there is not one single solution to help with litter and landfill problems. It's important to keep in mind that plastic recycling is designed to improve the usage of resources, while degradable films must be kept away from the recycling stream to prevent contamination of polymers that will be recycled. Still, if you could get polyethylene, one of the most used resins, to successfully break down in a landfill by introducing a microbe, well, it's a pretty novel concept.

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UK PVC industry 'undergoes a transformation'

The UK PVC industry has undergone a transformation after a period when the material was effectively labelled a public menace, Roger Mottram, chairman of the British Plastics Federation's (BPF) vinyls group, said last week.Mottram was speaking at the launch of the BPF's PVC in Sport document and accompanying video (see below). The vinyls group head, who is also head of environmental and regulatory affairs at Ineos Chlor Vinyls, Europe's largest producer of PVC, welcomed the media's more positive attitude towards the material, citing a recent BBC TV programme which highlighted the use of PVC at this year's London Olympics. Mottram said these were "exciting times for sporting events and PVC will play its part", as organisers recognised its durability, cost-effectiveness and recyclability.At the Sydney Olympics the use of PVC in venues was positively discouraged, but London has taken a different view, thanks in part to lobbying by the BPF, said Mottram.More than 142,000 square meteres of PVC will be used in a host of venues across the Olympic Park and beyond, including the water polo arena, the aquatics centre and the basketball arena. Once the Olympics have finished the basketball arena was expected to be dismantled and shipped to Brazil, where it will be used in the 2016 Games.In addition to roofing and membrane wraps at various London Olympic venues, PVC will also be found in cabling and pipes across the various sites, Mottram said.Meanwhile the UK was continuing to play a leading role in the recycling of PVC; Mottram said the industry "will be looking to build on the success of Vinyl 2010 with the Vinyl Plus inititative, launched in June last year. "The UK was responsible for a fifth, 49,000 tonnes, of the PVC recycled across the European Union in 2010 and we can still play our part going forward," he added.The Europe-wide PVC recycling target for 2020 is 800,000, nearly double 2010's figure.

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Copolyester copes with kitchen life

Kitchenware manufacturer Dualit has chosen Eastman Tritan copolyester for its new two litre blender jar. Alex Gort-Barten, the company’s brand director, says: “When we launch a new kitchen device, it must maintain the reputation we have built with all cooks, from professional caterers to the committed home chef. Tritan won’t crack, break or become hazy in the dishwasher.”The material is designed for a balance of desirable properties, including clarity, toughness and dishwasher durability, and is bisphenol A (BPA) free. Gort-Barten continues: “Customers also benefit from the material’s toughness, clarity and aesthetic appeal.Kitchenware made of Tritan looks similar to glass but is much lighter and stronger. It has to stand up to hard knocks, and even the force generated by crushing ice cubes is not a problem.” The new Dualit Blender features VortecS technology to create a thorough “multi-dimensional” mixing action, achieved through directional fins in the jar sides. The motor is rated at 1000W “to tame the toughest of ingredients”. Ice is crushed in 10 seconds, claims Dualit, and there is an auto pulse function. Dualit was impressed by Eastman’s testing of Tritan to verify its resistance to kitchen conditions and detergents. The tests included multiple washing and drying cycles in commercial and domestic dishwashers. In these tests, Tritan showed continued resistance to stress cracking, claims Eastman, and “excellent” retention of toughness and shatter-proof characteristics.

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Eastman Tritan: from smoothies to hard knocks

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Nestlé calls for rethink on burning plastic waste

Nestlé’s head of packaging for UK and Ireland, David Wiggins, believes that further lifecycle assessments are needed in order to fully identify the best use of mixed post-consumer plastics. "As a packaging scientist, when I look at a pile of mixed plastics waste I see a shed load of calories," he told attendees at the Resource Recovery Forum's summer conference. Wiggins said that recycling this material used more energy than could be generated by incineration. "I'm aware that some people in this room would say 'over my dead body' when it comes to burning plastics, but shouldn’t we be getting that energy back?” Although 90% of his company’s packaging can be easily recycled he said that the remaining 10% – comprising film laminates and food pouches – would be better handled in an energy-from-waste swap.

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Massive potential for plastics LED components

The Chinese market for plastic components for light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is forecasted to reach 50 billion yuan (US$7.87 billion) by 2015, according to China Chemical Industry News. The report from last month's Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition said the value of plastic components generally represents more than 10 percent of the value of an LED light fixture. Since the China Illuminating Engineering Society estimates the nation's LED lighting industry to reach 500 billion yuan by 2015, the report came up with the 50 billion yuan estimate for plastic components. Plastic components can provide solutions to two main issues with LED lights - heat transfer and glare, the report quoted Wu Daming saying. He is an electrical engineering professor and deputy dean at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology.

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Companies strive toprove purity of medical plastics

There's a growing focus on extractables in healthcare supplies and equipment as concerns grow about endocrine disruption and other health issues, particularly for infants, which could result from chemicals leaching from plastic. There's a growing list of materials that appear to be winners and losers, and in between a group of materials that want to make sure they emerge on the right side of the ledger.

Materials with issues (perceived if not real) include polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Materials that are emerging as winners, even though more costly, include cyclic olefin copolymers that are made in high-purity reactors and then filtered to remove any potential catalyst residues. The materials on the move are elastomers, usually based on polypropylene or some other olefin compound. Silicones are also anxious to

prove their purity bona fides. New testing protocol One example of how companies are stepping up to the challenge is a new testing regimen announced by AdvantaPure (Southampton, PA), a division of NewAge Industries that specializes in high purity tubing, hose, single use systems, manifolds, and other molded components for the pharmaceutical, biomedical, food, beverage, and cosmetic industries. AdvantaPure is testing its tubing and reinforced hose manufactured from Class VI, platinum-cured silicone, its platinum-cured liquid injection molded silicone, and its AdvantaFlex biopharmaceutical-grade TPE tubing after autoclave sterilization and gamma irradiation.

Tubing is shipped with test results showing purity levels.

~ 27 ~ Testing includes some of the fluids that AdvantaPure's customers use in their manufacturing processes to better approximate actual conditions. Tests are conducted by outside laboratories and include those for endotoxins, particulate, pH, and polarity."We're covering a lot of bases with our tests," says John Stover, AdvantaPure's director of new business development and product technical director. "Customers who view our test portfolios are impressed with the level we've gone to, and that substantiates our credibility and reliability as a supplier. Our testing was done with forethought and a chemistry approach that relates to the end users' conditions."AdvantaFlex is a class of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) based on SEBS (styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene) block copolymer block. Use of SEBS as an additive modifier in medical tubing is growing because it boosts flexibility and softness of the compound.TPE adds flair to safety glasses Thermoplastic elastomer adds to the aesthetics of safety spectacles, providing touch softness and adhesion to permit freedom of design. Uvex Winter Holding GmbH & Co. KG of Fürth, Germany chose Thermolast K compounds from Kraiburg TPE Gmbh & Co. KG because of weather resistance, scratch resistance and because they are free of phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. “We have been working with Kraiburg TPE successfully for 10 years already, “ stated Uven product manager Harald Frank in a news release. “In the past we used TPE in our safety spectacles primarily for seals and end elements. Now for the first time, we have a soft component for the earpiece,” he explained. The safety spectacle is made in a two-component molding process. The TPE adheres well to the acetal main body, using specific conditions.The goal of Uvex engineers was to create lightweight safety spectacles with a sport design and optimal protection and comfort. The resultant Pheos spectacles have won European design awards.

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Davis-Standard introduces spiderless foam sheet die

Davis-Standard LLC has introduced a spiderless foam sheet die for processing polystyrene and polyethylene. The spiderless die eliminates spider weld lines and provides a uniform basis weight and thickness over the entire width of the sheet—eliminating the need for edge trim. The die also has a unique mechanism to adjust die lip gap opening and closing, enabling the operator to make modifications during production, without stopping the sheet line. That control is enhanced by an external die lip concentricity adjustment Other features include streamlined flow channels, up to three zones of temperature control, nickel plating on all wetted surfaces and aluminum constructed internal and external air rings. Modular die lip inserts allow for easier, inexpensive replacement of a damaged or alternative lip die design. A die lip fast gap allows for quick cleaning of contaminants. Davis-Standard of Pawcatuck, Conn., offers die designs in thicknesses from 0.04-inch to 0.5 inches thick, and widths from 24-120 inches.

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Design Chain: Rapid response – why the rules

covering design are evolving Techniques such as selective laser sintering (SLS) have been helping to create prototypes for many years, helping to speed up the design process. Some of these techniques are also being used to make finished products – which means that products must be designed in a different way to, say, those made by injection moulding. A large part of this progress is down to ongoing improvement in materials. The Fraunhofer Additive Manufacturing Alliance in Germany, for example, has developed the first thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) powder for SLS. It says this will allow the creation of a far wider range of products using the technique. "SLS parts are currently made with polyamide, which is a much stiffer material," says Marcus Rechberger, who helped develop the new material at the Fraunhofer Umsicht Institute. He says that the properties of TPU vary between hard and soft, creating opportunities for a range of potential products. The new material combines the best properties of PU - toughness, elasticity and wear resistance – in a powder that can be processed by SLS. Parts can be made in a few hours, by curing the material with a laser. The material has a tensile strength of 30MPa, elongation beyond 400%, Shore A hardness of 90 and a density of 1.2.At the recent Euromold show, Fraunhofer used the material to make a prototype outer sole for a running shoe. "This was just a sample to show the properties of the material," says Rechberger. "This is a long way from being a typical application."

Frauhofer researchers have used SLS to make prototype soles for trainers

~ 30 ~ Promising application Instead, he says, there are promising applications in areas where the properties of the material are combined with a need for short runs of intricately designed components. He cites orthopaedic shoes, automotive hoses (if produced in relatively small amounts) and grippers for robotic arms. There are other advantages too. The temperature needed to process the TPU powder is around 80 degrees centigrade, rather than the 170 degrees needed for PA."One effect of this is that the PA powder is damaged by the high temperature, and cannot be re-used," Rechberger says. "Our TPU powder can be re-used again and again, so is 100% recyclable." At the moment, the PU powder - which should be available imminently - is processed on the 'standard' machines used to make PA parts. But Fraunhofer is looking to develop a specific SLS machine that is optimised for use with PU. And there is another breed of machine being developed, which could process more than one type of PU at the same time - opening up the possibility of SLS parts that combine hard and soft areas. "If you had soft and hard TPU, you could combine them in a single step," Rechberger says.This work is in its early stages, but he says that a way of laying down two separate powders, and curing them selectively, would allow the creation of these new 'hybrid' parts. "SLS is a building process for complex parts," he adds. "You can produce every shape you can imagine - complete freedom of design." Changing mindsetBut designers must change the way they think if they are to make the most out of these techniques. "Many designers still think 'analogue' but then try to print 'digital'. It doesn't work. Printing parts is very different to injection moulding parts," he says.As an example, Rechberger says that intricate structures can be designed into a product.

~ 31 ~ A shoe, for example, could have tiny 'cage-like' structures incorporated into the sole, which would add cushioning. Devices such as piezoelectric sensors could then be incorporated into the sole. And even though he says the 'demonstration' running shoe is not a typical application, he mentions the case of specialist running shoes - for professional athletes - which are one-off designs tailored exactly to the needs to the user. "Once you start thinking this way, it opens up many new applications," he says. Objet Design, the Israel-based 3D printing specialist that recently merged with Stratasys, says that these types of technique are crucial to the design process. "Our customers want to visualise and test a design, to make sure it feels and behaves how they intended," says Andy Middleton, Objet's general manager for Europe. While many 3D printing companies have moved aggressively into rapid manufacturing - in which final parts are produced using the technique – Objet's main focus is still on prototyping. Last year, it developed its Connex technology, which allows various material characteristics – such as stiffness, flexibility, transparency – to be combined in a single part. One of its largest customers, Adidas, has used Objet materials to mould prototype soles for training shoes. Design verification "Adidas have very stringent rules," says Middleton. "They will produce a left-foot and right-foot sole for a new model, in a range of sizes." Prototypes of various sizes and designs can then be assessed by marketeers to decide which should progress further. It is this 'design verification' for which rapid prototyping was first developed. But now, thanks to materials advances, it has moved further.

Objet's Connex technology allows various materials to be combined

~ 32 ~ "Jaguar will use our materials to make a prototype air vent, to make sure that it fits perfectly into the console," says Middleton. "But they also want to test that it works - so they build it into a model car, connect hoses to the back, and blow hot air through it." This functional testing puts much higher demands on the material, as it must now perform under 'real' conditions."A few years ago, prototyping materials would soften in your hand if you held them for long enough," he says. "Now, we are up to temperatures of around 120[degrees]C." This, he says, makes the materials appropriate for many new applications. He cites kettles and toasters (for the likes of Braun), as well as working taps and shower heads as recent prototyping successes. But what of the notion that 3D printing has 'no rules' - and it can achieve pretty much anything that a designer can throw at it? "There's no limitation in design: we can print any geometry," he says. "But if the part is going to be manufactured, then the design may not be realistic." However, he believes that this may not always be the case. "If our techniques develop, so that the materials we print can be used for the end product, then there really will be no limitations," he says. "It will happen one day - just don't ask me when." Design limits The whole issue of 'no limits' is one that irks Mike Ayre, managing director of Oxfordshire-based Crucible Industrial Design. "This attitude has become so ingrained, that it sounds like heresy to say anything else," he says.He believes that it has led to a misconception that additive layer manufacturing (ALM) is equivalent to a magic wand.

~ 33 ~ "Some ALM gurus have come out with glib phrases to the effect that there are no design rules," he says. "You simply have to press a button, and out comes the product."The reality, Ayre argues, is more mundane and practical. "You can do anything you like - up to a point - with these techniques, but the same is true of injection moulding. It depends if you have deep enough pockets. A multi-part injection tool allows you to do all sorts of complex things, but they cost a lot of money." As with any technique, he says there are efficient and inefficient ways of using them. It's well known, for example, that there is no need to worry about undercuts and draft angles, when using techniques like SLS. "This has led to the belief that there are no design rules," he says. "But it's not that simple. It doesn't mean that you can throw fundamental engineering practice out of the window." New rules A new set of rules for 'designing for ALM' are emerging, Ayre says. When put into practice properly, they help to maximise design efficiency - as should be the case with any design. An example is in 'nesting'. Rather than building identical components in separate parts of the build chamber – the rough equivalent of making identical products in a family mould – they can be 'nested'. This means they are designed to fit inside one another – or stacked together, like drinking cups – and separated afterwards."Within the limited space of the build chamber, this improves efficiency and reduces the cost of each individual component." He says that living hinges allow the creation of 'flat packed' parts - where, like Ikea furniture, they are created as 2D shapes and then 'assembled' at the end.

~ 34 ~ "If you design for the process, and work with it rather than against it, you could build tens or hundreds in a single build chamber," he says. Ayre has also been involved in a project called Saving, which is looking to use ALM techniques to minimise energy usage. Much of it is focused on DMLS - which makes laser-sintered metal parts - but he says there are also lessons to be learned in making plastics products. "An example is wall section thickness," he says. "If you put a thick wall section next to a thin one, then you will get warpage as they cool. But I would ask why you are designing thick sections in SLS anyway." If he sounds like a traditionalist, railing against new fangled modern technology, nothing could be further from the truth. "These are very powerful tools, but there are good and bad ways of using them," he says. "I want to make sure that we identify the good ways." l This is the final extract from PRW’s Design Chain supplement. To see the digital version of the supplement, click on the Design Chain button on the PRW homepage.

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Investors line up to back polymer-based material

for storing dry blood TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA-- U.S., Australian and United Kingdom investors are showing strong interest in an Australian invention that uses a synthetic polymer-based material to store dry blood, despite it still awaiting international patent approval. The multi-billion dollar preclinical drug development market traditionally uses paper-based materials to store small quantities of blood and other samples.But researchers have developed a synthetic polymer product, called MilliSpot, they say results in more precise analyses using less blood. Professor Emily Hilder and her research team, from the University of Tasmania’s (UTAS) Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science, developed the technology. Brisbane-based UniQuest Pty. Ltd. is UTAS’s commercialization partner. UniQuest innovation and commercial development manager Dr Robin Fieldhouse said investors are showing lots of interest. “We have more than 10 parties awaiting bulk samples of MilliSpot to evaluate and some are potential strategic investors. We remain in active discussions with several organizations.” He would not name the potential investors. Hilder said MilliSpot enables researchers to test pinpricks, rather than vials of blood, with greater ease and sensitivity than other absorbent materials. A similar technique has been used since the 1940s to store pinpricks of newborn infants’ blood on paper to test for metabolic disorders. However, Hilder said drug testing is more complex, so storing blood on paper is not sufficiently reliable. “We need something better than paper and that’s what MilliSpot is – a porous polymer-based material,” she said. The material is formed by the radical polymerization of a mixture of two to three acrylate monomers.

~ 36 ~ Using MilliSpot to store blood means tests require less blood, making it is easier to test children, or people who need frequent blood tests. The blood dries when absorbed into the material so it is not hazardous, ensuring safer tests for diseases like HIV. Before UTAS and UniQuest can prepare the technology for the global market, they must gain an internationally recognized patent to boost its value for potential investors. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an international treaty administered by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization, released an international preliminary report on patentability (IPRP) in January. It said the technology appeared novel and inventive, which are key requisites for international patents. Fieldhouse said MilliSpot’s PCT application will proceed to the next phase before the end of July, with separate patent applications being filed in Australia, the U.S., Canada, Europe and other key markets.Each jurisdiction’s patent office will take at least a year to examine the application before issuing patents. “The positive IPRP most likely makes this examination-and-grant process quicker and simpler, and gives a good indication of a positive outcome,” he said. UTAS and UniQuest are developing a scalable manufacturing process to deliver marketable quantities of the product. “The priority is raising investment funds to enable this expansion,” Fieldhouse said. It will take about a year to launch the product after investments are secured. UniQuest plans to form a start-up company with prospective industry partners and develop MilliSpot into customer-ready products. It has established an advisory board for the company.

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Novel injection molding process from Mecaplast

could cut car part weights in half

Leading automotive plastics component supplier Mecaplast (Monaco) believes it can cut the weight of interior and exterior trim parts by between 30% and 50% by using a newly patented injection molding processing technology in combination with novel polypropylene compounds. Mecaplast is about to embark on a French government-sponsored project called Plume (French for "feather") to industrialize the process, which relies on a combination of moving mold cores, a chemical blowing agent, and lightweight reinforcing fillers. The project starts in September, and will run for two years. It will have a total budget of €2.4 million ($3 million).

The project will also involve the participation of several other French-based companies:Japanese compounder Sumika Polymer Compounds (Saint-Martin de Crau); mold-maker Cero (Nantes); polymer science research laboratory IMP at the University of Saint-Etienne; and Cemef (Sophia Antipolis), a research

laboratory with expertise in process simulation. "Incorporation of parts made by the Plume process could lead to a total vehicle weight reduction of between 5 and 7 kg," says Elsa Germain, Research and Innovation Engineer at Mecaplast. "This will have an important knock-on effect on fuel consumption, with resulting carbon dioxide emissions falling by around 0.5-0.7 g/km. "The process is similar to one already used in Japan for production of parts used by such automotive companies as Honda and Toyota.

Moving mold cores, a chemical blowing agent, and lightweight reinforcing fillers combine to save up to 50% in part weight.

~ 38 ~ However, that process has some limitations, especially in terms of surface finish, since the parts are made with talc-filled polypropylene (PP). The Plume process will use newly-developed compounds that contain little or no talc.Instead, they incorporate Hyperform synthetic mineral-based reinforcing fibers from Milliken (Spartanburg, SC) that not only yield improved surface quality but also help reduce part weight by as much as 7%, without loss of mechanical properties. Previously Mecaplast had reported development work using such fillers. Compounds containing a combination of Hyperform with various other fillers will be trialed during the Plume project. The new compounds, which are based on PP impact copolymer and are being developed exclusively for Mecaplast, also have very good flow properties. Melt flow index is over 50 g/10 min. This is critical for the success of the Plume process. In the Plume process, material is injected into a mold with moving walls that are initially in the forward position. Once all the material has been injected, and the skins of the part have solidified, the walls retract. This lowers the pressure in the mold cavity, and chemical blowing agent, until now dissolved in the melt, comes out of solution in the areas of the part that are still fluid to create a cellular structure that fills the newly created space. The foaming process on its own (disregarding compound formulation) enables a weight reduction in the part of at least 30%, compared to a conventional solid molding.Cemef will look at melt rheology and its effects on the process and it will also carry out analysis of the microstructures created by the chemical foaming. IMP-UJM will study the mechanical behavior of parts made under various conditions.Mecaplast plans to trial the process on two components, a tailgate interior trim and exterior beltline moldings. The beltline moldings will be produced in two versions, one with a grained surface that will require no painting and another that will be paintable.

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Agreement could lead to Antec in the Middle East

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Meeting in Dubai in June, officials of the Society of Plastics Engineers and the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemical Association signed a memorandum of understanding to start an industry and community education campaign to improve understanding of the plastics industry.The document -- which could lead to technical conferences and workshops in the Middle East -- was signed by Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, GCPS’s secretary general, and SPE President Jim Griffing.Using GPCA’s network in the Middle East, the two organizations will share information about best practices at plastics companies and help develop the region as a knowledge center. The working relationship also will highlight the socio-economic benefits of the plastics industry and achieve a wider public understanding of plastics. An education campaign will challenge misperceptions of the environmental impact of plastics, SPE said.“The GPCA and SPE believe in the importance of plastics and their positive contribution to society, which includes job creation and skills development across the Arabian Gulf Region,” said Al-Sadoun. The Middle East is a major exporter of oil and natural gas, and government officials are trying to bolster the domestic plastics processing sector. “By bolstering the plastics industry through training and knowledge transfer, we will maximize the value of this crucial export,” he said. SPE’s CEO, Wim de Vos, said it was important for Griffing to travel to Dubai to sign the cooperation agreement.“The Gulf region has a strong and growing plastics industry,” he said.“As the largest network in the plastics world, SPE is excited to be working with GPCA to provide world-class plastics awareness, education and conferencing support. We are convinced that the broadening of SPE’s network with and for GPCA’s plastics companies, will not only enhance further growth in the Gulf region, but will be to the benefit of our complete industry.” Newtown, Conn.-based SPE is expanding into India as well. An SPE Antec conference is scheduled for Dec. 6-7 in Mumbai -- the event will be the first Antec held in India.

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No rear window? Race-bred digital rear-view mirror

delivers crystal-clear image Audi's success with diesel hybrid sports cars at the 24-hour Le Mans race this year was due in part to keeping an eye on competitors running behind it despite the car having no rear window. The high-tech solution employed at Le Mans, and soon to be used in the high-performance Audi R8 e-tron debuting at the end of this year, is an intelligent camera/monitor system dubbed the "digital rear-view mirror."

The small, ultra-lightweight camera that delivers the images is located in an aerodynamically optimized housing (which is heated in cold temperatures). It uses a lens with a diameter of just a few millimeters and covers a much larger field of vision than a conventional rear-view mirror. A color monitor with a 7.7-inch screen mounted in place of the conventional rear-view mirror is used to display the digital image data from the camera. This AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, sourced from development partner Samsung Display Co., is making its debut in a passenger car.

Digital rear-view mirror display was developed through Audi's racing program and used in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro Diesel Hybrid race winner.

Digital mirror displays image from tiny rear-facing lens.

~ 41 ~ The organic materials used in the display are self-illuminating at a low voltage—i.e. they do not require backlighting. AMOLED technology has already proved widely successful in cell phones and similar devices in the consumer segment. A control unit ensures a consistent high-contrast, brilliant image from the display. During the hours of darkness the intelligent control system prevents dazzle from the headlights of other vehicles. The driver can dim or deactivate the display at any time. Audi is also working on incorporating additional information on the monitor in future. The new displays are more energy efficient, thinner, and lighter than conventional LCD monitors. Switching times are just a few milliseconds irrespective of the ambient temperature. The digital rear-view mirror celebrated its dazzling premiere at the Le Mans 24 Hours in the R18 e-tron quattro and R18 ultra race cars which gave Audi a one-two-three win in the legendary race. The new system proved reliable even under the grueling race conditions.

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New medical tool features removable core mandrels

Matrix Plastic Products (Wood Dale, IL) is bringing up to speed a complicated mold with removable core mandrels to produce a surgical component, a tube with an insert molded needle nearly five inches long. "The mold has two ejector halves that rotate on the turntable," says Patrick Collins, molding operations manager atMatrix. "As the one side is being injected with plastic, the other is being ejected and loaded."

Matrix has three sets of core/insert mandrels that are for now being hand loaded. Design of the core/insert mandrels includes a detent that can be actuated by a lever on the mandrel to hold the stainless-steel needles, allowing the inserts to be held in place as they are being molded.

"Tom Ziegenhorn, one of our design engineers, and I met this new customer while working a trade show. Tom was able to visualize that the customer needed to replace a costly manual process with a more cost-effective insert molding process." Ziegenhorn designed a mold that was built by a team led by Mike Martin and Gary Eckman. The tool was qualified by an inspection team led by Gary Johansson. Matrix is using a new molding system built up around a 45-ton Engel insert 80V/45 vertical injection molding machine that includes dual core-pulls, a two-station rotary table, and a servomotor-controlled injection unit that incorporates a high-temperature barrel package. One of the attractions of the Engel system is a flexible controller that manages the mechanics of the tool and also allows for future improvements to the process, such as cutting the catheter tube to length within the mold.

Needle will be insert molded into tube. (Engel)

~ 43 ~ More automation planned "Although we're still in the initial stages with this project, and we are hand-loading the inserts at the present time, we have realized there are many automation possibilities. We plan to automate this process with a side-entry robot as the production volumes ramp up." Matrix operates a 30,000-sq-ft facility employing about 50, working three shifts. It operates 14 electric and hydraulic molding machines ranging from 5 to 300 tons in clamping force, including two presses in a Class 100,000 cleanroom. Resins processed include polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherimide (PEI), liquid crystal polymer (LCP), polycarbonate, and nyons for medical/surgical, electronics, military and consumer products customers. Matrix also molds bioresorbable materials such as polylactic acid (PLA), poly(DL-lactide co-glycolide), and poly lactide carbonate (PLC). In-house secondary processes include assembly, sonic welding, laser marking, and project-specific labeling. Some secondary operations such as pad printing are outsourced. Matrix is ISO 9001- and ISO-13485-certified.

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Dyneon plant to recycle PTFE scrap

ST. PAUL, MINN.– Dyneon GmbH is building a pilot plant in Burgkirchen, Germany, to recycle polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) scrap. The plant, which will be located at the firm’s integrated production site, will have capacity to recycle 500 metric tons of PTFE waste annually. According to the company, every year 20,000 metric tons of waste is created globally during the processing of PTFE. This waste material is currently either incinerated or landfilled. In the new process, PTFE scrap will be heated in a reactor, split into its raw gaseous components, cleaned and fed back into the production of new PTFE. When running at capacity, the process will save 10,000 metric tons of waste hydrochloric-acid and 7,500 megawatt hours of energy annually. It also will save 7,500 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere annually, according to the company. The University of Bayreuth supported the development of the process. The project was one of 200 concepts featured at the “Week of the Environment” exhibit, held June 5-6 in Berlin. Dyneon is a unit of St. Paul-based 3M.

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3M promotes PTFE recycling technology

Polytetrafluoroethylene's (PTFE) ability to withstand extreme temperatures and harsh chemical environments makes it appealing for a number of applications but also makes it difficult to deal with in end-of-life, but not any more, according to 3M. 3M subsidiary Dyneon GmbH is currently constructing a PTFE recycling plant at an integrated production site located in southern Germany, with an annual capacity to recycle 500 metric tons of PTFE waste, converting it back to full-value raw materials. Used in the chemical, automotive, semiconductor, and aerospace markets in a variety of applications, such as pumps, tapes, and automotive parts, PTFE presents a particular problem with regards to process waste. An estimated 20,000 tonnes of waste are created annually during the processing of PTFE globally, according to 3M, and this waste material is currently either thermally degraded or land filled in special sites at a cost to the processor. In 3M's new process, PTFE waste materials will be heated in a reactor, split into their raw gaseous components, cleaned, and fed back into the production of new PTFE. At full capacity, 3M estimates that the process will save 10,000 tonnes of waste hydrochloric-acid, 7500 megawatt hours of energy, and subsequently 7500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from being released annually into the atmosphere. Global PTFE demand is forecast to be in excess of 240,000 tons, according to a Companies & Market report. PTFE has a 60% market share of the global fluoropolymer market.

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Irrigation benefits from carbon black

Orion Engineered Carbons LLC touts specialty black pigments for water-saving drip irrigation systems. Water conservation has been a hot topic this summer in much of the United States because of widespread drought. “Pigment blacks are small, high-surface area particles that improve the long-term performance of drip irrigation systems,” says Bhuvanesh Yerigeri, technical market manager for specialty blacks at Kingwood, Texas-based Orion. Key properties of the particles include ultraviolet radiation resistance that protects pipe and hose from exposure to the sun prior to installation and also subsequent degradation. High-purity pigments that disperse well also reduce the chances of microscopic defects that can cause plastic to crack or degrade prematurely. Drip irrigation is used in U.S. greenhouses, golf courses and for a variety of crops, including rice, tomatoes and grapes. India is a global leader in micro-irrigation and produces 7 to 10 times as much black masterbatch resin for this market than does the U.S. industry, estimates James T. Daly, business manager for Spartech’s Color and Specialty compounds business segment based in St. Louis, Mo, a major supplier of black masterbatch used in linear low density tubes and inflatable irrigation tape.

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Hybrid technology helps mold composites

RocTool SAS is speeding up molding of composites. The company has introduced a two-step hybrid injection process for thermoplastic plastic composites parts without having to use composite sheets or infrared items. RocTool is aiming the process at the automotive and electronics markets. The hybrid process uses RocTool’s 3iTech process of heating a mold using electromatic induction, which the company says produces a part with no surface defects. RocTool also is innovating in thermoset composites processing, using its high-speed resin transfr molding technology. RocTool claims to be the only player that can mold thermoset composites parts with fast cycle times of only five to seven minutes, without the need for post-curing. RocTool is based in Le Bourget du Lac, France. RocTool North America is in Atlanta.

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Film recycling project offers agricultural

breakthrough LONDON -- Partners in a European Commission-funded project designed to solve problems relating to the recycling of used agricultural film have described its results as “promising.”The project, whose partners included the United Kingdom’s Packaging and Films Association (PAFA), recently completed a research and development program linked to the prototype testing of a new cleaning device which has cut contamination by 65 percent – on the farm or at a collection hub – without the need for washing .“This could not come at a better time,” said Barry Turner, PAFA’s chief executive. “We are just about to start a project in the UK for producers of agricultural film aimed at finding ways to improve the collection rate for these products.“Agricultural film performs an essential function in modern farming, but we need to resolve the collection and recycling to get a second life out of the polyethylene film,” he said. The EC funded project has identified how new technology can assist in an area of recycling that has historically high levels of contamination and helped bring together parties across Europe together to share and develop best practice.It also offers logistical software that can help optimize the efficient collection of used film by agents.Turner said the next phase would be to exploit the technology. “This will involve selecting the right partners to work with who are capable of taking it to the next stage so we can ensure full commercial exploitation of this breakthrough.” He added that the project and others would be critical in getting the best utilization of agricultural films, which are playing an increasing role in improving food yields for the future.Major applications include crop, vegetable and soft fruit protection through greenhouse and crop covers, all of which help to efficiently feed the world’s ever-growing population.A recent survey of farmers revealed what PAFA described as “far too many” still sending their used films to landfill, rather than using existing collection schemes.

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UK composites network goes global

CHESTERFIELD, ENGLAND -- The Network Group for Composites in Construction (NGCC) has opened up its membership to companies around the world. Headquartered in Chesterfield, NGCC was founded 12 years ago to promote best practice of the use of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) in construction applications. It currently numbers 70 members, including several top rank universities as well as composite companies including Gurit and DSM Composite Resins. Sue Halliwell, the NGCC’s coordinator, said the global recruitment drive followed her organization noticing an growing number of overseas companies getting in touch. “We realized there was a need for us to expand our membership, supplying information to the construction industry about FRPs on a wider scale,” she said. NGCC forms working groups from within the membership and wider industry to tackle industry issues, she said. One such group is currently drafting design guidance for UK FRP bridge engineers, aiming to increase confidence in such an application of the material and enable the technology to be further exploited in the sector. Claire Whysall, the NGCC’s event and network coordinator, said: “Many of the membership opportunities are just as relevant to companies overseas as they are to those based in the UK. “Overseas companies are encouraged to join the group and work with us to develop the support they need in their country.

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Awards honor innovation

DEARBORN, MICH. -- Plastics are prominent in multiple gold-winning entries in the 2012 International Design Excellence Awards.

Medical equipment, smartphones, an infant warmer, a task light and headphones are among the winners.

The Industrial Designers Society of America in Dulles, Va., organizes the annual contest.

Rhys Newman chaired a 19-member panel of consultancy, corporate and academic designers that selected the 35 gold, 71 silver and 123 bronze IDEA winners from among 660 finalists during a May 2-4 gathering in Dearborn. Newman is head of advanced projects for Nokia Corp. and based at a Nokia design center in Calabasas, Calif.

Judges focused on innovation; user benefit; society benefit; client benefit; visual appeal and appropriate aesthetics; usability, emotional factors and unmet needs for the design research category; and internal factors, methods, strategic value and implementation for the design strategy category.

Blair Wieland, president of Sauder Manufacturing Co.’s Wieland furniture line in Grabill, Ind., won for the sleepToo virtual family room to accommodate a hospitalized patient’s relatives.Materials include 19 pounds of high-resiliency foam, 15 pounds of various plastics and, if upholstered, 14 pounds of hospital-grade vinyl.

Other parts of the 242-pound largest unit have 106 pounds of wood and plywood from suppliers using responsible forestry practices, and 88 pounds of metal.Occupying as little as 18 square feet, the unit has an integrated, height-adjustable, cantilevered table and a three-seat sofa that transforms into a chair with ottoman or a twin-sized bed. A patient’s family can stay for a day, night or longer.

The sleepToo is designed to accommodate members of a hospitalized patient’s family. (Sauder Manufacturing Co. photo)

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Designers with the New York office of Smart Design LLC won for the Tot Seedling youth booster seat from New York-based kitchen gadget manufacturer Oxo International Ltd.

Materials include polypropylene and, for the cushion, a removable, crevice-free, soft-skin polyurethane. Designed on the basis of extensive user testing, the foldable, portable booster seat aims to help children during their transition from a highchair en route to a big chair. The seat retails for about $40.

Credits go to Smart Design, Brook Kennedy, Colin Kelly, Charlie Paradise, Steven Vordenberg and Gina Gargiulo.Designers from Crown Equipment Corp. of New Bremen, Ohio, and associates won for the Crown RM 6000S MonoLift-brand reach truck.

Minor uses of polymers include pressure formed, impact-resistant ABS for the covers, 0.9 percent rubber and 0.7 percent plastics. Crown uses recyclable materials, mostly steel, for about 99 percent of the truck.

Credits go to Crown and the firm’s Mike Gallagher, Roger Quinlan, Adam Ruppert, Phil Swift, Jim Kraimer and Craig Rekow; Ben Purrenhage with Tekna Inc. of Kalamazoo, Mich.; Eric Hanson of Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc.; and Robert Henshaw of Formation Design Group of Atlanta.

Ralph Appelbaum Associates Inc., SYPartners and Mirada Design Group LLC, all of New York, along with Auburn Hills, Mich.-based agency George P. Johnson, won for the Think multimedia exhibition marking the centennial of IBM Corp. Half-inch-thick Corian material from DuPont Co.

was used for benches and the information desk; 1-inch-thick ECOsurface recycled rubber tiles for the exterior; and 0.32-inch-thick ECOsurface carpet tiles for the interior floor. SloanLED Co. provided LED technology for a 123-foot-long data-visualization wall using more than 1.18 million pixels. The public viewed the exhibit last fall at New York’s Lincoln Center.

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Designers for the health and medical equipment business of Suwon, South Korea-basedSamsung Electronics Co. Ltd. won three gold awards for two digital radiology systems and a graphical user interface. Materials in components of each system include polycarbonate, ABS, acrylic, steel and aluminum.

The flagship XGEO GC80 model is a ceiling-type X-ray system with a simplified workflow designed to increase throughput and improve the workspace. Credits go to the company andJae Hwa Moon, Jung Hoon Kim, Jun Pill Moon and Yun Su Kim.

The repetitive yet complex nature of taking X-rays can fatigue radiographers, and the fully motorized XGEO GU60 system offers an ergonomic approach. The fully automated U-arm can rotate 30-120 degrees, and the source-to-image/receptor distance ranges between 3.3 and 5.9 feet. Credits go to Samsung, Jae Hwa Moon, Jun Pill Moon, Soo Ki Kim and Yun Su Kim.

The design of the intuitive XGEO interface is consistent between the top head unit and the workstation. The interface helps to prioritize key information in a limited design space. Credits go to Samsung, Hyewon Lee, Sungnam Kim, Sung Park, Haeung Jung, Jinho Yim, Youngjun Hong and Jonghyun Shin.

The systems entered the commercial market in January and were shown initially during the Feb. 16-19 Korea International Medical and Hospital Equipment Show in Seoul, South Korea.Samsung designers also won for a compact, one-burner, portable induction hob or cook top.

The design uses polycarbonate to make the cook-top base clear and transparent except for the rear, where a white spray finish is applied. An elastomer material is applied to the legs to prevent the product from slipping and to create a soft image.

Samsung said a cook-top model in one of five colors costs about $540, and a black cook-top model is about $400. During 2011, Samsung designers in Suwon began developing the product in August, and commercial sales began in November.

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Credits go to Samsung, Gilock Lee and JungKyung Kwack.

Designers with the humanitarian assistance program of Bangalore, India-based Embrace Technologies Inc. won for design of an infant warmer.

Components include a sleeping bag, a pouch of phase-change material and an electric heater to warm the pouch.A user inserts the pouch into the electric heater.

The heated pouch then is placed into the sleeping bag and the baby is placed inside. The pouch will remain at 98.6 degrees for at least four hours.

The phase-change material absorbs heat from the baby if the baby gets too hot or releases heat if the baby gets too cold. The pouch has an indicator that shows when it must be reheated, and the pouch can be reheated hundreds of times.

ABS encases the heater. The baby wrapping includes cotton, nylon and polyurethane-coated nylon, and the warming pack consists of PU, the proprietary phase-change material and water.One-button operation allows unskilled staff to operate the warmer as an alternative to expensive, traditional incubators.

Emergency Embrace donates the item to organizations working in developing countries to offset the effects of hypothermia on prematurely born and low-birth-weight babies.Credits go to Embrace, Jane Chen, Linus Liang, Naganand Murty and Rahul Alex Panicker.

Designers at Nike Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., and two other firms won a gold award for the Nike+ FuelBand competitive fitness device.Materials include thermoplastic elastomer, 43 percent; polypropylene, 34 percent; magnesium, 14 percent; and stainless steel, 9 percent.

Embrace infant warmer (Embrace Technologies Inc. photo)

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TPE is injection molded directly over the flexible printed-circuit components to minimize thickness. TPE was selected for its bonding properties with PP, which is injection molded for the inner spine to accommodate repetitive flexing. A 30 percent glass-filled PP is two-shot injection molded around USB contact inserts to achieve water resistance. The first shot secures the contacts, and the second hides support pin holes and forms the closure lock detail.

Thixomolded magnesium forms the wells and doors for two curved lithium polymer batteries. Injection molded stainless steel is used for the intricate closure and locking mechanism.The device includes a watch and tracks activity through a universal metric based on oxygen kinetics, and enables athletes to compare, compete and collaborate across activities, regardless of gender and body type.

The product entered the market in January at an initial price of $149. Nike+ FuelBand competes in a market niche with the Striiv smart pedometer, Motoactv fitness tracker/MP3 digital audio player and Jawbone Up wristband/iPhone activity-tracking application.

Credits go to Nike’s digital sport design team, design firm Astro Studios Inc. of San Francisco and New York-based advertising agency R/GA Media Group Inc.

Humanscale Corp. of New York and two designers won for the Horizon LED task light.

Humanscale said the Horizon is the first use of its Thin Film LED Technology-brand development in a task light.

A series of high-intensity LEDs surround several layers of polycarbonate and optical films. Recycled aluminum is the principal material in the task light.

Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd. of Ansan, South Korea, manufactures the LEDs, and another South Korean firm makes the thin PET film diffuser on the top of the light guide. The diffuser has a micro-structure that is applied to the film through a roll-to-roll process.

Nokia Lumia 900 phone (Nokia Corp. photo)

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A Shanghai company molds the light guide of PC with in-molded micro-lenses. The $375 task light entered the commecial market in late 2011. Credits go to Humanscale, Michael McCoy of Buena Vista, Colo., and Peter Stathis of San Francisco. Designers with Nokia Corp. scored gold awards with two of its smartphones, the Lumia 900 and Lumia 800.

Both models offer the sleek form of a polycarbonate unibody that flows seamlessly into the curved display of Corning Inc.’s alkali-aluminosilicate sheet Gorilla Glass. Nokia said it designs the smartphone from the inside out from a single piece of injection molded PC and a pigment that provides inherent color throughout the product.

Nokia uses a collapsing-core tool and post-processing techniques — machining to tight tolerances, polishing off flash lines — that are normally reserved for metals. The Nokia Lumia 800 was launched in October. The fourth-generation LTE-standard Nokia Lumia 900 was launched in January for the U.S. market. Shipments began in early 2012.

Credits for the Lumia 900 go to Nokia Design, Rachael Bell, Ram Chaturabul, Aki Laine, Ed Mitchell and Jim Holtorf and, for the Lumia 800, Nokia Design, Tina Aarras, Casper Asmussen, Anton Fahlgren, Lynda Jones, Nicolas Lylyk, Mika Nenonen and Axel Meyer.

Designers with Ammunition LLC of San Francisco won three gold awards including a pair for entries from Beats Electronics LLC of Santa Monica, Calif., and one for an e-book from Barnes & Noble Inc. of New York. The Beats by Dr. Dre-brand wireless headphones have Bluetooth connectivity.

The other award was for the Beats Mixr over-the-ear headphones for professional disc jockeys and audio enthusiasts. A 6-foot-long cable is coiled at the bottom for freedom of movement.

Both products have nylon for the headband, silicone for the head cushion and insoluble scleroprotein for the ear cushion. Long-lasting, rechargeable batteries power the headphones.

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Credits for the wireless product and the Beats Mixr go to Ammunition and the group’s Robert Brunner and Grégoire Vandenbussche.Dr. Dre is the stage name for Andre Romelle Young, a U.S. record producer, rapper, actor and entrepreneur who initially introduced his brand of high-performance headphones in 2008.

Ammunition’s design for Barnes & Noble involves the Nook Simple Touch digital reading device that uses e-ink technology, a touch interface and wireless connectivity.Materials include injection molded ABS and polycarbonate, a soft-touch polyurethane coating and a laminated bezel with an in-mold label.

Simple Touch weighs 7.48 ounces, can fit in a jacket, pocket or purse and can hold up to 1,000 digital books plus personal content using an expandable memory slot.Optical infrared sensors from Neonode Inc. of Stockholm surround the display and locate the position of a user’s finger on the screen.

Designers with music recording and production software developer Propellerhead Software AB and design agency No Picnic AB, both of Stockholm, won for a two-in by two-out audio interface.

A soft-touch polymer coating covers the plastic housing and all buttons and knobs for the Propellerhead Balance with Reason Essentials. Non-slip rubber pads on the base prevent skidding.

The design team analyzed recordings from a musician’s perspective and found that certain non-musical issues take too much time: installing software, managing cables, setting up control panels, setting gain levels and tweaking recording parameters. With Propellerhead Balance, all instruments can be connected at all times so musicians are always ready to record.

Credits go to Propellerhead’s Ernst Nathorst-Böös, Marcus Zetterquist and Fredric Vinnåand No Picnic’s Anna-Carin Neale, Thomas Mach and Jonas Westius.

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Five designers at Fluke Corp. of Everett, Wash., won a gold award for the 36X/37X/38X family of clamp meters with the iFlex flexible current probe.

Materials include ABS/polycarbonate blend, copper and steel. A unit retails for up to $500.

The electrical tester combines a voltmeter with a clamp-type current meter. Electricians use the equipment to measure electrical energy.

Credits go to Ferdinand Laurino, Matthew Marzynski, Jeff Worones, Tiena Yang and Duncan Kearsley. Fluke is a wholly owned subsidiary of Danaher Corp.

Designers in an Osaka, Japan, center ofPanasonic Corp. won for a light-emitting-diode clear light bulb.Materials include a flame-retardant resin, aluminum, glass and mineral compounds. Development began in September 2010, and commercial sales began in Europe initially in July 2011.

The product recreates the mood, quality and look of an incandescent bulb. The LED clear bulb is sized for use with any light fixture that uses an incandescent, and its compact components fit an incandescent’s overall shape and dimension.

The design disperses light in all directions and eliminates need for a heat sink. Recently, Panasonic launched a 40-watt-equivalent, clear LED lamp into the European consumer market.

Panasonic aims by 2016 to quintuple sales in its European LED lighting business vs. 2011. A Panasonic online shop for the United Kingdom offers a 20-watt-equivalent LED clear bulb for about $40.

This voltmeter from Fluke Corp. features a clamp-type current meter. (Fluke Corp. photo)

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Credits go to the corporation, Nobuyuki Mase and Haruhiko Uneo.

DW Product Development Inc. of Ottawa, Ontario, and Ecologic Brands Inc. of Oakland, Calif., and four designers won for a sustainable package for liquid laundry detergent.

Identified as an Ecologic Brands paper bottle, the package consists of a molded paper shell, a pouch liner of thin low density and high density polyethylene films and a 2-inch-diameter fitment/locking collar of injection molded

LDPE. DW said the pouch resin uses up to 75 percent less plastic than is used in rigid containers.

After emptying the bottle, a user can separate the outer shell from the liner. The shell is recyclable as paper or compost, and the liner and collar are recyclable as LDPE through grocery store collection points or for manufacturing of Trex Co. composite decking.

The product entered the commercial market in March 2011, retails for $12.99-$14.99 and has helped green cleaning products firm Seventh Generation Inc. of Burlington, Vt., gain market share. Seventh Generation launched a four-times-concentrated detergent using the Ecologic bottle in the natural grocery channel in March 2011.

Credits go to DW’s Romeo Graham, Rob Watters and Mike Sirois, and Ecologic’s Julie Corbett. Designers with Teague of Seattle and B/E Aerospace Inc. of Wellington, Fla., won for a line of 10 products with in the Essence Inserts Collection.

LED light bulb (Panasonic Corp. photo)

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Materials include thermoplastics, advanced aerospace plastics, polymer matrix composites, lightweight foams, pure and alloy aluminums, stainless steel and copper. The products can work alone or within an integrated system.

The collection addresses airlines’ need to differentiate services, including those functional items such as a steam oven and an espresso maker in each airplane’s cabin galley.

The line’s language is designed to create a sense of harmony and balance within the cabin galley.

Credits go to Teague’s Brian Conner, Tony Bravetti, Sebastian Petry and Adam Kumpf, and the B/E Aerospace design team.

Teague — legally Walter Dorwin Teague Associates Inc. — also won a gold award for its holistic Teagueduino/teagueduino.

org open-source interactive hardware platform in the IDEA digital design category.

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Design Lab Semi-Finalists: Hula Hoop Washers,

Anti-Gravity Air Cleaners

Semi-finalists in the 2012 Electrolux Design Lab challenge have drawn inspiration from experience creators, like professional chefs or interior designers.

Design Lab, now in its tenth year, is an annual competition run by Swedish appliance giant Electrolux.

The contest asks design students from around the world to submit their ideas for appliances of the future.

Thirty semi-finalists, from 20 countries on five continents, were selected to compete for a place in the final of Electrolux Design Lab 2012.

As in the past, semi-finalist design concepts are an eclectic mix. Some appear to make use of currently available technology, such as the Cruet Salt & Pepper shakers.

These devices, from designer Jan Ankiersztajn of the Uniwersytet Artystyczny w Poznaniu in Poland, essentially seem to be spherical Bluetooth audio players that also dispense salt and pepper.

Other concepts appear to use no currently available technology, like the anti-gravity Aeroball (pictured top) from designer Jan Ankiersztajn, from Poland's Uniwersytet Artystyczny w Poznaniu.

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The designer envisions small balls that float in the air inside the home. Its utility function is cleaning the air and even providing aromatherapy. It soaks up light during the day and glows at night.

And some of the concepts seem so impractical as to be unusable. Case in point: the Hula Washer (pictured bottom) from designer Sang-Soon Lee, of South Korea's Yongin University.

The user is supposed to put water, detergent and laundry into the hollow plastic ring, then spin it around the waist like a Hula Hoop.

At an estimated weight of at least 15 pounds, using it would be an exercise in Olympic-level hooping.

Ten finalists will soon be chosen to compete in the final event, to be held in Milan, Italy on Oct. 25, 2012.

Finalists in Milan will each present their individual concept to a jury of design experts. The jury will judge entries based on intuitive design, innovation, aesthetic qualities, and consumer insight.

The jury will award a first prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre and 5,000 Euros.

The jury will also award a second prize of 3,000 Euros and third prize of 2,000 Euros.

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Flat screens boost JacoTech

NORTH BROOK, ILL-- The growing business in ultra-thin televisions is bringing increased interest in an Illinois producer of engraved cylinder molds.

Jacobsen Lenticular Tool & Cylinder Engraving Technologies Co. is one of a few independent producers of the specialized cylindrical molds used to produce the film for the optical plastics industry.

Its parts have been used in to make three-dimensional signs, orbital telescopes, in military applications and very thin, very light monitors and TVs.

“There are other people who do what we do, but most of those are in-house,” said JacoTech President Gary Jacobsen in an Aug.

1 telephone interview.As an independent company, the North Brook-based firm makes it possible for film manufacturers to get into the thin screen production industry without building their own in-house technology base in specialized engraved molding, he said.

The latest and greatest technology for video screens and monitors has changed dramatically since JacoTech launched in 2003, Jacobsen noted.

At that time, high definition screens tended to be heavy and bulky. With new thin-screen LED technology, consumers can now buy a 55-inch television that weighs 25 pounds.

On the other end of the technology-and-size spectrum, the contest to produce smaller smart phones with high resolution images also is pushing the demand on optical plastics.

JacoTech is one of a few independent producers of a specialized cylindrical mold. (JacoTech photo)

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Cylindrical molds used in film production must meet extreme tolerance requirements so the image is not distorted in the final product, he said.

JacoTech uses CNC diamond engraving to produce the very precise surface requirements on the mold, while its 15 employees — in the U.S. and China — include technical experts with years of experience in production, Jacobsen said.

Their design and engineering capabilities make it possible for film producers to get a foothold in production.

“A lot of companies out there have the expertise and the extrusion equipment already in house,” he said. “It’s a matter of learning about the business and getting the molds, obviously.”

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Rototek on the crest of a wave

The 10,000th dinghy has rolled off the production line of Newark-based technical rotational moulder Rototek.

Four classes of vessel have been manufactured by Rototek for Chandlers Ford-based RS Sailing since 2002.

They have been exported across the world. Rototek is the only UK rotomoulder of dinghies for RS – which employs 23 staff and sells 1,300 boats a year to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and South America.

The milestone 10,000th dinghy was an RS Feva, and its completion coincided with the start of the Feva World Championships at Hayling Island.

The regatta, with 180 boats from 14 countries, was won by Italian duo Leonardo Stocchero and Gianluca Virgenti on 27 July.

As well as the Feva, Rototek makes the Tera, Quba and Vision vessels.

The four types are RS’s best sellers. Each boat is made in a specially engineered mould and constructed in three layers – using a foam middle layer with a view to extra strength and buoyancy.

A hard, high-density polyurethane outer skin protects the boat from scratching and other damage.

Rototek uses computerised sensors to ensure that exactly the right amounts of heat and air are applied to create the foam layer perfectly for each dinghy.

Dinghies use three-layer construction with foam middle layer

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RS’s UK production manager Rob Hopper says: “We chose Rototek because they use the best materials and cutting-edge machinery.

Production is reliable and without hassle, and all the boats are 100% recyclable.

“Rotational moulding gives us quick production turnrounds, very durable boats and at a great price. Rototek is a joy to deal day-to-day – a real partner for our business.”

The next major event to feature the Rototek-made boats will the RS Tera World Championships, which will take place on 6 August at Lake Iseo, Italy.

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