Lilli Manolis Sherman Contributing Editor
Contact
NPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Testing and QC--New Lab Instruments Stress Affordability and Convenience
Thermal and mechanical testers, color and appearance sensors, vision inspection devices and CMMs鈥攖he NPE had them all in more compact, economical, and easy-to-use models.
Read More
NPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: New Materials and Equipment for Decorating In and Out of the Mold
Among the latest developments in decorating and printing at the NPE show in Chicago were digital printers, flexographic printers for bags, and scratch-resistant heat-transfer foils for hot stamping and in-mold decoration (IMD). Also featured was new equipment for laser marking and engraving and an electrostatic charger for in-mold labeling (IML). News in stamping foilsSolidBrush metallic finishes are the latest heat-transfer foils from Kurz Transfer Products.
Read More
NPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Chemicals and Additives
There were new additives for every need at NPE 2006: Make your plastics prettier with new colorants. Make them stronger with new fillers and reinforcements. Make them lighter with foaming agents. Or just make them go away with improved purging agents and biodegradable masterbatches.
Read More
What to See at NPE 2006: Decorating, Printing and Finishing
While there is plenty of news at NPE this year in pad, screen, dry-offset, flexo, and inkjet printing, as well as laser marking, hot stamping, heat-transfer decorating, and some less familiar technologies—the real star of the show is summed up in two words: “in-mold.” Responding to excitement in automotive, appliance, and electronics industries, at least 19 companies are showing materials or equipment for in-mold film-insert decorating or labeling (IMD, IML) for injection molding and thermoforming.
Read More
What to See at NPE 2006: Chemicals and Additives
Compounders, molders, and extruders will be treated to a wide range of new additives at NPE 2006.
Read More
Polyurethane Composites: New Alternative to Polyester and Vinyl Ester
High toughness, fast cure, and no styrene fumes are taking urethane composites beyond SRIM into pultrusion, filament winding, vacuum infusion, and spray-up.
Read More
PUR RIM vs. Wood in Building Products
After nearly a decade of testing, roofing shakes of RIM polyurethane microcellular rigid foam are making a commercial push to compete with traditional cedar shakes.
Read More
Nanoscale Additive Blends Both Compatibilize and Toughen
A new family of acrylic block copolymers is said to be easily mixed into nanoscale dispersions with various thermoplastics, thermosets, and elastomers—and to be miscible with those matrix polymers.
Read More
New Version of RIM for Electronics Encapsulation
A new, patented technology that is an offshoot of RIM has been developed by CardXX of Englewood, Colo., to encapsulate electronics into “smart cards.” It is now available for license.
Read More
High-Melt-Strength PP Makes Softer, Lighter Foams
A new high-melt-strength (HMS) polypropylene is said to be especially suited to foam extrusion because it makes much softer foams than other HMS-PP grades.
Read More
Dye Sublimation Printing: Durable Color Decoration for 3D Parts
Dye sublimation, a dye-transfer process that got its start in the 1960s for use in textiles, has advanced in recent years to provide wear-resistant, full-color surface decoration of flat objects like mouse pads and tiles.
Read More
Novel Rheometer Tells More About Thermoplastic Processing Behavior
A unique type of oscillating-die rheometer, first unveiled in 1999 for analyzing thermosets and composites, has now been upgraded for testing polyolefins and other thermoplastics.
Read More