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Milliken PP additive for thermoforming uses cleaner chemistry to deliver brighter look.

Warmformen / Thermoformen

Polypropylen-Compound

Polypropylen

Additive

New PP Additive for Thermoforming Food-Contact Applications

Ultra high performance polymers such as polyaryletherketones (PAEK) are typically not thermoformable for thick gauge applications because of their semi-crystalline nature.

Special Polymers Enable Thermoforming of PEKK Parts

Polyetherketon

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Semi-Crystalline, and yet Thermoformable

The company’s latest model in the blown film segment is a five-layer co-extrusion blown film line that enables the production of film with maximum lay-flat width of 1400 mm.

Kung Hsing Stands out in Multi-Layer Film Extrusion

Blasfolienextrusion

Wickelmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Folien

High-Speed and Efficient Blown Film Line

The availability of PET bottle flake outside the beverage sector is expected to decline continuously in the coming years. Tray-to-tray recycling can close this gap and succeeds particularly easily with a new extruder.

Polyester

Flachfolien- und Plattenextrusion

Standardkunststoffe

Polyethylenterephthalat

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Unique PET Tray-to-Tray Recycling in a Single Extrusion Step

Styrenics can be polymerized using different technologies and it can be modified with a range of copolymers. The resulting plastics offer a wide range of properties allowing to customize them for different applications. Because of this range of properties they are suitable for many industries. Strong demand is for example driven by the automotive industry, healthcare and the packaging industry.

Styrenic Polymers

Verpackungsmaterial

Automotive

Polystyrol

Technische Kunststoffe

Styrol-Copolymerisate

Kunststoff

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Diverse Shapes and Applications

Continuous Compression Molding (CCM) technology can be applied to multilayer solutions and is referred to as Continuous Compression Molding Multilayer (CCMM). In addition to the usual benefits of CCM it offers further advantages over competing technologies. In packaging applications, compression technology makes it possible to use minimal quantities of barrier material, thus combining excellent performance with low raw material costs.

Continuous Compression Molding Multilayer of Coffee Capsules

Pressen von Kunststoffen

Extrusionsanlagen

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Paying Attention to Layers in-between

In order to avoid bubble ruptures during the production of blown film, the velocity of the cooling air is often reduced. The use of air guiding systems (AGS) can prevent such bubble instability. A novel AGS was developed at IKV in Aachen, Germany, using iris diaphragms in order to increase the cooling efficiency of blown film extrusion and thus improve the productivity of an existing plant

Increase in Mass Throughput and Improved Mechanical Product Properties

Nachhaltigkeit

Kühlanlagen

Konturnahe Kühlung

Energieeffizienz

Extrusions-Zubehör

Flexible Guiding Systems  for Cooling Air

With the transition to the new Simatic Open Controller generation, Gabler Thermoform is upgrading their machines to provide increased performance and more efficiency.

Thermoforming on the Way to Digital Transformation

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Thermoformanlagen

Automatisierung

Open Control for More Efficiency

For almost two decades, an expert committee, meeting once a year, has supported Kunststoffe magazine in determining the state of play in the plastics industry and identifying current technical developments. This time, the traditional spring meeting gave it an opportunity to debate the consequences of the Corona virus.

Current Challenges and Options for Action in the Plastics Industry

Wirtschaftspolitik in Deutschland

Klotz, Karlhorst, Dr.

Internationale Wirtschaft

Verpackungsanlagen

Recycling

Wirtschaft

Kunststoff-Verpackungsmaschine

Starting up under the Shadow  of Corona

Even more than with foodstuffs, what matters in most cases with drug packaging is the contents protected by the wrapping. These are not good conditions to pursue a cycle concept for packaging. But times are changing – perhaps.

Steps to More Sustainable Packaging in the Medical and Cosmetics Industries

No Chance for the Cycle Concept?

Contrary to the current perception, plastics, as a component of packaging materials, often represent the most environmentally sound option. The plastics industry is currently undergoing a transformation, shifting the focus onto the realization of closed material loops as well as reducing the resource input with highly efficient materials.

More Resource-Efficient Materials for Thermoforming

Blend

Masterbatches

Resisting the Pressure

The goal of the European Union (EU) to recycle all plastic packaging in Europe in an economically viable manner by 2030 is exerting enormous pressure on the packaging industry. It is very common that packaging films are made of different materials, and this causes challenges since they are often not easy to recycle.

Designing Food and Consumer Packaging for Recyclability

Polyethylen

Verpackungstechnik

Can One Material Be Enough?

The challenges associated with recycling food packaging are particularly great in the flexible-packaging sector. Multilayer composites are often a hindrance to mechanical recycling, yet are irreplaceable in many applications. Replacements will not be found until recyclable and ecologically sustainable packaging solutions are devised.

Approaches and Unresolved Problems in the Mechanical Recycling  of Flexible Multilayer Packaging

Multilayer

Engel Austria GmbH, Schwertberg, Austria, presents the next generation of the all-electric e-cap injection molding machine series for beverage caps. The production of 29/25 lightweight caps on a new e-cap 380 machine makes it clear how continuously increasing requirements can be combined with the shortest cycle times, the highest precision and lowest energy consumption. 

Engel Presents the Next Generation e-cap 

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Spritzgießmaschinen

Spritzgießen

High Stability and Precision  

Compared with conventional thermoforming molds made from epoxy resins or aluminum, a new type of casting resin system not only enables heat-resistant and high-quality thermoforming molds to be produced in a much shorter time, but the user can make the molds himself. The system can also serve as an alternative to injection molding to achieve a favorable price-performance ratio.

Patented Casting Resin System for Producing Sophisticated Thermoforming Molds  in just a Few Hours

Tiefziehwerkzeug

Tiefziehwerkzeuge

Modellbau

Thermoformwerkzeuge

Modellierung

In-House Moldmaking

Extrusion blow molding enables cost-effective production of hollow plastic articles with complex geometries and differing volumes. One disadvantage, however, is that blow-molded components often fail at the weld line. Variothermal temperature control can be utilized to significantly improve the quality of the weld line.

Variothermal Temperature Control in Extrusion Blow Molding Improves Quality  of the Weld Line

Extrusionsblasformen

Prozesssimulation

Blasformwerkzeuge

Dynamische / variotherme Temperierung

Blasformen

Heating of the Mash Seam

Harmoniously integrating displays into the lines of a vehicle cockpit has always been a real challenge. Continental now uses a combination of film insert molding, in-mold decoration and injection-compression molding to produce large, three-dimensionally formed plastic panels.

Large-Area Curved Plastic Panels with Integrated Displays

HMI, Bedienelemente, Displays

Display im Automobil

Polycarbonat

Automotive Display: A Matter of Form

There is little doubt where we are heading: multilayer packaging will have to become easier to recycle – but what does that mean for the technology? And what solutions will the market need and accept? Manufacturers of branded goods are not the only ones who will have to rethink their specifications.

How Film Packaging Will Have to Develop

Flachfolienanlagen

Europe Needs to Catch up

The increasing volume of plastic waste and the growing pollution of the oceans by such waste have brought the sustainable handling of plastic products into the focus of society and politics. Both recycling and bioplastics can be a part of a strategy for greater sustainability, but they are not free of side effects. In order to avoid irrational decisions, it is important to assess their effects comprehensively.

3D View of Sustainability

Folienblasanlagen

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Why Recycled Films Are Not Necessarily Sustainable

The highly diverse offering at K 2019 ranged from ingenious detailed applications to complete solutions that encompass the entire process. In the extrusion sector, the topic of the circular economy was very much in the shadow of developments relating to Industry 4.0.

New and Further Developments Focus on Quality and Efficiency

Messtechnik

Spritzgießsimulation

Elektrische / Magnetische Messtechnik

Rohr- und Profilextrusion

Extrusionswerkzeuge

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

New Dimensions in Extrusion

Macchi presented at K the new Pod-Flex series for the production of seven-layer blown films with a net width of 2700 mm. The extrusion line can extrude laminate, barrier and biomaterials, since the new TES72 extrusion die, which is completely PVD-coated, can process both polyolefin and barrier-film formulations on the same line. 

Technical Advances in More Flexible Blow-Molding Lines  

Higher Speed for Material Exchange 

Windmöller & Hölscher KG (W&H), Lengerich, Germany, a specialist for machinery in the flexible packaging market, introduced a new cooling system for its blown film extrusion lines at K 2019. The updated cooling system is the latest development its Arctis cool ring family. 

W&H Presents Cooling System for Blown Film Extrusion 

Higher Output and Process Stability 

One way to increase recyclability is to use mono-material film. But such film must not be inferior in any way to its multi-layer predecessors. Brückner Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, Siegsdorf, Germany, has therefore developed a new inline coater (ILC) for all BOPP and BOPE lines that is installed in the line upstream of transversal stretching. The manufacturer claims it can produce extremely thin functional layers in the nano range. The extreme thinness of the layers means that they do not disrupt sorting and recycling, but do allow, for example, improved adhesion during metallizing and excellent barrier properties in conjunction with very thin aluminum oxide coatings. 

Brückner Maschinenbau at K 2019 

Sustainable and Efficient  