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REPRINTED FROM PLASTICS NEWS - August 1999
Milacron expands MuCell tiesTrexel Inc. keeps spreading its tiny bubbles molding technology, this time to Milacron Inc., which will offer Trexel's MuCell process as an option on injection molding presses and blow molding machines. Trexel, based in Woburn, Mass., already has issued licenses to Engel North America for injection molding, and to Milacron for structural foam molding. The new licensing deal, announced Aug. 20, deepens Trexel's relationship with Milacron, the largest U.S. plastics machinery manufacturer. The injection molding licenses are nonexclusive, and Dan Szczurko, Trexel vice president of business development, expects other machinery manufacturers to offer MuCell. A 400-ton Milacron injection press is scheduled to arrive at Trexel's development center in Woburn later this year. MuCell works by adding very small bubbles, measuring 5-10 microns, to the melted plastic inside the barrel. That process lowers viscosity of the plastic, making it easier to injection mold. One benefit is faster cycle times. In injection molding, MuCell can be processed with less injection pressure, and on machines with lower clamping-force tonnage than traditional technology, Szczurko said. "We significantly improve cycle time. There are some significant benefits for injection molding," he said in a telephone interview fromTrexel. Another benefit is weight savings, as the bubbles displace plastic material. The process uses carbon dioxide and nitrogen gases as blowing agents. They are brought to a supercritical state through carefully controlled temperature and pressure, giving them the properties of both a liquid - to allow controlled metering and pumping - and a gas, so the bubbles diffuse very rapidly into the plastic. Under the licensing agreement, Milacron will offer MuCell as an option on all its injection presses, with clamping forces of 90-4,000 tons. Milacron's Plastics Technologies Group is based in Batavia, Ohio. Jim Moore, Milacron's vice president of sales for injection molding, said Milacron will offer MuCell as an option or a retrofit on existing machines. MuCell can be turned on and off easily, allowing the same press to be run on foam bubble mode or traditional mode. "I think there's great potential for the process," Moore said. On the blow molding side, Uniloy-Milacron in Manchester, Mich., will offer the MuCell foam process on its intermittent blow molding machines. The deal covers reciprocating screw, accumulator technology. "We believe the delivery of a MuCell foam parison with the intermittent extrusion process will be an attractive technology on any machine platform, regardless of the clamping system," said Jeff Newman, Uniloy's vice president of sales and operations. Return to Top | Return to Magazine Articles 98-99 |
