Trexel and Uniloy Milacron Sign Exclusive Agreement to Supply Structural Foam Equipment Capable of Processing MuCell® Microcellular Foam

April 12, 1999 - Woburn, MA - Trexel, Inc., and Uniloy Milacron have entered into an exclusive license agreement to supply structural foam equipment capable of utilizing Trexel's proprietary MuCell® microcellular foam process. Under this agreement, Trexel, the worldwide leader in the development and commercialization of microcellular foam processing technologies for thermoplastic polymers, licenses Uniloy Milacron, a division of Milacron Inc., to make structural foam equipment capable of producing MuCell microcellular foams. Trexel licenses its MuCell process technology directly to the end-user while Uniloy Milacron provides the structural foam equipment.

The agreement provides Uniloy Milacron, the leading worldwide supplier of low-pressure structural foam molding equipment, with exclusive rights to sell MuCell-capable structural foam molding machines. Customers also may obtain MuCell retrofits to their existing installed equipment either directly from Trexel or from Uniloy Milacron.

"This alliance will broaden the use of the MuCell microcellular foam process technology beyond extrusion and injection molding to companies running low-pressure structural foam molding equipment", commented David Bernstein, Trexel President and CEO. "We are currently working with several licensees to launch the technology on this type of equipment, and are very optimistic about the results we've seen to date."

Uniloy Milacron is also enthusiastic about the potential of the MuCell microcellular foam process for companies using its equipment. The Company is already building MuCell-capable equipment for an undisclosed customer, as well as building a development machine at Uniloy Milacron's Michigan facility. According to Ed Hunerberg, Executive Director Structural Foam Machinery Business for Uniloy Milacron, "We are pleased to offer our customers the MuCell capability and provide them with new opportunities for cost-savings and production efficiencies. Uniloy Milacron is bringing its equipment design expertise to integrate the MuCell technology effectively on its current line of machines."

Uniloy Milacron will use Trexel technology, engineering support, and designs to build new, commercial-scale MuCell-capable structural foam molding equipment, in addition to a MuCell-process retrofit kit for installed equipment. MuCell-enabled equipment can be used as conventional, low-pressure machinery or as MuCell molding machinery.

Demonstrated Benefits

Structural foam molders using the MuCell® process can achieve greater reductions in component weight, post blow, and cycle time. Also, because the MuCell technology uses supercritical fluids of atmospheric gases as physical blowing agents, chemical-blowing agents (CBAs) are completely eliminated, resulting in fewer defective parts, controlled increased weight reductions and greater cost improvements.

David Pierick, Trexel Injection Molding Vice President explained, "Historically, molders producing structural foam have been able to reduce product density by 5-20% by injecting N₂ and CBAs into the melt. Although more generous weight reductions have been commercially possible, they have been more difficult to control due to inconsistent cell size and cell distribution." Pierick continued, "With the MuCell microcellular foam process, which produces a homogeneous dispersion of microscopic cells, molders can achieve a controlled weight reduction of nearly 50%, which is a significant increase over weight reductions achieved with standard structural foam techniques."

With the MuCell process, reduced melt temperature, improved mold filling, reduced cooling times (because of less mass to cool and fewer post blow problems), reduced molded-in stress and reduced or eliminated hold time typically result in faster cycle times in structural foam applications. The MuCell process also eliminates most of the visible voids that can result from the use of gas and CBAs. Because of the reduction of voids and because of the more even distribution and uniform size of the microcells, color concentrate can be reduced by up to 60%.

Equipment Availability

According to the license agreement, Uniloy Milacron will complete designs for the full range of Uniloy Milacron equipment from 400 to 2500 tons, plus a MuCell®-process retrofit package for equipment in the field. Trexel, which currently operates commercial-scale injection molding equipment in its extensive development laboratory, will offer engineering support, training, and other services to end-users. Patents pending and issued in the United States, Canada, Europe, and several Asian countries cover Trexel's MuCell microcellular foam process.

For further information, contact Dan Szczurko, Trexel Vice President of Business Development, at 781 932-0202 ext. 241 (fax 781 932-3324) or dan@trexel.com, or visit the Trexel company Web site at www.trexel.com and the Uniloy Milacron company Web site at www.uniloymilacron.com.

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