By Bruce Geiselman
Battenfeld-Cincinnati has updated existing extrusion product lines to expand their use in sheet production.
The company’s uniEX single-screw extruder series now includes 35mm, 45mm and 60mm models engineered for sheet extrusion; previously, the company touted the extruders for pipe and profile production.
UniEX extruders have a compact design and high throughputs with gentle melt treatment, which makes them ideal for use as coextruders on a sheet line, the company said.
They can produce multilayer sheet, mono-material sheet with a modified covering layer or sheet with a middle layer consisting of regrind, the company said. The models have a small footprint and shorter melt channels than many extruders, which reduces purging times and resin consumption.
Depending on the material, output ranges from 110 to 1,102 pounds per hour. A range of plasticizing units is available, which come with either grooved or smooth feed zones, and can be equipped with a degassing unit, which is required for ABS processing.
Various options are available, including screw extraction to the rear, a gearless drive via a torque motor, and flexible positioning of the control cabinet.
Roll stacks now integrated into HIPS sheet lines for appliances
Originally developed for high-tech applications, Battenfeld-Cincinnati’s Multi-Touch XXL roll stacks now are available as part of complete extrusion lines for making high-impact PS boards for refrigerators.
“Due to the high-cost pressure in the white goods area, it is vital for the manufacturers to have a powerful, reliable line with a high performance in terms of sheet quality,” Battenfeld-Cincinnati said.
The Multi-Touch XXL roll stacks, which can operate on high-speed lines, produce ideal cooling conditions and precise thicknesses. These features allow the roll stacks to contribute to the production of high-quality semi-finished products.
In addition to the roll stacks, the lines include three high-speed extruders that provide an output of up to 6,614 pounds per hour. The extruders are capable of screw speeds of up to 1,500 revolutions per minute. The melt’s residence time inside the extruder is long enough to achieve optimal homogenization but short enough to prevent mechanical or thermal damage to the material, the company said.
Two 75mm extruders process the melt for the core layer of the boards, which can measure up to 6mm thick and 3.9 feet wide, while the 45mm coextruder applies a glossy surface layer.
From the extruders, the melt passes through a flat sheet die into the roll stack with two rolls 7.9 feet wide. The roll stack also has several recalibration rolls that optimize flatness and offer narrow thickness tolerances.
The new Battenfeld-Cincinnati lines allow customers to reduce the thickness of HIPS sheets by about 50 percent compared to existing lines equipped with three-roll stacks, according to the company, which estimates annual dollar cost savings in the six digits for some customers.
Battenfeld-Cincinnati USA, McPherson, Kan., 620-241-6843, www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com
Bruce Geiselman, senior staff reporter
