Jan Andrysek balances a prosthetic leg on the arm of his chair, then applies downward pressure to make the front of the foot push forward, causing a joint in the device to bend just like a natural knee.
The prototype black metal knee joint may look like some kind of automobile part, but the biomedical engineer hopes the simple device will give the gift of mobility to untold numbers of people in developing countries who have lost a leg to amputation.
With an estimated target price of $50 to $100, the joint is an affordable component that will allow a static prosthesis — made up of a socket, a metal post called a pylon and an artificial foot — to move in a rhythm that more closely mimics that of a natural leg.
There's a need "for an inexpensive knee joint — inexpensive sort of equates to accessibility — because in many countries people don't have the money nor are there funding systems in place to allow them to be able to purchase these devices," says Andrysek of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.
"And in countries such as Canada, these devices can cost typically, to put a prosthesis together, you're looking in excess of $5,000 — and it can go up to $50,000.
"So these are very expensive devices. We're fortunate in Canada to have funding systems in place that cover most of those costs for the individuals. But that is not the case for most countries around the world."
Haiti is one glaring example of a country desperate for affordable, functional prostheses to help the tens of thousands of amputees who suffered traumatic injuries in the 2010 earthquake.
"In counties such as Cambodia and Myanmar, you have many postwar injuries resulting from landmines that haven't been cleared or are even still being laid," he says. Blast and other injuries in such war-torn countries as Afghanistan have also left a population of amputees in need of prosthetics.
Andrysek has spent about six years developing the knee joint with a team at the Bloorview Research Institute. He was recently awarded a $100,000 grant by the non-profit organization Grand Challenges Canada after being named one of its "Rising Stars in Global Health."
"This work really came from some of the initial work we did with the children here to try to develop a little joint for kids," he says. "At that time, our two criteria were to make it very functional, because these are active kids and they want to be able to do a lot of things, but at the same time it has to be very durable.
"And it turned out similar criteria for developing countries. These are generally healthy individuals who can be very active and they require devices that would allow them that function."
One key consideration is environment: the knee joint controlling the movement of the prosthesis must be able to withstand the kinds of walking surfaces that are common to many developing countries.
That could mean mountainous terrain, rock-strewn surfaces or pitted and uneven ground that can be problematic even to those who aren't amputees.
"The challenge in that is you're trying to design the prosthesis to have the same type of control that our human muscles have," says Andrysek, explaining that a built-in locking and unlocking mechanism in the joint automatically responds to pressure, or "loading patterns," exerted through the foot.
"And that control means that the leg is stable. If the person puts weight on it, it's securely underneath them, but at the same time it can easily go into the natural motion that we see walking, which is the knee bending."
For now, Andrysek says he is focusing on a knee joint for adults because those for children would have to be made in several sizes to match different ages, although his team plans modified versions that are smaller and lighter for kids as part of their future research.
"We think that the technology will serve both children and adults well."
During the design phase, which followed a lengthy period studying the mechanics of the human gait, the team produced three different prototypes. The current one is what he calls "something between a prototype and a product."
The researchers have invested money in making moulds, so the knee joints can be make out of plastic, he says.
"That allows us to make these parts very inexpensively, so we can injection-mould the three main parts of the knee for about $15, and that's a large part of our ability to make these knees affordable."
Andrysek says Bloorview hopes to team with a manufacturer to produce the knee joint. "We're just getting to the stage of trying to work with partners who could facilitate that part of it. And the big thing is the distribution — how to get these knees to those different countries."
The knee joint is now being tested by the International Red Cross, which has project sites in about 60 countries, he says. "They will be evaluating it over a year, and depending how it goes, they would be a very good partner to get this technology out there to those who need it.
"As a researcher, one of the most rewarding things is when you can actually take a project from the beginning, with the conceptualization, and actually get to a point where it gets out and starts having an impact on people's lives and people's health."
2012年2月20日星期一
2012年2月19日星期日
Dr Dillner's health dilemmas: will a mouthguard stop me grinding my teeth?
Teeth grinding is not only annoying but fairly common. It's a condition in which you grind or gnash your teeth, especially in your sleep. It may not cause any problems but can give you headaches, a sore face and jaw pain. Persistent teeth grinding may damage the joints in the jaw, which will make it painful to yawn or chew.
No one knows what causes teeth-grinding. Children do it more often than adults, possibly because their baby teeth are smoother and more amenable to grinding. It is common if you are stressed or anxious. Occasionally it can be due to your upper and lower teeth not being aligned properly or because of medications, including some antidepressants.
There is no magic cure, but mouthguards are often recommended to protect the teeth at night. Think sports guard for when you're playing rugby or hockey and you'll get the look. But do they work or is there anything just as effective but less intrusive?
"Mouthguards work well but they are best fitted professionally," says Damien Walmsley, scientific adviser to the British Dental Association. "You should see your dentist, who will take an impression and usually fit one on the top teeth. They're plastic and can be soft, although people can chew through them, in which case they'll need a harder guard. If you get one from the chemist and mould it yourself it won't fit well enough."
They work by separating the teeth and preventing grinding. You can then see if you're still grinding by checking the wear and tear on the guard. They can take some time to get used to but but they stop your face and jaw aching and reduce the likelihood of you breaking your teeth. You only have to wear the guard at night but you may need to continually use it if your grinding has become an intractable habit.
If you don't fancy a mouthguard and suspect stress is making you grind your teeth, you can try relaxation techniques and meditation. You should rest your tongue upwards, with your teeth apart and lips closed, which reduces the tendency to stiffen your jaw and grind. Children who do it can be helped by getting them to relax before they go to sleep with a bath and story.
It's worth going to the dentist if you grind your teeth, not only for a fitted guard but to check your teeth are not misaligned. Sometimes reshaping the surface of teeth will help. But if it's an ongoing problem, forget the cosmetic drawbacks and get yourself a mouthguard.
No one knows what causes teeth-grinding. Children do it more often than adults, possibly because their baby teeth are smoother and more amenable to grinding. It is common if you are stressed or anxious. Occasionally it can be due to your upper and lower teeth not being aligned properly or because of medications, including some antidepressants.
There is no magic cure, but mouthguards are often recommended to protect the teeth at night. Think sports guard for when you're playing rugby or hockey and you'll get the look. But do they work or is there anything just as effective but less intrusive?
"Mouthguards work well but they are best fitted professionally," says Damien Walmsley, scientific adviser to the British Dental Association. "You should see your dentist, who will take an impression and usually fit one on the top teeth. They're plastic and can be soft, although people can chew through them, in which case they'll need a harder guard. If you get one from the chemist and mould it yourself it won't fit well enough."
They work by separating the teeth and preventing grinding. You can then see if you're still grinding by checking the wear and tear on the guard. They can take some time to get used to but but they stop your face and jaw aching and reduce the likelihood of you breaking your teeth. You only have to wear the guard at night but you may need to continually use it if your grinding has become an intractable habit.
If you don't fancy a mouthguard and suspect stress is making you grind your teeth, you can try relaxation techniques and meditation. You should rest your tongue upwards, with your teeth apart and lips closed, which reduces the tendency to stiffen your jaw and grind. Children who do it can be helped by getting them to relax before they go to sleep with a bath and story.
It's worth going to the dentist if you grind your teeth, not only for a fitted guard but to check your teeth are not misaligned. Sometimes reshaping the surface of teeth will help. But if it's an ongoing problem, forget the cosmetic drawbacks and get yourself a mouthguard.
2012年2月16日星期四
Versatile and inexpensive, Jaipur Foot prosthesis is transforming lives
"Mornings can be depressing here," says Devendra Raj Mehta as dusk falls on the tree-lined grounds outside his Jaipur office. "Many people arrive with nothing, unable to walk. But by evening, everything is very different." Located a few kilometres from the centre of the Rajasthani capital, the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) is internationally renowned for its work in the field of amputee care. Most notable is the organisation's pioneering of the Jaipur Foot - a durable, lifelike and inexpensive prosthesis that has already changed more than 400,000 lives.
"That is only the number of people around the world who have been fitted with Jaipur limbs," Mehta explains. "As you will see, we do more than just that.
"We also have centres in other Indian cities, such as Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, and we take our work to places where it is needed overseas ... In total we have helped approximately 1.25 million people in 25 nations - including Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia."
Watching Mehta, the 74-year-old founder and chief patron of the BMVSS as he fields calls, dictates letters and answers emails, the operation's reach quickly becomes apparent. On his agenda today are invitations to run clinics in Chad, Mongolia and Cameroon, and a request for his presence at an awards ceremony in Helsinki.
Taking a brief break from this correspondence, Mehta points to a framed picture on the window ledge: "That is from Time magazine," he says. "The Jaipur Knee [a fully jointed plastic prosthesis developed by the BMVSS] was named one of the top 50 inventions of 2009." He then runs through a list of notable sponsors and partner organisations, including national and local government departments, the Indian Space Research Organisation and Michigan Institute of Technology. Further funding for the BMVSS comes from private individuals and public figures, such as Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who provided backing for a recent limb-replacement programme in Pakistan.
Looking at today's high-profile connections, it is easy to forget that the Jaipur Foot began as the handiwork of a local craftsman. Back in 1968, Ram Chandra Sharma, also affectionately known as Masterji, was employed as an occupational therapist by the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. During this time, he found himself frustrated by the expensive and impractical foreign-made prostheses he saw being fitted to amputees.
Masterji was determined to come up with a better alternative. Accordingly, he set himself a number of objectives. Firstly, his invention would be distributed free of charge, and thus needed to be made from cheap, easily obtainable materials. Secondly, it should be strong and flexible enough to withstand the rigours of manual labour. Thirdly, it would be culturally appropriate for its users: able to be worn with or without shoes for visits to temple or mosque, and capable of the full range of motions required by daily prayer.
Like every great innovation, Masterji's solution was simple and elegant. Instead of using costly alloys and polymers, he opted for a core of high-density foam rubber and wood, wrapped in vulcanised rubber. Pressed in a metal mould and heated, these components bound together and took on a shape uncannily close to that of a real human foot. This was then attached to a sturdy wooden leg.
In terms of form and function it was an unqualified success - so much so that it was fully endorsed by Masterji's employers and further research and development would involve a number of doctors from the hospital. Inevitably, word of this work spread among amputees in Rajasthan and beyond. However, for various reasons, only a very modest number of fittings (no more than 50) were carried out in seven years from 1968.
"That is only the number of people around the world who have been fitted with Jaipur limbs," Mehta explains. "As you will see, we do more than just that.
"We also have centres in other Indian cities, such as Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, and we take our work to places where it is needed overseas ... In total we have helped approximately 1.25 million people in 25 nations - including Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia."
Watching Mehta, the 74-year-old founder and chief patron of the BMVSS as he fields calls, dictates letters and answers emails, the operation's reach quickly becomes apparent. On his agenda today are invitations to run clinics in Chad, Mongolia and Cameroon, and a request for his presence at an awards ceremony in Helsinki.
Taking a brief break from this correspondence, Mehta points to a framed picture on the window ledge: "That is from Time magazine," he says. "The Jaipur Knee [a fully jointed plastic prosthesis developed by the BMVSS] was named one of the top 50 inventions of 2009." He then runs through a list of notable sponsors and partner organisations, including national and local government departments, the Indian Space Research Organisation and Michigan Institute of Technology. Further funding for the BMVSS comes from private individuals and public figures, such as Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who provided backing for a recent limb-replacement programme in Pakistan.
Looking at today's high-profile connections, it is easy to forget that the Jaipur Foot began as the handiwork of a local craftsman. Back in 1968, Ram Chandra Sharma, also affectionately known as Masterji, was employed as an occupational therapist by the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. During this time, he found himself frustrated by the expensive and impractical foreign-made prostheses he saw being fitted to amputees.
Masterji was determined to come up with a better alternative. Accordingly, he set himself a number of objectives. Firstly, his invention would be distributed free of charge, and thus needed to be made from cheap, easily obtainable materials. Secondly, it should be strong and flexible enough to withstand the rigours of manual labour. Thirdly, it would be culturally appropriate for its users: able to be worn with or without shoes for visits to temple or mosque, and capable of the full range of motions required by daily prayer.
Like every great innovation, Masterji's solution was simple and elegant. Instead of using costly alloys and polymers, he opted for a core of high-density foam rubber and wood, wrapped in vulcanised rubber. Pressed in a metal mould and heated, these components bound together and took on a shape uncannily close to that of a real human foot. This was then attached to a sturdy wooden leg.
In terms of form and function it was an unqualified success - so much so that it was fully endorsed by Masterji's employers and further research and development would involve a number of doctors from the hospital. Inevitably, word of this work spread among amputees in Rajasthan and beyond. However, for various reasons, only a very modest number of fittings (no more than 50) were carried out in seven years from 1968.
2012年2月15日星期三
Chaos in Canberra: correction is possible
I recently found myself in the awkward position of having to defend human rationality. True, it was late on a Saturday night.
The context was a large social function and the drinks were going cheap. But it was one of those conversations where I woke up the next morning pretty sure I would have taken the exact same line again. Human beings are rational. We just don't get every decision right.
I'm not a psychologist myself. I haven't done the various social experiments which people like Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman conducted through the 1970s and 1980s to lay out the patterns in human decision-making. But one of the most articulate defences I ever heard on human rationality came from a geographer.
"Well of course we're rational," I remember him saying when I raised the question, "Human beings haven't survived for this long without pursuing a very simple, rational goal: self-preservation."
The geographer did confess that he thought climate change might be the exception to this argument. But assuming that we can solve climate change (and I think we already are), things are looking up-ish for human civilisation.
Being optimistic about our rationality doesn't mean I think we're infallible to human error. We are constantly making errors of judgment, whether it is simple things like choosing correctly from the restaurant menu to how we reason our way through matters of public importance. Finding a balanced position takes time and effort. The good news is that correction is possible.
Let me give you an example. Take off your glasses and you will see one of the world's most complex problems. A 20th of the world is short-sighted but only half of those people can afford a pair of glasses.
For a while in the late 1990s charities tried to help. Across Australia, community drives were organised so that rich people could donate their old pairs to the developing world. In one year the small Pacific Island of Tavulu received a shipment of a few hundred pairs from Australia. Islanders shifted through the boxes but it turned out that only about one in fifteen pairs were reusable. The thing about short-sightedness is that everyone's eyesight is different: there are rarely two people who can wear the same pair of glasses.
In the early 2000s, a brilliant Australian engineering student called Saul Griffith set out to solve this problem. Griffith had done his undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney and had been awarded a scholarship to do his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. In an article published in the New Yorker in 2010, Griffith was described by a former professor as a formidable inventor. "With Saul," his professor had said, "you push 'Go' and he spews out projects in every imaginable direction."
In 2004, Saul won $30,000 from MIT for inventing a portable device which made cheap, custom-made glasses. Traditional lens-making is a tedious exercise. You need a small factory and each prescription requires its own mould. To service a population you need several thousand moulds.
The genius of Griffith's device was that it got around this problem. It built a single, universal mould which worked a bit like a waffle maker. Quick-hardening fluid could be injected between two pieces of plastic. The concavity or convexity of the mould would then be set so that you could make an infinite number of lenses. The machine was no larger than a desktop printer and could be used by a minimally trained operator working solo in the remotest corners of the earth.
The low-cost eyeglasses machine won accolades. In 2006, Griffith won the MacArthur genius grant – one of the world's most prestigious awards for super intelligent people. Included in his roll call of achievements was the low-cost eyeglasses machine. It has "the potential to change the economics of corrective lenses in rural and underserved communities around the world," said the judges. By building a portable device to use in the developing world, Griffith had found a way to bring sight back to the poor.
No-one can fault Saul for trying. By his own admission, though, it turned out he was solving the wrong problem. He was focused on the hardware problem but had missed the software problem. Manufacturing cheap, customized lenses was something which had been solved years ago by Chinese industrialists and global shipping magnates. Pull a few levers and you could have dozens of cheap eyeglass lenses trundled across the global by the minute. The real problem was getting accurate prescriptions. If you travelled across rural Bangladesh you'd be lucky to find a single well-trained optometrist, let alone a network of well-funded healthcare workers to support them. Griffith had been fixated on one piece of the puzzle but had missed the hidden problem.
The story of Griffith's low-cost eyeglasses is a kind of allegory for what's happening in Canberra at the moment. We're suffering from what I call the magnifying glass trap. We focus on shiny objects – things which sit in our near-view vision – but we miss the bigger picture. Whether it is immigration or climate change, terrorism on economic crises – we invariably make a similar error. We are asking ourselves the wrong questions and coming up with the wrong answers.
Moving forward, we need to take a step back. If we are to drive productivity across the economy, we need to rethink how we approach the key factors of production – especially labour and capital. That means being open to foreign investment and accepting the need to fine-tune our industrial relations laws.
If the Government is to take a consistent position towards supporting technological change in the context of climate change, it needs to be clear about what it is trying to achieve. The worst possible outcome is a carbon tax across the economy, plus public subsidies to technological dinosaurs – whether they linger in auto manufacturing, aluminium or elsewhere.
As for the question of the boats, we must acknowledge something which has long been unspoken. Border security is any government's essential duty. But one of the reasons people struggle with this issue is unrelated to border security. It comes from a fear about the pressure that low-skilled immigration may place on their jobs and wages. Unless we address this concern, the issue will not go away.
The challenge with our political leaders is not that they are irrational or mean-spirited. Both sides of politics probably want a better future. But they have lost the ability to connect with people in a compelling way. We've taken a few wrong turns but there is a good news story behind the magnifying glass trap: correction is possible.
The context was a large social function and the drinks were going cheap. But it was one of those conversations where I woke up the next morning pretty sure I would have taken the exact same line again. Human beings are rational. We just don't get every decision right.
I'm not a psychologist myself. I haven't done the various social experiments which people like Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman conducted through the 1970s and 1980s to lay out the patterns in human decision-making. But one of the most articulate defences I ever heard on human rationality came from a geographer.
"Well of course we're rational," I remember him saying when I raised the question, "Human beings haven't survived for this long without pursuing a very simple, rational goal: self-preservation."
The geographer did confess that he thought climate change might be the exception to this argument. But assuming that we can solve climate change (and I think we already are), things are looking up-ish for human civilisation.
Being optimistic about our rationality doesn't mean I think we're infallible to human error. We are constantly making errors of judgment, whether it is simple things like choosing correctly from the restaurant menu to how we reason our way through matters of public importance. Finding a balanced position takes time and effort. The good news is that correction is possible.
Let me give you an example. Take off your glasses and you will see one of the world's most complex problems. A 20th of the world is short-sighted but only half of those people can afford a pair of glasses.
For a while in the late 1990s charities tried to help. Across Australia, community drives were organised so that rich people could donate their old pairs to the developing world. In one year the small Pacific Island of Tavulu received a shipment of a few hundred pairs from Australia. Islanders shifted through the boxes but it turned out that only about one in fifteen pairs were reusable. The thing about short-sightedness is that everyone's eyesight is different: there are rarely two people who can wear the same pair of glasses.
In the early 2000s, a brilliant Australian engineering student called Saul Griffith set out to solve this problem. Griffith had done his undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney and had been awarded a scholarship to do his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. In an article published in the New Yorker in 2010, Griffith was described by a former professor as a formidable inventor. "With Saul," his professor had said, "you push 'Go' and he spews out projects in every imaginable direction."
In 2004, Saul won $30,000 from MIT for inventing a portable device which made cheap, custom-made glasses. Traditional lens-making is a tedious exercise. You need a small factory and each prescription requires its own mould. To service a population you need several thousand moulds.
The genius of Griffith's device was that it got around this problem. It built a single, universal mould which worked a bit like a waffle maker. Quick-hardening fluid could be injected between two pieces of plastic. The concavity or convexity of the mould would then be set so that you could make an infinite number of lenses. The machine was no larger than a desktop printer and could be used by a minimally trained operator working solo in the remotest corners of the earth.
The low-cost eyeglasses machine won accolades. In 2006, Griffith won the MacArthur genius grant – one of the world's most prestigious awards for super intelligent people. Included in his roll call of achievements was the low-cost eyeglasses machine. It has "the potential to change the economics of corrective lenses in rural and underserved communities around the world," said the judges. By building a portable device to use in the developing world, Griffith had found a way to bring sight back to the poor.
No-one can fault Saul for trying. By his own admission, though, it turned out he was solving the wrong problem. He was focused on the hardware problem but had missed the software problem. Manufacturing cheap, customized lenses was something which had been solved years ago by Chinese industrialists and global shipping magnates. Pull a few levers and you could have dozens of cheap eyeglass lenses trundled across the global by the minute. The real problem was getting accurate prescriptions. If you travelled across rural Bangladesh you'd be lucky to find a single well-trained optometrist, let alone a network of well-funded healthcare workers to support them. Griffith had been fixated on one piece of the puzzle but had missed the hidden problem.
The story of Griffith's low-cost eyeglasses is a kind of allegory for what's happening in Canberra at the moment. We're suffering from what I call the magnifying glass trap. We focus on shiny objects – things which sit in our near-view vision – but we miss the bigger picture. Whether it is immigration or climate change, terrorism on economic crises – we invariably make a similar error. We are asking ourselves the wrong questions and coming up with the wrong answers.
Moving forward, we need to take a step back. If we are to drive productivity across the economy, we need to rethink how we approach the key factors of production – especially labour and capital. That means being open to foreign investment and accepting the need to fine-tune our industrial relations laws.
If the Government is to take a consistent position towards supporting technological change in the context of climate change, it needs to be clear about what it is trying to achieve. The worst possible outcome is a carbon tax across the economy, plus public subsidies to technological dinosaurs – whether they linger in auto manufacturing, aluminium or elsewhere.
As for the question of the boats, we must acknowledge something which has long been unspoken. Border security is any government's essential duty. But one of the reasons people struggle with this issue is unrelated to border security. It comes from a fear about the pressure that low-skilled immigration may place on their jobs and wages. Unless we address this concern, the issue will not go away.
The challenge with our political leaders is not that they are irrational or mean-spirited. Both sides of politics probably want a better future. But they have lost the ability to connect with people in a compelling way. We've taken a few wrong turns but there is a good news story behind the magnifying glass trap: correction is possible.
2012年2月14日星期二
Making hay whatever the weather
SMALL farms have to be more inventive than big ones and tenants have to think harder than landowners.
If there is anything in those generalisms, Smithy Briggs Farm is a good example.
It is hard to know where to start explaining its interlocking interests, so the beginning will have to do.
Peter Caley’s great-grandad started his family’s tenancy of the 120-acre farm on the Burton Constable estate, near Skirlaugh, where Hull gives way to the flat and fertile lowlands known as Holderness.
When Peter was growing up there, the businesses were arable (wheat, oilseed rape, peas) plus bed-and-breakfast pigs living on the straw from the crops. Both are still important.
But 20 years ago his father, John, got a contract to supply hay to a riding stables. And that led to others.
When Peter returned home to work, after college and five years in consultancy, they needed a way of expanding without more land. And as everywhere, the horse business was booming faster than anything in farming.
Horse owners can generally afford to be fussier than farmers looking for livestock feed, especially when the horses are expensive ones. And they want fully ripened hay rather than silage and haylage, the half-wet products which have become the standard way of keeping grass for winter, thanks to plastic for wrapping it in.
Even for farm livestock, however, there are advantages to good old hay, says Peter.
“As soon as you unload it, you know exactly what you are getting.”
Silage/haylage has taken over a lot of the market because hay is trickier. Peter, now 32, and his dad, 52, have built up Smithy Briggs Hay & Straw by learning to get it right.
The farm is the business base but most of the products come from collaborations. Last year, Smithy Briggs brokered 600 acres of grass to about a hundred customers – some as haylage but most as good old-fashioned sweet hay – and 2,000 acres of straw.
You can get hay through the small ads for 50-100 a tonne. But hay is a loose definition.
Smithy Briggs prices vary according to size of order, delivery costs, etcetera, but Peter says they aim for 120-130 for a tonne leaving their gate in large bales. For that, he guarantees “good clean hay” – not certificated, but free of mould, as free of dust as it can be and your money back if not satisfied.
To meet a range of nutritional needs, from rabbits through stud bulls to polo ponies, he grows and buys both standard ‘meadow hay’, from permanent pasture – usually improved a bit with fertiliser and aeration – and ‘seed hay’, grown from a mix planted fresh every three years. He uses one recommended by British Seed Houses. His main hay supplier, neighbour and cousin Simon Caley, at West Newton, uses Nickerson’s. But the mixes are similar – some rye grasses, some timothy and, crucially, no clover, because it takes too long to die and dry.
“You tell me what you want it for and we supply the hay best suited,” he sums up. “If you are a regular customer, we try to make sure we have your needs in stock. And we deliver when you want it and how, down to taking it into the stable if that is where you want it. For all that, we can charge a little bit over the basic for any old hay.”
There are knock-on benefits from including grass in a crop rotation, he adds. For various reasons, it means less black-grass in a following wheat crop. One way and another, the returns from hay add up to similar to wheat, he reckons – “and it’s a lot more fulfilling and fun to sell direct to the end user”.
So far, they can handle all their business without artificial drying. But they do use an imported product called Baler’s Choice, a mould inhibitor, which means they can bale with a moisture content of up to 25 per cent, at a cost of up to 12 a tonne, when the weather dictates.
One of their baling machines has been retro-fitted with a tank for the fluid and the kit for measuring moisture content in the crop and injecting as appropriate.
The straw business is similar. Smithy Briggs buys it from all over, stores it and sells it.
Demand from the power stations, who are subsidised to burn it, has put a price on crop waste which used to be free to anyone willing to pick it up from ‘the swath’, incidentally.
All this brings us to the farm’s latest venture.
Six Valley Lamb is a partnership with Adam Palmer, an old mate from student days, based at Thixendale.
This visit was prompted by an announcement that Six Valley Lamb had appointed its own shepherd, Lizzie Jennings of Malton, who recently graduated from Bishop Burton College and will be familiar to Malton Mart regulars as a sales-day assistant. Adam Palmer already had 300 Mule ewes but was too busy with his high-end oil business – yorkshirerapeseedoil.co.uk – to do anything new with them. Peter Caley was interested in sharing them, because one of the keys to good hay is to get last year’s leftovers grazed down tight, and it is not always easy to borrow sheep in Holderness.
Between them, the two farmers have expanded the breeding flock to 550 and are currently window-shopping for sires.
But the most interesting thing about the collaboration, which means ferrying sheep 40 miles, is that the aim is to produce lambs fattened entirely on grass – started alongside their mothers on Wolds dalesides and finished on best East Yorkshire meadow.
If there is anything in those generalisms, Smithy Briggs Farm is a good example.
It is hard to know where to start explaining its interlocking interests, so the beginning will have to do.
Peter Caley’s great-grandad started his family’s tenancy of the 120-acre farm on the Burton Constable estate, near Skirlaugh, where Hull gives way to the flat and fertile lowlands known as Holderness.
When Peter was growing up there, the businesses were arable (wheat, oilseed rape, peas) plus bed-and-breakfast pigs living on the straw from the crops. Both are still important.
But 20 years ago his father, John, got a contract to supply hay to a riding stables. And that led to others.
When Peter returned home to work, after college and five years in consultancy, they needed a way of expanding without more land. And as everywhere, the horse business was booming faster than anything in farming.
Horse owners can generally afford to be fussier than farmers looking for livestock feed, especially when the horses are expensive ones. And they want fully ripened hay rather than silage and haylage, the half-wet products which have become the standard way of keeping grass for winter, thanks to plastic for wrapping it in.
Even for farm livestock, however, there are advantages to good old hay, says Peter.
“As soon as you unload it, you know exactly what you are getting.”
Silage/haylage has taken over a lot of the market because hay is trickier. Peter, now 32, and his dad, 52, have built up Smithy Briggs Hay & Straw by learning to get it right.
The farm is the business base but most of the products come from collaborations. Last year, Smithy Briggs brokered 600 acres of grass to about a hundred customers – some as haylage but most as good old-fashioned sweet hay – and 2,000 acres of straw.
You can get hay through the small ads for 50-100 a tonne. But hay is a loose definition.
Smithy Briggs prices vary according to size of order, delivery costs, etcetera, but Peter says they aim for 120-130 for a tonne leaving their gate in large bales. For that, he guarantees “good clean hay” – not certificated, but free of mould, as free of dust as it can be and your money back if not satisfied.
To meet a range of nutritional needs, from rabbits through stud bulls to polo ponies, he grows and buys both standard ‘meadow hay’, from permanent pasture – usually improved a bit with fertiliser and aeration – and ‘seed hay’, grown from a mix planted fresh every three years. He uses one recommended by British Seed Houses. His main hay supplier, neighbour and cousin Simon Caley, at West Newton, uses Nickerson’s. But the mixes are similar – some rye grasses, some timothy and, crucially, no clover, because it takes too long to die and dry.
“You tell me what you want it for and we supply the hay best suited,” he sums up. “If you are a regular customer, we try to make sure we have your needs in stock. And we deliver when you want it and how, down to taking it into the stable if that is where you want it. For all that, we can charge a little bit over the basic for any old hay.”
There are knock-on benefits from including grass in a crop rotation, he adds. For various reasons, it means less black-grass in a following wheat crop. One way and another, the returns from hay add up to similar to wheat, he reckons – “and it’s a lot more fulfilling and fun to sell direct to the end user”.
So far, they can handle all their business without artificial drying. But they do use an imported product called Baler’s Choice, a mould inhibitor, which means they can bale with a moisture content of up to 25 per cent, at a cost of up to 12 a tonne, when the weather dictates.
One of their baling machines has been retro-fitted with a tank for the fluid and the kit for measuring moisture content in the crop and injecting as appropriate.
The straw business is similar. Smithy Briggs buys it from all over, stores it and sells it.
Demand from the power stations, who are subsidised to burn it, has put a price on crop waste which used to be free to anyone willing to pick it up from ‘the swath’, incidentally.
All this brings us to the farm’s latest venture.
Six Valley Lamb is a partnership with Adam Palmer, an old mate from student days, based at Thixendale.
This visit was prompted by an announcement that Six Valley Lamb had appointed its own shepherd, Lizzie Jennings of Malton, who recently graduated from Bishop Burton College and will be familiar to Malton Mart regulars as a sales-day assistant. Adam Palmer already had 300 Mule ewes but was too busy with his high-end oil business – yorkshirerapeseedoil.co.uk – to do anything new with them. Peter Caley was interested in sharing them, because one of the keys to good hay is to get last year’s leftovers grazed down tight, and it is not always easy to borrow sheep in Holderness.
Between them, the two farmers have expanded the breeding flock to 550 and are currently window-shopping for sires.
But the most interesting thing about the collaboration, which means ferrying sheep 40 miles, is that the aim is to produce lambs fattened entirely on grass – started alongside their mothers on Wolds dalesides and finished on best East Yorkshire meadow.
2012年2月13日星期一
IAC plant plays key role in greening of 2013 Ford Escape
When Ford Motor Co. wanted to make the 2013 Ford Escape more eco-friendly, didn't it make perfect sense to turn to a plant in Greencastle, a city named Indiana's Green City of the Year three times?
Perhaps the city's track record had nothing to do with the local International Automotive Components plant producing the lightweight, eco-friendly door bolsters for the new Escapes.
In truth, Greencastle is IAC's best-equipped plant for the new project.
"Our Greencastle plant is equipped with the necessary machinery designed for handling natural material components," said IAC Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Dave Ladd. "Also, Greencastle is one of our high-volume door panel producers. So they have the equipment and the experience that made them the best choice for producing this particular product."
However, the plant's involvement in the project should certainly be exciting to the residents who have been a part of Greencastle's sustainability initiatives in recent years.
Kenaf, a tropical plant related to cotton and okra plants, is being used to replace oil-based materials in the doors of the new Escape. The use of kenaf in the door bolsters should reduce the use of petroleum in two ways.
On the manufacturing end, it is anticipated to offset the use 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin annually in North America.
"Oil-based resins, for many reasons, are something we like to reduce," Ladd said. "We want to be less dependent on oil. Oil is not good for the environment. Natural materials are made from renewable resources, unlike oil. Kenaf and many of the others we are using in the auto industry do not compete with food sources, so that's not an issue."
Kenaf also reduces the weight of the bolsters by 25 percent, which in turn improves fuel economy.
"Right now lightweight is one of the biggest buzzwords in the auto industry because lightweight equals fuel efficiency. Anything we can do in any component of the vehicle to reduce weight is a big, big plus," Ladd said.
The other important element of kenaf is its strength. Because the bolster is part of the door, it must withstand stringent federal guidelines for side-impact crashes. At the end of a long process of testing several natural materials, IAC and Ford found kenaf to be the strongest material that also met their other guidelines.
"Kenaf was the one natural material that really fit the strength specifications that are required," Ladd said. "In federal requirements for side-impact crashes, the doors are a very important part."
One key to the economics of producing the door bolsters is they do not represent a major change for the production process at the Greencastle plant. The line that will produce the bolsters will function essentially the same way it has previously.
"Greencastle happens to be our one plant in North America that has injection-molding machinery that is specially equipped for natural materials. The previous materials they would have used in this machinery was wood stock," Ladd said.
He added that building an entirely new line would have made the project cost-prohibitive.
"The machinery we have there is specially modified for handling and heating natural materials so they are molded correctly," Ladd said. "Otherwise, the process is pretty much the same."
The new Escape, which will be available to customers this spring, features several eco-friendly components in addition to the kenaf inside the doors.
Materials that are recycled, renewable and that reduce impact on the environment include soy foam in the seats and head restraints; plastic bottles and other post-consumer and post-industrial materials in the carpeting; climate control gaskets made from recycled tires; and more than 10 pounds of scrap cotton from the making of denim jeans.
"Kenaf and the other renewable materials in the Escape have made the vehicle more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient," said Laura Sinclair, materials engineer for Escape.
Wide use of more environmentally friendly, recycled and recyclable materials complements the fuel economy of the Ford Escape, further boosting the vehicle's environmentally responsible credentials. The new Escape meets the USCAR Vehicle Recycling Partnership goal that 85 percent of the vehicle be recyclable.
Perhaps the city's track record had nothing to do with the local International Automotive Components plant producing the lightweight, eco-friendly door bolsters for the new Escapes.
In truth, Greencastle is IAC's best-equipped plant for the new project.
"Our Greencastle plant is equipped with the necessary machinery designed for handling natural material components," said IAC Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Dave Ladd. "Also, Greencastle is one of our high-volume door panel producers. So they have the equipment and the experience that made them the best choice for producing this particular product."
However, the plant's involvement in the project should certainly be exciting to the residents who have been a part of Greencastle's sustainability initiatives in recent years.
Kenaf, a tropical plant related to cotton and okra plants, is being used to replace oil-based materials in the doors of the new Escape. The use of kenaf in the door bolsters should reduce the use of petroleum in two ways.
On the manufacturing end, it is anticipated to offset the use 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin annually in North America.
"Oil-based resins, for many reasons, are something we like to reduce," Ladd said. "We want to be less dependent on oil. Oil is not good for the environment. Natural materials are made from renewable resources, unlike oil. Kenaf and many of the others we are using in the auto industry do not compete with food sources, so that's not an issue."
Kenaf also reduces the weight of the bolsters by 25 percent, which in turn improves fuel economy.
"Right now lightweight is one of the biggest buzzwords in the auto industry because lightweight equals fuel efficiency. Anything we can do in any component of the vehicle to reduce weight is a big, big plus," Ladd said.
The other important element of kenaf is its strength. Because the bolster is part of the door, it must withstand stringent federal guidelines for side-impact crashes. At the end of a long process of testing several natural materials, IAC and Ford found kenaf to be the strongest material that also met their other guidelines.
"Kenaf was the one natural material that really fit the strength specifications that are required," Ladd said. "In federal requirements for side-impact crashes, the doors are a very important part."
One key to the economics of producing the door bolsters is they do not represent a major change for the production process at the Greencastle plant. The line that will produce the bolsters will function essentially the same way it has previously.
"Greencastle happens to be our one plant in North America that has injection-molding machinery that is specially equipped for natural materials. The previous materials they would have used in this machinery was wood stock," Ladd said.
He added that building an entirely new line would have made the project cost-prohibitive.
"The machinery we have there is specially modified for handling and heating natural materials so they are molded correctly," Ladd said. "Otherwise, the process is pretty much the same."
The new Escape, which will be available to customers this spring, features several eco-friendly components in addition to the kenaf inside the doors.
Materials that are recycled, renewable and that reduce impact on the environment include soy foam in the seats and head restraints; plastic bottles and other post-consumer and post-industrial materials in the carpeting; climate control gaskets made from recycled tires; and more than 10 pounds of scrap cotton from the making of denim jeans.
"Kenaf and the other renewable materials in the Escape have made the vehicle more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient," said Laura Sinclair, materials engineer for Escape.
Wide use of more environmentally friendly, recycled and recyclable materials complements the fuel economy of the Ford Escape, further boosting the vehicle's environmentally responsible credentials. The new Escape meets the USCAR Vehicle Recycling Partnership goal that 85 percent of the vehicle be recyclable.
2012年2月12日星期日
Gear Up Two Bike Vertical Storage System
Gear Up's Two Bike Vertical Storage does exactly what it says and does it very well too at a reasonable asking price. You can use it in the house or, so long as you've installed a gamekeeper type wall-anchor for security purposes, it's also great for garages and similar brick outbuildings. That said; the freestanding/pressure-fit beam type of bike stores might be better for rented properties since some landlords take exception to walls being drilled.
What we have here is a sturdy MIG welded twin hook design complete with wheel guides that hold bikes securely and out of scratching distance. A removable wire mesh basket gobbles lids, gloves, pumps and other accessories that otherwise might go untamed and lead to domestic clutter and strife. Build quality is generally very good - the welding's a little workmanlike in places but easily up to the 100lb payload. Powder coating is also better than I've come to expect from mass produced units too, although our test sample had a superficial chip-easily retouched using hobby enamels but the zinc chromate primer should prevent the mild steel succumbing to the amber mould in any case.
Installation is pretty straightforward unless you happen to be cycling's answer to Frank Spencer-you'll want a set of rawl plugs and an indelible marker handy though since these aren't included in the pack. Make sure there's no pipe work or electrical trunking lurking behind your chosen spot before whipping the pen from behind your ear and marking its intended destination. Start humming subversive Specials' classics; check everything's aligned with a spirit level and drill away.
In practice, the OEM screws adhere well to heavy-duty plasterboard but I'd be inclined to go aftermarket for heavier duty brick screws rather than risk potentially expensive damage and tears before bedtime should one fail and a prized Colnago clatter to the floor. The plastic coated hooks are a marked improvement over the ubiquitous DIY sort and the wheel guides keep bikes from colliding supporting most sizes of road and mountain bike tyre securely although those beyond 1.95 can prove a tight squeeze.
What we have here is a sturdy MIG welded twin hook design complete with wheel guides that hold bikes securely and out of scratching distance. A removable wire mesh basket gobbles lids, gloves, pumps and other accessories that otherwise might go untamed and lead to domestic clutter and strife. Build quality is generally very good - the welding's a little workmanlike in places but easily up to the 100lb payload. Powder coating is also better than I've come to expect from mass produced units too, although our test sample had a superficial chip-easily retouched using hobby enamels but the zinc chromate primer should prevent the mild steel succumbing to the amber mould in any case.
Installation is pretty straightforward unless you happen to be cycling's answer to Frank Spencer-you'll want a set of rawl plugs and an indelible marker handy though since these aren't included in the pack. Make sure there's no pipe work or electrical trunking lurking behind your chosen spot before whipping the pen from behind your ear and marking its intended destination. Start humming subversive Specials' classics; check everything's aligned with a spirit level and drill away.
In practice, the OEM screws adhere well to heavy-duty plasterboard but I'd be inclined to go aftermarket for heavier duty brick screws rather than risk potentially expensive damage and tears before bedtime should one fail and a prized Colnago clatter to the floor. The plastic coated hooks are a marked improvement over the ubiquitous DIY sort and the wheel guides keep bikes from colliding supporting most sizes of road and mountain bike tyre securely although those beyond 1.95 can prove a tight squeeze.
2012年2月9日星期四
India’s chronic water shortages mean growth for rotomoulders
India’s persistent water shortages could mean rapid growth for its rotational moulding industry, with one new study saying spending on new water-related projects will help the industry shrug off the worldwide economic slowdown and grow 12% a year over the next five years.
The study, from Indian resin maker Reliance Industries, suggests that the population growth in the world’s second-most populous country will continue to stress its water supplies, putting it close to critical levels of water scarcity by 2025.
While that’s a huge societal challenge, rotomoulding executives from India and around the world meeting at a recent conference in New Delhi looked at the business opportunities it presents.
“We believe underground water storage could provide the next big breakthrough, and this could be the catalyst for the next phase of growth for this industry,” said Puneet Madan, business head of polyethylenes for Reliance, who delivered the study. “Water storage will provide significant demand for this industry because of the needs in India.”
India’s rotomoulding industry is currently the world’s second-largest, after the US, Reliance estimates.
It grew more than 10% a year between 2006 and 2011, driven by rising consumer demand, although 2011 saw a marked drop to about 3% growth amid problems in both the world economy and India’s real estate market, Madan said.
But Reliance and other industry executives at the Society of Asian Rotomoulders conference, held 29-31 January in New Delhi, said they believe the underlying demand from India’s development will continue to push rapid growth and any slowdown will be short-lived.
Reliance, citing figures from Houston-based consulting firm Chemical Market Associates Inc., said India’s rotomoulding sector is projected to grow from 260 million pounds of plastic consumption last year to 474 million pounds in 2016.
Indian rotomoulders added 88 million pounds of capacity in both 2010 and 2011, in anticipation of growth in consumption, Reliance said.
The United States, by comparison, will grow much more slowly, from 653 million pounds to 697 million pounds of consumption in the same period, after being flat from 2006 to 2011. And the third-largest market, China, will grow from 243 million pounds to 403 million pounds between 2011 and 2016.
Statistics make the scope of India’s water crisis clear. Reliance said the country had more than 528,000 gallons of water available per person annually in 1991, but by 2001 that had dipped to just below that number and reached the “water stress line.”
By 2025, water availability will fall to about 343,000 gallons per person, close to the more severe “water scarcity level” of about 291,000 gallons a person.
By 2050, when India’s population hits a projected 1.66 billion from its current 1.22 billion, it will officially reach “water scarcity,” Reliance said. In 1951, by comparison, India had more than 1.3 million gallons of water available annually per person.
“What can we all do given this statistic that is staring us in the face,” Madan asked the conference attendees.
In an interview after his speech, he said many Indian homes only have running water part of the day, so they buy rotomoulded tanks to collect water and store it for use later.
Indian rotomoulders have historically specialized in above-ground tanks for that market, and that application still accounts for about 70% of their production, much higher than in many other countries.
But the industry is looking to modernize and move away from those tanks, which are relatively simple to manufacture, and diversify into other more complicated products like underground tanks and new markets like automotive and agriculture.
To do that, the biggest challenge they face is technology, some participants said.
“The rotomoulders need to upgrade themselves to the latest technology, processes and systems,” said Venkit Mahadevan, Mumbai-based national sales manager for American materials supplier A. Schulman Plastics India and its Ico Polymers division.
Mukesh Ambani, president of the Society of Asian Rotomoulders in New Delhi and managing director of Mumbai-based rotomoulder Infra Industries, said there is significant interest from foreign rotomoulders to invest in India’s sector. There are opportunities for both sides, with Indian firms needing technology, he said.
One new partnership was announced at the conference. Italian mould maker Roto Moulds srl announced a technology transfer and sales partnership with mould maker and machinery manufacturer M. Plast (India).
One of the reasons for the tie-up, M. Plast executives said, was because the Italian firm had a lot of experience in the underground water storage tank market.
The study, from Indian resin maker Reliance Industries, suggests that the population growth in the world’s second-most populous country will continue to stress its water supplies, putting it close to critical levels of water scarcity by 2025.
While that’s a huge societal challenge, rotomoulding executives from India and around the world meeting at a recent conference in New Delhi looked at the business opportunities it presents.
“We believe underground water storage could provide the next big breakthrough, and this could be the catalyst for the next phase of growth for this industry,” said Puneet Madan, business head of polyethylenes for Reliance, who delivered the study. “Water storage will provide significant demand for this industry because of the needs in India.”
India’s rotomoulding industry is currently the world’s second-largest, after the US, Reliance estimates.
It grew more than 10% a year between 2006 and 2011, driven by rising consumer demand, although 2011 saw a marked drop to about 3% growth amid problems in both the world economy and India’s real estate market, Madan said.
But Reliance and other industry executives at the Society of Asian Rotomoulders conference, held 29-31 January in New Delhi, said they believe the underlying demand from India’s development will continue to push rapid growth and any slowdown will be short-lived.
Reliance, citing figures from Houston-based consulting firm Chemical Market Associates Inc., said India’s rotomoulding sector is projected to grow from 260 million pounds of plastic consumption last year to 474 million pounds in 2016.
Indian rotomoulders added 88 million pounds of capacity in both 2010 and 2011, in anticipation of growth in consumption, Reliance said.
The United States, by comparison, will grow much more slowly, from 653 million pounds to 697 million pounds of consumption in the same period, after being flat from 2006 to 2011. And the third-largest market, China, will grow from 243 million pounds to 403 million pounds between 2011 and 2016.
Statistics make the scope of India’s water crisis clear. Reliance said the country had more than 528,000 gallons of water available per person annually in 1991, but by 2001 that had dipped to just below that number and reached the “water stress line.”
By 2025, water availability will fall to about 343,000 gallons per person, close to the more severe “water scarcity level” of about 291,000 gallons a person.
By 2050, when India’s population hits a projected 1.66 billion from its current 1.22 billion, it will officially reach “water scarcity,” Reliance said. In 1951, by comparison, India had more than 1.3 million gallons of water available annually per person.
“What can we all do given this statistic that is staring us in the face,” Madan asked the conference attendees.
In an interview after his speech, he said many Indian homes only have running water part of the day, so they buy rotomoulded tanks to collect water and store it for use later.
Indian rotomoulders have historically specialized in above-ground tanks for that market, and that application still accounts for about 70% of their production, much higher than in many other countries.
But the industry is looking to modernize and move away from those tanks, which are relatively simple to manufacture, and diversify into other more complicated products like underground tanks and new markets like automotive and agriculture.
To do that, the biggest challenge they face is technology, some participants said.
“The rotomoulders need to upgrade themselves to the latest technology, processes and systems,” said Venkit Mahadevan, Mumbai-based national sales manager for American materials supplier A. Schulman Plastics India and its Ico Polymers division.
Mukesh Ambani, president of the Society of Asian Rotomoulders in New Delhi and managing director of Mumbai-based rotomoulder Infra Industries, said there is significant interest from foreign rotomoulders to invest in India’s sector. There are opportunities for both sides, with Indian firms needing technology, he said.
One new partnership was announced at the conference. Italian mould maker Roto Moulds srl announced a technology transfer and sales partnership with mould maker and machinery manufacturer M. Plast (India).
One of the reasons for the tie-up, M. Plast executives said, was because the Italian firm had a lot of experience in the underground water storage tank market.
2012年2月8日星期三
fhw-moulds offers extrusion blow moulding with special air management
Extrusion mould specialist fhw-moulds GmbH of Bottrop/Germany presents a special solution for removing air from extrusion moulds and proves its innovative strength. This brand new, optimized product is perfectly adapted to blow moulders’ requirements for improved cycle times.
As the mould closes around the parison and is inflated and pressed to the cavity wall by air blown into it, air is trapped between the parison and the two mould halves. This trapped air must be removed. In order to expedite this venting process, conventional moulds are often equipped with vents at the parting line for expelling any trapped air, sometimes with the help of vacuum. The downside of this method is the fact that air can only be removed locally and the introduction of a vacuum leaves small marks on the finished part.
Specialist fhw-moulds has developed a new solution for this problem: the extrusion mould for a 20 litre jerry can is now vented in all four corners of the mould and vacuum can be used to increase the ventilation effect. The vent is cut across the entire height of the mould corner so as to eliminate the occurrence of marks on the finished part. This way, entrapped air can be removed quickly and effectively.
During extrusion blow moulding, cycle times are highly dependent on mould cooling times. The new mould design with corner venting allows significant cuts in cycle times. “Thanks to optimized cycle times, the additional costs for this special mould have a very short payback time,” Jean Ingenbrand, Managing Director of fhw-moulds points out. An additional benefit of this solution is that exchangeable corners can accommodate different designs of hollow plastic products, which translates into more versatility and cost-efficiency for blow moulders.
While corner vents ensure better air removal and shorter cycle times, they also accommodate different designs and more versatility for blow moulders
As the mould closes around the parison and is inflated and pressed to the cavity wall by air blown into it, air is trapped between the parison and the two mould halves. This trapped air must be removed. In order to expedite this venting process, conventional moulds are often equipped with vents at the parting line for expelling any trapped air, sometimes with the help of vacuum. The downside of this method is the fact that air can only be removed locally and the introduction of a vacuum leaves small marks on the finished part.
Specialist fhw-moulds has developed a new solution for this problem: the extrusion mould for a 20 litre jerry can is now vented in all four corners of the mould and vacuum can be used to increase the ventilation effect. The vent is cut across the entire height of the mould corner so as to eliminate the occurrence of marks on the finished part. This way, entrapped air can be removed quickly and effectively.
During extrusion blow moulding, cycle times are highly dependent on mould cooling times. The new mould design with corner venting allows significant cuts in cycle times. “Thanks to optimized cycle times, the additional costs for this special mould have a very short payback time,” Jean Ingenbrand, Managing Director of fhw-moulds points out. An additional benefit of this solution is that exchangeable corners can accommodate different designs of hollow plastic products, which translates into more versatility and cost-efficiency for blow moulders.
While corner vents ensure better air removal and shorter cycle times, they also accommodate different designs and more versatility for blow moulders
2012年2月7日星期二
Industrial Plastics Co. considering moving 140 jobs to Kentucky
Industrial Plastics Co. in Valley City is considering closing its plastic injection molding facility and moving about 140 jobs to Kentucky, a company official said Tuesday.
The company and the Workers United union began to meet Monday to discuss the possibility of a move. Industrial Plastics Co. is part of MTD, which makes lawn mowers and other equipment, including the Yard-Man brand.
Mark Milko, the area director for Workers United, said he will not comment about the discussions until both sides meet again, which is scheduled for later this week.
A move would not affect the roughly 500 jobs at the MTD headquarters and customer call center, also in Valley City, in Medina County, said Kristee Mahler, director of organizational development.
If the facility moves, she said, it would take place before the end of the year. The plan would be to shift the work to a company plant in Leitchfield, Kentucky. The Valley City facility would be sold.
"The existing facility in Leitchfield has excess capacity, which is one of the prime drivers in the movement of work there," Mahler said. "They have the available square footage to pretty much pick up what we have in this facility, and put it in there. And they still have room to grow."
Mahler said the company could save money by moving operations to Kentucky, where the company makes other product.
"We're consistently looking for opportunities to improve efficiencies to save costs and eliminate excess capacity and produce significant cost savings," she said.
The company and the Workers United union began to meet Monday to discuss the possibility of a move. Industrial Plastics Co. is part of MTD, which makes lawn mowers and other equipment, including the Yard-Man brand.
Mark Milko, the area director for Workers United, said he will not comment about the discussions until both sides meet again, which is scheduled for later this week.
A move would not affect the roughly 500 jobs at the MTD headquarters and customer call center, also in Valley City, in Medina County, said Kristee Mahler, director of organizational development.
If the facility moves, she said, it would take place before the end of the year. The plan would be to shift the work to a company plant in Leitchfield, Kentucky. The Valley City facility would be sold.
"The existing facility in Leitchfield has excess capacity, which is one of the prime drivers in the movement of work there," Mahler said. "They have the available square footage to pretty much pick up what we have in this facility, and put it in there. And they still have room to grow."
Mahler said the company could save money by moving operations to Kentucky, where the company makes other product.
"We're consistently looking for opportunities to improve efficiencies to save costs and eliminate excess capacity and produce significant cost savings," she said.
2012年2月6日星期一
Forteq counts on precision
Swiss company Forteq, with its headquarters in Nidau, designs, moulds and assembles precision plastic gear and transmission and mechatronic devices used in automotive, consumer electronics and healthcare industries.
Its expertise in precision moulding an asthma inhaler counter was explained by Dr Joachim Franke, Forteq Healthcare's managing director, at an open house event held in September at the Wiehe, Germany plant of Sumitomo Demag (SHI Demag).
In 2010, the inhaler accounted for around 80% of the production value in Nidau. The plant has 15 injection moulding machines (mainly SHI Demag machines) with 60-125 tonnes clamping forces, a 1,600m2 cleanroom, automatic assembly, printing machines and six Wittmann robotic systems.
Franke spoke in Wiehe about an aerosol asthmatic pressurised Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) counter, consisting of 14 parts - 10 of plastic and the rest metal springs. Numerical counter wheels and gears are moulded in POM, the housing in PP and the small viewing window in PMMA. Insys laser equipment writes numbers at 700 characters/min on the wheels, which are made in POM containing laser sensitive colour-change pigments.
Shot weight of the smallest plastic part is 0.73g, part weight 0.023g, requiring mould removal by Wittmann W721 and W723 linear robots with vacuum grippers.
Plastic part dimensions range from 3.5 x 3.55mm up to 22.35 x 16.75mm for the PP housing. Forteq moulds down to precision of 0.005mm, moulding small 0.5mm holes in some parts.
According to Franke, absolute precision calls for absolute process management in, for example, ejection control. Close tolerances ensure sufficiently low friction in the counter drive system, and an absolute fail-pass zero defect policy system is applied to ensure each "firing" is counted.
Forteq uses 32-cavity moulds with hot runners to ensure fastest possible cycle times for large production volumes of "millions per month", while keeping the number of moulding machines to a minimum. The machines are required to have fast parallel movements. There should also be "minimal use of expensive medical approval plastics and regranulate is not allowed", Franke observed.
As the machines are used in an ISO 7 cleanroom environment, they have to have low particle emissions and ease of maintenance, along with fast and easy changeover of tools and the 14mm screws.
Forteq carried out batch-to-batch variation studies using hydraulic, hybrid and all-electric drive machines from different companies. The machines used identical moulding parameters and the same 4-cavity hot runner trial mould.
When moulding a POM numerical wheel, hydraulic machines produced wheel thickness varying from 2.80mm to almost 2.90mm, while hybrid machines achieved 2.84mm to 2.87mm.
Repeatability tests on a production tool looked at drum wheel and ratchet pawl parts on hybrid and all-electric machines, using the same process settings and cavity. Results showed drum wheel diameter of 7.875-7.900mm using the hybrid drive and 7.91-7.92mm using the electric drive. Cycle time fell from 11.5s for the hybrid drive to 9.5s for the all-electric drive.
Tests were also done on a 22.35mm nominal diameter cap, which again showed less deviation with the electric drive, and with cycle time reduced from 11s to 10.2s.
The ratchet pawl inner diameter deviated from around 1.465mm to almost 1.51mm on hybrid machinery, compared with 1.485mm to just under 1.51mm with the electric drive, and cycle time fell from 7.6s to 6s. Process optimisation cut cycle time further to 4.2s, along with even closer dimensional tolerance .
Franke said: "Testing all part combinations is not economically justifiable, yet patient safety has to be ensured. Therefore, maintenance of tightest possible tolerances is absolutely essential."
Its expertise in precision moulding an asthma inhaler counter was explained by Dr Joachim Franke, Forteq Healthcare's managing director, at an open house event held in September at the Wiehe, Germany plant of Sumitomo Demag (SHI Demag).
In 2010, the inhaler accounted for around 80% of the production value in Nidau. The plant has 15 injection moulding machines (mainly SHI Demag machines) with 60-125 tonnes clamping forces, a 1,600m2 cleanroom, automatic assembly, printing machines and six Wittmann robotic systems.
Franke spoke in Wiehe about an aerosol asthmatic pressurised Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) counter, consisting of 14 parts - 10 of plastic and the rest metal springs. Numerical counter wheels and gears are moulded in POM, the housing in PP and the small viewing window in PMMA. Insys laser equipment writes numbers at 700 characters/min on the wheels, which are made in POM containing laser sensitive colour-change pigments.
Shot weight of the smallest plastic part is 0.73g, part weight 0.023g, requiring mould removal by Wittmann W721 and W723 linear robots with vacuum grippers.
Plastic part dimensions range from 3.5 x 3.55mm up to 22.35 x 16.75mm for the PP housing. Forteq moulds down to precision of 0.005mm, moulding small 0.5mm holes in some parts.
According to Franke, absolute precision calls for absolute process management in, for example, ejection control. Close tolerances ensure sufficiently low friction in the counter drive system, and an absolute fail-pass zero defect policy system is applied to ensure each "firing" is counted.
Forteq uses 32-cavity moulds with hot runners to ensure fastest possible cycle times for large production volumes of "millions per month", while keeping the number of moulding machines to a minimum. The machines are required to have fast parallel movements. There should also be "minimal use of expensive medical approval plastics and regranulate is not allowed", Franke observed.
As the machines are used in an ISO 7 cleanroom environment, they have to have low particle emissions and ease of maintenance, along with fast and easy changeover of tools and the 14mm screws.
Forteq carried out batch-to-batch variation studies using hydraulic, hybrid and all-electric drive machines from different companies. The machines used identical moulding parameters and the same 4-cavity hot runner trial mould.
When moulding a POM numerical wheel, hydraulic machines produced wheel thickness varying from 2.80mm to almost 2.90mm, while hybrid machines achieved 2.84mm to 2.87mm.
Repeatability tests on a production tool looked at drum wheel and ratchet pawl parts on hybrid and all-electric machines, using the same process settings and cavity. Results showed drum wheel diameter of 7.875-7.900mm using the hybrid drive and 7.91-7.92mm using the electric drive. Cycle time fell from 11.5s for the hybrid drive to 9.5s for the all-electric drive.
Tests were also done on a 22.35mm nominal diameter cap, which again showed less deviation with the electric drive, and with cycle time reduced from 11s to 10.2s.
The ratchet pawl inner diameter deviated from around 1.465mm to almost 1.51mm on hybrid machinery, compared with 1.485mm to just under 1.51mm with the electric drive, and cycle time fell from 7.6s to 6s. Process optimisation cut cycle time further to 4.2s, along with even closer dimensional tolerance .
Franke said: "Testing all part combinations is not economically justifiable, yet patient safety has to be ensured. Therefore, maintenance of tightest possible tolerances is absolutely essential."
2012年2月5日星期日
Autism: a puzzling disorder
LOS ANGELES When autism researchers arrived at Norristown State Hospital near Philadelphia a few years ago, they found a 63-year-old man who rambled on about Elvis Presley, compulsively rocked in his chair and patted the corridor walls.
Ben Perrick, a resident of the psychiatric institution for most of his life, displayed what the University of Pennsylvania researchers considered classic symptoms of autism. His chart, however, said he was schizophrenic and mentally retarded.
Delving into the file, the researchers learned that as a 10-year-old, Perrick had seen Dr. Leo Kanner, the psychiatrist who discovered autism. In his notes from 1954, Kanner described Perrick as “a child who is self centered, withdrawn, and unable to relate to other people,” and recommended that he be committed.
Later, other doctors relabelled Perrick. The autism diagnosis was forgotten.
The researchers found 13 other patients with unrecognized autism in the Norristown hospital — about 10 per cent of the residents they evaluated. It was a sign of how medical standards and social attitudes toward the disorder have shifted.
Over the last two decades, estimates of the autism rate in children in the U.S. and Canada have climbed twentyfold. Many scientists believe the increase has been driven largely by an expanded definition of the disorder and more vigorous efforts to identify it.
Scientists are just beginning to find cases that were overlooked or called something else in an earlier era. If their research shows that autism has always been present at roughly the same rate as today, it could ease worries that an epidemic is on the loose.
By looking into the past, scientists also hope to deepen their understanding of how autism unfolds over a lifetime.
What happened to all the people who never got diagnosed? Where are they?
Like Perrick, who died in 2009, some spent their lives in institutions. Mental hospitals have largely been emptied over the last four decades, but the remaining population in the U.S. probably includes about 5,000 people with undiagnosed autism, said David Mandell, a psychiatric epidemiologist who led the Norristown study.
Many more are thought to be in prisons, homeless shelters and wherever else social misfits are clustered.
But evidence suggests the vast majority are not segregated from society — they are hiding in plain sight. Most probably never will be identified, but a picture of their lives is starting to emerge from those who have been.
They live in households, sometimes alone, sometimes with the support of their parents, sometimes even with spouses. Many were bullied as children and still struggle to connect with others. Some were able to find jobs that fit their strengths and partners who understand them.
If modern estimates of autism rates apply to past generations, about two million U.S. adults and more than 220,000 adult Canadians have various forms of it — and society has long absorbed the emotional and financial toll, mostly without realizing it.
Stats the same for adultsThe search for the missing millions is just beginning.
The only study to look for autistic adults in a national population was conducted in Britain and published in 2009. Investigators interviewed 7,461 adults selected as a representative sample of the country and conducted 618 intensive evaluations.
The conclusion: one per cent of people living in British households had some form of autism, roughly the same rate the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates for children in America today.
The British study found it didn’t matter whether the adults were in their 20s or their 80s. The rate of autism was the same for both groups.
“That would seem to imply the incidence has not changed very much,” said Dr. Terry Brugha, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Leicester who led the study. He added the findings were not conclusive and more research is needed.
None of the adults included in the study had an existing diagnosis of autism, though in a few instances relatives told researchers they had suspected it.
In one case, a man said he had asked his doctor about the possibility but was told that a diagnosis in middle age would be useless. After all, he had got this far without it.
Still, as more children are being diagnosed with autism, more adults are wondering if they have it, too.
Karl Wittig, a retired engineer from New York, had always questioned why so few social skills came naturally to him.
A diary his mother kept in the 1950s suggests he was not an ordinary child. “This last few weeks, he doesn’t pile the blocks any more,” she wrote when he was two. “He likes to put one next to the other, making a big row of 48.”
Two years later, he talked non-stop about wires, switches, light bulbs and Thomas Edison.
Wittig went on to earn undergraduate and master’s degrees from Cornell University and New York University in physics, electrical engineering and computer science. In the research laboratories where he worked, he felt he fit in.
“I went into a field full of eccentric people,” Witting recalled. “I was just another eccentric person.”
Wittig said he eventually figured out how to behave in social situations — to refrain from correcting other people’s mistakes, flaunting his math abilities or rambling on about his own interests. He married a former nun 18 years his senior. She died of cancer after two decades together. Wittig described the marriage as happy.
Ben Perrick, a resident of the psychiatric institution for most of his life, displayed what the University of Pennsylvania researchers considered classic symptoms of autism. His chart, however, said he was schizophrenic and mentally retarded.
Delving into the file, the researchers learned that as a 10-year-old, Perrick had seen Dr. Leo Kanner, the psychiatrist who discovered autism. In his notes from 1954, Kanner described Perrick as “a child who is self centered, withdrawn, and unable to relate to other people,” and recommended that he be committed.
Later, other doctors relabelled Perrick. The autism diagnosis was forgotten.
The researchers found 13 other patients with unrecognized autism in the Norristown hospital — about 10 per cent of the residents they evaluated. It was a sign of how medical standards and social attitudes toward the disorder have shifted.
Over the last two decades, estimates of the autism rate in children in the U.S. and Canada have climbed twentyfold. Many scientists believe the increase has been driven largely by an expanded definition of the disorder and more vigorous efforts to identify it.
Scientists are just beginning to find cases that were overlooked or called something else in an earlier era. If their research shows that autism has always been present at roughly the same rate as today, it could ease worries that an epidemic is on the loose.
By looking into the past, scientists also hope to deepen their understanding of how autism unfolds over a lifetime.
What happened to all the people who never got diagnosed? Where are they?
Like Perrick, who died in 2009, some spent their lives in institutions. Mental hospitals have largely been emptied over the last four decades, but the remaining population in the U.S. probably includes about 5,000 people with undiagnosed autism, said David Mandell, a psychiatric epidemiologist who led the Norristown study.
Many more are thought to be in prisons, homeless shelters and wherever else social misfits are clustered.
But evidence suggests the vast majority are not segregated from society — they are hiding in plain sight. Most probably never will be identified, but a picture of their lives is starting to emerge from those who have been.
They live in households, sometimes alone, sometimes with the support of their parents, sometimes even with spouses. Many were bullied as children and still struggle to connect with others. Some were able to find jobs that fit their strengths and partners who understand them.
If modern estimates of autism rates apply to past generations, about two million U.S. adults and more than 220,000 adult Canadians have various forms of it — and society has long absorbed the emotional and financial toll, mostly without realizing it.
Stats the same for adultsThe search for the missing millions is just beginning.
The only study to look for autistic adults in a national population was conducted in Britain and published in 2009. Investigators interviewed 7,461 adults selected as a representative sample of the country and conducted 618 intensive evaluations.
The conclusion: one per cent of people living in British households had some form of autism, roughly the same rate the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates for children in America today.
The British study found it didn’t matter whether the adults were in their 20s or their 80s. The rate of autism was the same for both groups.
“That would seem to imply the incidence has not changed very much,” said Dr. Terry Brugha, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Leicester who led the study. He added the findings were not conclusive and more research is needed.
None of the adults included in the study had an existing diagnosis of autism, though in a few instances relatives told researchers they had suspected it.
In one case, a man said he had asked his doctor about the possibility but was told that a diagnosis in middle age would be useless. After all, he had got this far without it.
Still, as more children are being diagnosed with autism, more adults are wondering if they have it, too.
Karl Wittig, a retired engineer from New York, had always questioned why so few social skills came naturally to him.
A diary his mother kept in the 1950s suggests he was not an ordinary child. “This last few weeks, he doesn’t pile the blocks any more,” she wrote when he was two. “He likes to put one next to the other, making a big row of 48.”
Two years later, he talked non-stop about wires, switches, light bulbs and Thomas Edison.
Wittig went on to earn undergraduate and master’s degrees from Cornell University and New York University in physics, electrical engineering and computer science. In the research laboratories where he worked, he felt he fit in.
“I went into a field full of eccentric people,” Witting recalled. “I was just another eccentric person.”
Wittig said he eventually figured out how to behave in social situations — to refrain from correcting other people’s mistakes, flaunting his math abilities or rambling on about his own interests. He married a former nun 18 years his senior. She died of cancer after two decades together. Wittig described the marriage as happy.
2012年2月2日星期四
Weapons in cells: jailbreak bid for Moyo?
Was slippery awaiting-trial prisoner Bongani Moyo trying to escape again? This is the question the authorities are pondering after weapons were found in the Pretoria cells of some of his closest associates.
Moyo, who escaped from Boksburg Prison in 2010, is due to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with an escape from the capital’s magistrate’s court in August where he appeared on armed robbery charges.
At the time of the courthouse escape, Moyo was appearing with co-accused, Kumbulani Sibanda, Leon Ncube and Thabani Sibanda on 13 charges, including robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of unlicensed firearms.
It is alleged they were involved in more than 35 bank robberies.
He came into court on crutches and was not shackled. He was re-arrested in Hillbrow 18 days later.
While prison officials have denied Moyo was found with weapons, sources in New Lock Prison said Correctional Services reaction unit members found a homemade firearm and ammunition in his cell, along with a cellphone loaded with airtime.
The cells of Moyo, Sibanda and another awaiting-trial prisoner jail officials would only identify as Dube, were raided after a tip-off on Wednesday that the three were planning an escape.
Dube is awaiting trial for his alleged role in an armed robbery at a jewellery store in Montana.
The three are interned in New Lock Prison’s high security B-Section. They are seen as extremely dangerous and a high escape risk and are being held in single cells in a section of the prison known as “The Basement”.
In Wednesday’s raid, reaction unit members recovered surgical blades, hacksaw blades, a firearm made from plastic, a cell door key mould disguised as a cellphone and a half-complete plastic key.
Also found, Correctional Services sources said, were eight rounds of ammunition.
“These are the worst of the worst and now they have been found with this contraband. The only way they can get these items is (by) bribing warders,” said the source.
“It is a major security breach and from information obtained it is clear that they were planning an escape soon,” said the source.
Correctional Services spokes-man Phumlani Ximiya confirmed the finds, but denied any contraband had been found in Moyo’s cell.
“That is simply not correct. Your sources have it wrong,” he said.
Ximiya said the recoveries were made following a tip-off from other inmates to prison officials.
During the search prison officials recovered two surgical blades, two hacksaw blades, a key mould made from a cellphone card, an incomplete cell door key made from plastic and a firearm made from plastic, he said.
Ximiya said authorities afe investigating how the items had ended up inside the cells. “Anyone, including warders, found to have contributed to this, will be dealt with severely internally and criminally.”
Moyo, who escaped from Boksburg Prison in 2010, is due to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday in connection with an escape from the capital’s magistrate’s court in August where he appeared on armed robbery charges.
At the time of the courthouse escape, Moyo was appearing with co-accused, Kumbulani Sibanda, Leon Ncube and Thabani Sibanda on 13 charges, including robbery with aggravating circumstances and possession of unlicensed firearms.
It is alleged they were involved in more than 35 bank robberies.
He came into court on crutches and was not shackled. He was re-arrested in Hillbrow 18 days later.
While prison officials have denied Moyo was found with weapons, sources in New Lock Prison said Correctional Services reaction unit members found a homemade firearm and ammunition in his cell, along with a cellphone loaded with airtime.
The cells of Moyo, Sibanda and another awaiting-trial prisoner jail officials would only identify as Dube, were raided after a tip-off on Wednesday that the three were planning an escape.
Dube is awaiting trial for his alleged role in an armed robbery at a jewellery store in Montana.
The three are interned in New Lock Prison’s high security B-Section. They are seen as extremely dangerous and a high escape risk and are being held in single cells in a section of the prison known as “The Basement”.
In Wednesday’s raid, reaction unit members recovered surgical blades, hacksaw blades, a firearm made from plastic, a cell door key mould disguised as a cellphone and a half-complete plastic key.
Also found, Correctional Services sources said, were eight rounds of ammunition.
“These are the worst of the worst and now they have been found with this contraband. The only way they can get these items is (by) bribing warders,” said the source.
“It is a major security breach and from information obtained it is clear that they were planning an escape soon,” said the source.
Correctional Services spokes-man Phumlani Ximiya confirmed the finds, but denied any contraband had been found in Moyo’s cell.
“That is simply not correct. Your sources have it wrong,” he said.
Ximiya said the recoveries were made following a tip-off from other inmates to prison officials.
During the search prison officials recovered two surgical blades, two hacksaw blades, a key mould made from a cellphone card, an incomplete cell door key made from plastic and a firearm made from plastic, he said.
Ximiya said authorities afe investigating how the items had ended up inside the cells. “Anyone, including warders, found to have contributed to this, will be dealt with severely internally and criminally.”
2012年2月1日星期三
Teklas uses PP in WIT production
The Turkish company Teklas Kaucuk, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011, has built up core activity in rubber media ducts, anti-vibration parts and windscreen wiper blades.
The company established a plant in Kardjali, Bulgaria, in 2006 and started to use water assist injection moulding technology at the plant at the end of 2009. That first WIT line consisted of a KraussMaffei KM 150-370 CX injection moulding machine and a PMEcube WIT module from PME Fluidtec.
The WIT line has been used to mould 3D cooling water ducts for an Opel 1.4 litre car, using tools from Hofmann Werkzeugbau. Opel originally foresaw a long and complex metal duct, but it finally decided on a plastic version in BASF's special Ultramid A3HG6 WIT grade of polyamide 66.
BASF said in November 2011 that Teklas has since supplied a large range of engine compartment cooling water, air and oil ducts made of the special Ultramid material to "almost all large European automobile manufacturers."
Teklas now has four KraussMaffei machines using WIT in Bulgaria and one at its headquarters in Bayrampas, near Istanbul. These are supplemented by eight Engel vertical machines, four each in Bulgaria and Turkey, that are used to overmould hoses, as well as three 3D blow moulding machines in Turkey.
Teklas uses the "melt pushback" version of the WIT process, while post-moulding robotic systems apply metal rings and TPE seals to the WIT ducts.
Looking at other technologies, Teklas told European Plastics News that a completely new development in 2011 was its use of a special Polyfort unreinforced polypropylene from Schulman. This material will this year be used for serial production of automotive drainpipes with integrated flexible bellow sections that facilitate assembly and allow for movement during driving.
European Plastics News spoke to Teklas' new business development and R&D director, Murat Bozkurtlu, and Schulman's innovation manager, Thilo Stier, on Schulman's stand at Fakuma 2011. Bozkurtlu said the new PP plastic duct made in the WIT process is a substitute for a rubber duct that Teklas was blow moulding for Opel.
At the time of the Fakuma meeting, Bozkurtlu said prototype tools had already been cut and he showed an example of a moulding produced on these tools (pictured above). The tools were made by the local Turkish mouldmaker Elvanlar Plastik, based in Gebze, within an eight-month development time. Teklas says it carried the full cost of the prototype tools.
While the example showed at Fakuma had one bellow section, Bozkurtlu said a two-bellow version has been designed for serial production by using hot runners. This first plastic version of the pipe belongs to the Opel "Delta" platform that includes the Astra car; there are around 1.5m Delta platform cars in worldwide production.
The two-bellow series production tool was ready at the end of January 2012 and another 12 tools will follow by the end of March for serial production of a number of PP ducts and other items, Bozkurtlu said last month.
"The established blow moulding solution makes no sense compared with the highly integrated PP plastic version" if you consider the blow moulded part's need for clips to be assembled onto the ducts, says Bozkurtlu. The integrated bellows on the WIT ducts replace O-rings applied to the blow moulded ducts, although Bozkurtlu says the injection moulded version also uses O-rings, but these are "just for sealing".
Stier points out that the special Polyfort PP material has sufficient melt strength to withstand not only the application of water in the WIT process to from a tubular structure, but also a second "blowing" application of water to form the integrated bellow sections. Teklas has applied for a patent for this special technique.
The company established a plant in Kardjali, Bulgaria, in 2006 and started to use water assist injection moulding technology at the plant at the end of 2009. That first WIT line consisted of a KraussMaffei KM 150-370 CX injection moulding machine and a PMEcube WIT module from PME Fluidtec.
The WIT line has been used to mould 3D cooling water ducts for an Opel 1.4 litre car, using tools from Hofmann Werkzeugbau. Opel originally foresaw a long and complex metal duct, but it finally decided on a plastic version in BASF's special Ultramid A3HG6 WIT grade of polyamide 66.
BASF said in November 2011 that Teklas has since supplied a large range of engine compartment cooling water, air and oil ducts made of the special Ultramid material to "almost all large European automobile manufacturers."
Teklas now has four KraussMaffei machines using WIT in Bulgaria and one at its headquarters in Bayrampas, near Istanbul. These are supplemented by eight Engel vertical machines, four each in Bulgaria and Turkey, that are used to overmould hoses, as well as three 3D blow moulding machines in Turkey.
Teklas uses the "melt pushback" version of the WIT process, while post-moulding robotic systems apply metal rings and TPE seals to the WIT ducts.
Looking at other technologies, Teklas told European Plastics News that a completely new development in 2011 was its use of a special Polyfort unreinforced polypropylene from Schulman. This material will this year be used for serial production of automotive drainpipes with integrated flexible bellow sections that facilitate assembly and allow for movement during driving.
European Plastics News spoke to Teklas' new business development and R&D director, Murat Bozkurtlu, and Schulman's innovation manager, Thilo Stier, on Schulman's stand at Fakuma 2011. Bozkurtlu said the new PP plastic duct made in the WIT process is a substitute for a rubber duct that Teklas was blow moulding for Opel.
At the time of the Fakuma meeting, Bozkurtlu said prototype tools had already been cut and he showed an example of a moulding produced on these tools (pictured above). The tools were made by the local Turkish mouldmaker Elvanlar Plastik, based in Gebze, within an eight-month development time. Teklas says it carried the full cost of the prototype tools.
While the example showed at Fakuma had one bellow section, Bozkurtlu said a two-bellow version has been designed for serial production by using hot runners. This first plastic version of the pipe belongs to the Opel "Delta" platform that includes the Astra car; there are around 1.5m Delta platform cars in worldwide production.
The two-bellow series production tool was ready at the end of January 2012 and another 12 tools will follow by the end of March for serial production of a number of PP ducts and other items, Bozkurtlu said last month.
"The established blow moulding solution makes no sense compared with the highly integrated PP plastic version" if you consider the blow moulded part's need for clips to be assembled onto the ducts, says Bozkurtlu. The integrated bellows on the WIT ducts replace O-rings applied to the blow moulded ducts, although Bozkurtlu says the injection moulded version also uses O-rings, but these are "just for sealing".
Stier points out that the special Polyfort PP material has sufficient melt strength to withstand not only the application of water in the WIT process to from a tubular structure, but also a second "blowing" application of water to form the integrated bellow sections. Teklas has applied for a patent for this special technique.
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