Appliances

The EQ.7 fully automated coffee center from Siemens Electrogeräte GmbH relies on Hostaform polyacetal copolymer (POM) from Ticona Engineering Polymers (Kelsterbach, Germany) for several key mechanical components.

The appliance market suffered with the economic downturn and the collapse of the housing industry, particularly in new construction. But thanks to the “Cash for Appliances” program, the industry is seeing a bit of an uptick in sales lately.

A product called UltraChrome from Ampacet (Tarrytown, NY) is said to create visual excitement with a luxurious mirror-like finish that teases the traditional boundaries between polished aluminum, chrome, and plastic materials.

FRX Polymers Inc. (Chelmsford, MA) has started up a 50-ton DPP (DiPhenyl methyl phosphonate) plant and an application lab in support of its new family of inherently flame-retardant transparent polymers and oligomers. The DPP line currently runs on a 24/6 production schedule to produce what is a key raw material in the polymerization process of FRX's polyphosphonate polymers and oligomers.

A broad swath of 15 plastics industry suppliers participating in PlaticsToday's Executive Roundtable in Chicago last week agreed that the worst of the historic economic downturn is largely behind us. Their activity will bear that out. But they also cautioned that while the future is always (by definition) uncertain, the lessons of the immediate past can't be ignored by anyone who intends to stay in the game.

KraussMaffei has brought the production of its polyurethane metering system pumps in-house, using the opportunity to change their design as well. KM's EcoStar, RimStar Compact, RimStar Modular, and MiniDos series, as well as its hybrid machines, will all be fitted with KM metering pumps, according to the company, with production to start in April 2010. Initially the pumps will be rated for 16 to 40 liters/minute, with sizes to be added to the portfolio over the course of 2010.

A new high-clarity, high-gloss, non-stress-whitening olefin capstock material can be directly co-extruded onto polyethylene (PE), creating sheets with a painted plastics appearance for a cost-effective, decorative, and durable thermoformed product. A.

A mineral/glass-filled polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) with exceptional high-flow properties is targeting applications in the appliance, industrial, and electrical/electronics (E/E) sectors that need high temperature resistance in thin-wall designs.