EuroWire July 2023

Technology News

Slim design diameter gauge heads with swivel concept

The Laser Series 2000/6000 includes vari ous laser-based gauge heads that contin uously measure contactless diameter and ovality of cables during extrusion. Sikora says that the advantages of the devices are their precision, availability and production-proven design, allowing users to benefit from reliability in production and quality end products. The slim measuring heads of the Laser Series 2000/6000 house the optical components in protected areas, so that process-related dust and dirt particles do not affect the measurement. In addition, the diffraction analysis, in which the diameter is determined from the diffraction fringe, detects unavoid able, gradually emerging contamination

The swivelling measuring head concept of the Laser Series 2000/6000

A swivelling design allows the measuring head to be easily moved out of the working area. The measuring heads are free of wear parts, retain their precision throughout the operating life and require no calibration or maintenance. Sikora AG www.sikora.net

and reports it before the measured values are affected. The smaller gauge heads of the Laser Series 2000 are equipped with multi-slot protection. The larger gauge heads, which cover a product diameter from 30mm (1.2"), as well as all three-axis gauge heads, are designed to be open at the bottom, so that neither water nor dirt can enter the gauge head.

Colouring PVC using masterbatch One of the characteristics of PVC is that it can be coloured with pigments or with masterbatch. The versatility of the poly mer, which is normally used in powder form, allows the use of pigments without any decanting issues during production. Pigments, on the other hand, transfer colour through simple contact, and since they must pass through a mixing process prior to extrusion, this means the elements used to mix and transport the material to the extruder require cleaning. According to Delta Tecnic, replacing pigments with masterbatch can achieve an 80 per cent reduction in clean-up time, speeding up the change from one colour to the next.

ment adjustment is carried out to ensure colour uniformity of the final parts. The adjustments made by the masterbatch compounder ensure that the final pro cessor has a product that provides colour uniformity between different production batches, while avoiding changes in the formulation (in terms of colour) during the preparation of any new batch. Masterbatch can also produce colours with enhanced weatherability – an important requirement for products such as coloured exterior rigid profiles, PVC films for coating windows, exposed PVC hoses and outdoor live electrical cables. Delta Tecnic https://deltatecnic.com

However, Delta Tecnic, a company that specialises in the production of masterbatch for the PVC industry, is highlighting the advantages of master- batch, and recommends its use over pigments to obtain optimal results. Masterbatch is a pigment concentrate encapsulated in the plastic matrix that offers good dispersion; colour is not transferred by contact – only during passage through the extruder.

When working with pigments, each pro duction batch can result in a slightly dif ferent tone. Due to this intrinsic property of pigments, the final colour obtained var ies slightly and can cause the colour of dif ferent production batches to not be iden tical. During the manufacture of colour masterbatch, however, the necessary pig

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July 2023