Extrusion International 5-2019

18 Extrusion International 5/2019 INDUSTRY NEWS Shrink Sleeve Film When a die used by Innovia Shrinkfilms GmbH for making shrink sleeve film yielded product that was often out of toler- ance, the company switched to a die fromNordson Corporation that improved tolerances by 30%and reduced startup times. Innovia is a specialty filmmanufacturer and a division of CCL In- dustries Inc., theworld’s largest producer of labels. To supply the fast-growing shrink sleeve segment of the label market, Innovia produces transparent film that is subsequently printed on the inside surface, slipped over a container, and made to conform to the container surface by means of heat shrinking. On the cast film line in which the Nordson die has been installed, Innovia processes a polystyrene blend intomonoaxially-oriented film. The newdie is an EDI ® Autoflex™VI-RE H40 unit. Like the previ- ous die, the Autoflex die is an automatic one, using data from a computerized downstream gauging system to adjust the trans- verse thickness profile by making changes to the flexible upper lip of the die. “In comparisonwith our previous die, the EDI Autoflex die from Nordson produces more uniform film with 30% better toler- ances,” said Giuseppe Ronzoni, Innovia plant manager. “The automatic control of the flexible lip is faster and more accurate and startups are faster than before.” The flexible lip of an Autoflex die is made up of thermally-ac- tuated adjuster blocks that expand or contract to adjust the lip gap in areas of the film that are thicker or thinner than the New 500 Series Rubber/Silicone Extrusion Crosshead Guill Tool introduces the NEW 500 Series crosshead with MAGS gum space adjustment. The 500 Series is designed specifically for the flow characteristics and unique process- ing challenges of elastomeric compounds. One of the key features engineered by Guill on this new crosshead design is the mechanically assisted gum space (MAGS) adjustment system. This new method of gum space adjustment allows the operator to make an effortless adjustment from a sin- gle point using a common socket wrench. No more need to struggle with multiple nuts and bolts in order to adjust gum Nordson Polymer Processing Systems www.nordsonpolymerprocessing.com Innovia Shrinkfilms GmbH www.innoviafilms.com/applications/label-films/ shrink-sleeve/ Autoflex™ VI-RE die target dimension. “The upper lip of the Autoflex die is more flexible in that the adjustments to the lip gap take place more rapidly,” said PatrickMeinen, polymer dies productmanager for Nordson. Another critical factor for ensuring product quality is the length of the lip land – the lip surface just before the die exit. “The lip land can be made longer or shorter to optimize product thick- ness, flatness, and surface finish,” saidMeinen. “Besides having a stiff upper lip, the older die had a lip land that was too short. In our Autoflex die, we optimized the lip land to control the prod- uct profile andmanage die pressure.” At startups, the rapid gauge profile adjustment provided by the Autoflex systemreduces the timebefore saleableproduct is pro- duced. Also helping to shorten startups is the design of the flow channel, or manifold, inside the die. “The greater uniformity of the film produced with the EDI die reduces the potential for gauge bands on the product roll,” said Ronzoni. “This leads to less stretching of the final product and better printing results.” Packaging with shrink sleeves made from Innovia’s film space, which leads to faster adjustments. The visual indicator on the core tube allows the operator to see how far the gum space has been moved, making those adjustments much more accurate and repeatable. The hardware-free and patented cam lock design of the NEW 500 Series from Guill means no time is wasted unbolting and re-securing fasteners for disassembly and re-assembly. Only half of a rotation of the cam nut is required to loosen and automatically extract the deflector from the head body, which is another time saver. Also, with no undercuts on the