News items May 2005

New versions available from stock Masterflex AG has developed a new electrically conductive PU cuff to extend the Combiflex product range. Similar in construction to Combiflex PU cuff V, the Combiflex PU cuff V-EL additionally offers electrical conductivity (< 104 Ohm) in conjunction with Master-PUR L and Master-PUR H hose types. The screw-on cuff is available in sizes from DN 32 to DN 100. Depending on tube wall thickness, this special cuff allows for a smooth connection between tube and cuff/hose and connections without cross-sectional reduction. It features easy installation, low temperature flexibility and impact resistance. The cuff has a high-tensile, abrasion-resistant design, is reusable and easily replaceable. Static electricity can be dissipated by properly earthing the wire helix via an earth cable. Masterflex AG has further extended its well-established Combiflex line. All black standard cuffs, flanges and threaded sockets of highly abrasion-resistant polyurethane are now also

granulating with optimised energy efficiency and pneumatic conveying with minimised attrition Price leadership is difficult to achieve in the western economies; therefore AMMAG focus on the fortification of its innovative strength on within its own 70 years of experiences and core-competencies in the fields of bulk materials handling and fluidised bed spraygranulation. Following this visionary approach, AMMAG is further extending its Technical Centre, already the most modern of its kind in Austria, and has developed a laboratory granulator for the testing of new processes in the fields of spray granulating, coating, agglomeration and for the development of new products in close cooperation with clients. The second expansion of the pilot plant regards the business field: pneumatic conveying systems: a 40 m test line for pneumatic dense phase conveying and one for leanphase conveying in vacuum and pressure mode have been installed. AMMAG provides its research-infrastructure and its plant engineering competence both to foodstuffs and chemical industry leaders

In a short period of time BTH has experienced fast growth as a reliable and versatile packaging manufacturer. Besides filling lines and palletisers, BTH is a manufacturer of stretchhood machines. The function of the stretchhood machine is to pack complete stacked pallets by pulling over a plastic cover. The Market In the market a growing request for this type of pallet packaging is noticeable. Many companies are impressed by the results of stretchhood machines. As well as high capacity and high reliability, the stretchhood machine ensures that the pallet load is waterproof and dustproof. Pallets of different sizes and heights can be processed easily. The investment in a stretchhood machine has shown itself to be financially viable with short capital return periods, proven against traditional methods such as reduced foil usage on a conventional stretch wrapper and negligible energy costs against a shrink hooding system. The Future BTH has further developed

Spiromatic launches the new generation of metering equipment for micro-ingredients January 2005, the Microcomp Q4 series was added to the existing range of Micromcomp dosing systems. The Q4 is very compact and consists in a standard 200 litre, round buffer hopper made from stainless steel and fitted with a dustproof bag dump cover cap. This buffer hopper can be connected to a centralized de-dusting unit. It is fitted with a swivelling flange. It also has a truly unique rotary extractor and a fixed dosing spiral. The combination of the rotary motion of the extractor and the spiral ensure that even the most difficult to dose small ingredients, such as (bread) improvers or pre-mixtures with no adhesion problems can, very quickly and precisely, be weighed out in a mobile hopper scale car, positioned directly underneath. The Q4 consists in modular sets of 4 buffer hoppers plus a dosing spiral and an extractor. These bunkers can be built contiguously. The ingredients are dosed via a precisely controlled, linear, rail shoe drive which shunts the weighing