A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected].

Mallard Manufacturing Corp. has expanded its line of pallet separators, a safety component in many pallet flow rack systems.

Mallard said the pallet separator holds rear pallets back from the front pick-face pallet, relieving pallet forces (or back pressure) so that the front pallet can be easily extracted. Once the front pallet is removed, the pallet separator is released allowing a controlled forward advance of the rear pallets, the company said.

Pallet back pressure is approximately 6 percent of the combined weight of the rear pallets, according to Mallard.

Pallet separators differ in the type of release mechanism (i.e. foot-release, automatic, pneumatic) and are specified for the pallet flow lane depending on pallet weight and pitch, the company said.

Mallard offers six separator product options. Those options, according to the firm, are:

• Case-pick separator—Holds rear pallets back 4”-6” from the pick face, toot-operated release;

• Flex separator—Added safety for deeper lane, floor level, case-pick operations;

• Forklift separator—Automatic pallet release engages when forklift removes front pallet;

• Layer pick separator—Separates front pallet until all cases are selected and empty pallet removed;

• Ergo cell pneumatic separator—Isolate last pallet for boost to lift table or mobile cart via pneumatic controls;

• Dual pallet separator—Two separators strategically placed in deep-lane system for added safety; and

• Empty pallet return—Way to manage empty pallets and increase productivity.

Mallard Manufacturing has a six-page product brochure and product web pages available for additional information. Both include detailed product descriptions, specifications, photos and 3D illustrations for each of the seven pallet separator products, the company said.

For more information, go to http://mallardmfg.com.

Herbold Meckesheim USA, a subsidiary of Herbold Meckesheim, Germany, has introduced a new optional force feed mechanism for its line of HV plastcompactor densifiers used to agglomerate low bulk density material.

The agglomerate has a higher bulk density than the source material with improved flow characteristics, the company said. While traditional gravity feeding is appropriate in some cases, it is not ideal for materials such as carpet fiber, film or polystyrene.

The new force feeder mechanism uses an auger to convey material at a higher and more consistent feed rate to deliver increased throughput and reduced energy consumption, Herbold said.

Continuous material processing takes place between a rotating and a fixed compaction disc, Herbold claimed, and both discs are equipped with screw mounted, replaceable kneading rails. Pre-granulated material moves through the center of the fixed disc into the processing chamber where it is rapidly heated by two discs.

Three sizes of HV Plastcompactors are available offering throughputs as high as 2,600–3,000 lbs. per hour, the company said.

For more information, e-mail [email protected] or go to www.herboldusa.com.

Smithers-Rapra has released the “Practical Guide to Water Blown Cellular Polymers,” a presentation of all aspects of the technology required to produce water-blown cellular foams with different polymers to meet market demandsDue to growing global concerns with regard to air pollution, Smithers-Rapra said, research has led to the concept of using water as the sole blowing agent to create cellular foams as an alternative to traditional petroleum-based blowing agents (which contribute to air pollution). This strategy has created other possibilities of better and safer foams, and reduced costs are also considerable, Smithers-Rapra claimed.

Author Chris Defonseka, with more than 45 years of experience, examines water-blown cellular polymers, from their chemistry to formulation and process methodology to produce quality foams. Smithers-Rapra said this new phase of the polymer industry is presented in detail with regard to manufacture of standard foams as well as specialty foams.

Smithers-Rapra said this book provides theoretical and practical information as well as guidance for students, teachers, foam producers and entrepreneurs.

The book is priced at around $64. To order, go here.