Omachron Technologies, a Canadian company, began selling its first extruders, which can be used to make pipe, profiles and tubing, at the beginning of the year.
“We just introduced them commercially into the marketplace in January of this year,” said Wayne Conrad, chief scientist for Omachron Science. “We have just taken our first orders for some. They are brand-new.”
Omachron has made what the company calls major breakthroughs in the small-scale manufacturing of plastics, which minimize the capital, space and power requirements for taking ideas and prototypes to production.
The new Omachron extruders are a fraction of the size and cost of conventional machines and use only a fraction of the energy of those machines, Conrad said. The extruders are smaller than an office desk and use an amount of power similar to a household stove.
The extruders are only 5 percent to 25 percent the size of traditional machines, require 75 percent to 95 percent less power and use tooling that costs 25 percent to 75 percent less than conventional tooling, Conrad said.
The machines are applicable for companies ranging from small startups to those manufacturing commercially meaningful volumes, the company said.
Manufacturers of large parts might use the machines to produce a few dozen parts; the machines also can produce moderate to large quantities of parts.
The extruders also can use 100 percent recycled plastic to make many types of new products, enabling the cost-effective recycling of plastics and transforming waste into a resource.
“Since we can run on 100 percent recycled plastic in a wide range of plastics — HDPE, PVC, ABS — it means we really end up with zero scrap, which I think is an important feature,” Conrad said.
The extruders employ a unique screw and barrel design that allows for energy savings and better mixing of materials, Conrad said.
In addition to Omachron’s extruders being compact, they are modular so no single part weighs more than 80 pounds.
“Everything is maintainable very quickly,” Conrad said. “We can set up a machine and get it up and running in about 20 minutes to get a stable product. Most people need several hours.
“A lot of machines, like a 500-pound-an-hour machine, normally you would need a small overhead crane or forklift to lift parts in and out to do maintenance, whereas all of ours can be accomplished with one to two people safely.”
Omachron offers four models with nominal barrel diameters of either 1 inch or 1.25 inches. Models 15, 40 and 100 are single-screw models; the largest model, Model 100x4, features four screws.
Maximum outputs range from 15 pounds per hour for Model 15, which has a 2-horsepower (hp) motor, to 500 pounds per hour for Model 100x4, which has a 20-hp motor.
The extruders can run on either single- or three-phase power. Most extruders require three-phase power.
“Ours, right now, out of the box, can run single- or three-phase,” Conrad said. “That means it is good for somebody to start a small startup in their garage or barn or workshop.”
Omachron plans to soon carry two of the machines —Model 40 and Model 100 — as stock items ready for immediate delivery.
Omachron also has been developing injection molding machines that encompass similar space- and energy-saving technologies. The injection molding machines also are available commercially, but they are being built on a custom basis. Omachron plans to make some available as stock items beginning in the second quarter of next year.
Bruce Geiselman, senior staff reporter
Contact:
Omachron Technologies Inc. Pontypool, Ontario, 833-725-6257,
https://omachron.com
About the Author
Bruce Geiselman
Senior Staff Reporter Bruce Geiselman covers extrusion, blow molding, additive manufacturing, automation and end markets including automotive and packaging. He also writes features, including In Other Words and Problem Solved, for Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing, Plastics Recycling and The Journal of Blow Molding. He has extensive experience in daily and magazine journalism.