MATERIALS | TECHNOLOGY AUTOMOTIVE


Bioplastic boosts car door


handles Teijin has developed a formable gasoline-resist- ant film – made from its Planext bioplastic – for use on car door handles. The film was devel- oped using a special metal-evaporation technology supplied by a processing partner, says the company. It uses Planext SN4600, which is derived from isosorbide. As well as transparency, chemical resistance and surface hardness, it has extra capabilities such as gasoline resistance and UV resistance.


It is intended to be a


replacement for chrome plating, and has been used in this way by Honda Lock as a covering layer on a door handle for a smart entry system. “Optimised heat


resistance and film technology enable high formability for fashioning into complicated shapes,” says Teijin. “UV protection helps to shield the base material and prevent discoloration.” Smart entry systems enable doors to be locked and unlocked by simply touching the handle sensor – but this requires the material surrounding the sensor to be non-conductive. This is why conductive chrome plating was replaced by the conducting film layer. � www.teijin.co.jp


www.filmandsheet.com PET


Mono-material APET meat packaging boosts recycling


Krehalon and Dunbia have developed mono-material packaging for UK super- market Co-Op. The modified atmos-


phere packaging, for packaging minced beef, uses only amorphous PET. Ordinarily, this type of packaging uses a polyeth- ylene sealing layer – but the new design uses a special design of lidding film that removes the need for the extra layer. The film achieved a


strong fused seal to the mono-APET base – and makes the all-PET packag- ing easier to recyle. In addition, it could reduce pack weight – and there- fore costs – through


CONSTRUCTION Animal crossing is blown into place


Engineers from the Technical University of Vienna in Austria have built a bridge using a plastic air cushion to inflate it to its correct shape. The structure begins as a flat


PHOTO: BENJAMIN KROSOMER


sheet of concrete that has incisions cut into it. Then, an enormous plastic air cushion – positioned underneath the concrete – is inflated. Over the course of five hours, the flat sheet is transformed into a concrete dome. The ends of the dome are then cut away, to form a bridge. The bridge is used as a wildlife


crossing over the Koralm railway, which is currently being built. � www.tuwien.ac.at


March 2018 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 53


downgauging “Sealing to a mono APET


layer, unsupported by a PE sealant layer, was a challeng- ing project as it required us to come up with a radical alternative to PE sealing mechanisms while maintain- ing strong hermetically sealed packs,” said Krehalon. The high barrier top film also includes anti-fog properties for optimum pack clarity and visual appeal. Dunbia used its existing manufacturing equipment – without modifications – to make the new packaging. It experienced no reduction in production output or machine efficiencies, it said. Future opportunities within this project include


the ability to fully sandwich print the top film to remove the need of labels (or other added surface decoration), offering further environmen- tal and cost benefits. When sealed to CPET, the film is approved for ‘direct to oven’ applications (200°C for two hours). “The Mono-APET project has been a great step forward in our ambition to make all of our packaging easy to recycle,” said Rob Thompson, packaging technologist at Co-Op. “By simplifying the plastic trays to just one polymer type, we have made Co-op branded packaging more attractive to recyclers.” � www.krehalon.com


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