Inoutic, based in Bogen / Bavaria, a German subsidiary of the Belgian Deceuninck group, has just ordered a coextrusion solution from its long-standing machine supplier battenfeld-cincinnati. Within only one year, the profile manufacturer has decided for the third time to upgrade and extend an existing mono extrusion line and to transform it into a coextrusion line, for optimal response to current market demand.
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| Window profile model Prestige with Ecopowercore from Inoutic (Photo: © Inoutic) |
Inoutic ranks among the leading European manufacturers of energy-efficient profile systems for windows, doors and roller blinds. Its product portfolio also includes terrace systems as well as facade and roof claddings made of Twinson wood-plastic composite and PVC. Since sustainable management of existing resources is a top priority for the company, the profiles it produces are not only recyclable, but also to an increasing extent made of recycled PVC in the first place. Coextruded profiles offer the ideal option to combine a modern, impeccable surface with a core made of regrind, thus creating a sustainable product.
For several years now, the Bogen-based company has been relying on profile extrusion lines from the German-Austrian machine manufacturer battenfeld-cincinnati. These are mono extrusion lines equipped with sturdy parallel twin screw extruders. To include coextruded products to the portfolio, three of the existing extrusion lines have now each been extended by adding a 63 mm coextruder from the conEX series. The geometries of the screws inside the existing mono extrusion lines were also optimized for coextrusion by adjusting them to the required lower output rates.
After the first extension was already installed at the beginning, and the second in the middle of this year, delivery of the third, identical model is planned for the end of the year. Norbert Prokopec, Manager Operations Central Europe, is very satisfied with the upgrade: "Only by a joint effort can unconventional ideas lead to positive results." This is his way of expressing special praise for the successful open cooperation with the machine manufacturer, with whose help it was possible to achieve optimal utilization of the existing machinery and spatial capacities.
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| The co-extrusion lines with the new co-extruders in piggyback configuration at the Inoutic plant in Bogen (Photo: © Inoutic) |
To take account of the limited space available, the coextruders were placed in piggyback configuration on the main extruders. The coextruders are fastened to the floor with linear guides so that they can be moved easily forwards and backwards. This gives the processor maximum flexibility and facilitates cleaning and maintenance work on the main extruder. All screws, both the new ones for the main extruders and those for the conical coextruders, not only come with the molybdenum coating on the screw flights, which has been tried and tested for many years, but with additional BC coating, which provides a unique level of anti-wear protection. Especially in processing PVC regrind or abrasive materials such as wood-plastic composites, this ensures high uptime rates and consequently cost-efficient profile extrusion.
