Upgrade your testing and color matching capability

What are the necessary qualities of a credit card? It must not be easily damaged or bent, and surface laminates must not peel away. One ink manufacturer involved in credit card printing is now testing credit cards with a novel peel attachment and the LRXPlus universal testing machine from Lloyd Instruments.

The “credit card peel” fixtures are designed specifically to test the delamination strength of individual layers that make up credit cards, either on the production line or in the laboratory.

The fixtures allow users to conduct peel strength tests at both 90 degree and 180 degree angles.

With other jigs, flexural tests on both the horizontal and vertical axis of the card are also possible.

Ametek Test & Calibration Instruments 727-536-7831

A DOUBLE BARREL capillary rheometer that opens a whole new range of testing options is now available from CEAST USA. The company notes that twin barrels allow users to increase the scope of preliminary investigations by running two sets of parameters on one material.

Also, the twin barrel approach solves an old problem and facilitates more in-depth analytical possibilities. Polyolefins may exhibit certain flow phenomena when flowing through ducts which abruptly change in diameter. The Bagley correction has long been used to resolve this issue, but it requires at least two tests to be run. This can now be done with one run on the Rheologic 5000 Twin.

CEAST has also developed additional analytical software options. Once the Bagley correction has been determined, for example, it is possible to evaluate elongational viscosity, which has particular relevance to film production and blow molding.

CEAST USA Inc. 704-423-0042

A VERSATILE, INEXPENSIVE melt flow index tester from Benz helps to gauge the composition and consistency of plastics, rubber, lubricants and numerous other liquid substances.

“The MFI 2100 is a very inexpensive alternative to guesswork, allowing engineers, production managers, quality controllers and researchers, for less than US$4000, to verify materials used and to repeatedly confirm density and consistency of products,” says Ted Benz, president of Benz Materials Testing Instruments.

For example, the Benz MFI 2100 can measure the flow rate of molten recycled plastic, under prescribed temperature, time and pressure. The measurement identifies the material, and confirms the density.

Benz Materials Testing Instruments 410-331-5650

THE LOWEST-PRICED ACCURATE xenon testing tool on the market is Atlas’ Suntest, according to the company. The Suntest is an accurate tabletop instrument for screening new materials for lightfastness and weatherability.

The Suntest has a sophisticated reflector system that provides uniform irradiance on the sample plane to maximize the exposure area and a reflective mirror system that optimizes radiation output to shorten test times.

RB Atlas Inc. 800-474-8167

UPGRADE YOUR COLOR measurement system without fear of incompatibility with GretagMacbeth’s new Color i 5 spectrophotometer. This new instrument enables supply chain color management between legacy systems and current high-precision spectrophotometers.

“Until now, customers with older, yet perfectly working systems, were precluded from upgrading to newer instruments due to data incompatibility between existing instruments and newer technology,” explains Micke Beering, product marketing manager with GretagMacbeth.

“With the Color i 5, they can upgrade to newer technology ans still utilize their historical data, plus network instruments within their own organization or throughout their supply chain.”

Prism Instruments 888-717-7476

FOR TRANSPARENT PLASTIC PACKAGING materials, Folio offers the TEC-103 system to measure % transmission and color. The system is suitable for either laboratory or on-line conditions. It measures wavelength % transmission or % transmission based on ASTM. It can also measure color, based on common scales and illuminants.

Folio Instruments 800-683-6546

HUNTERLAB’S COLORQUEST XE-TOUCH spectrophotometer uses a touchscreen display that facilitates operation and saves bench space. Sample ID and data entry are accomplished using an alphanumeric keypad on the touchscreen. The instrument is a self-contained reflectance/transmittance spectrophotometer that can also measure APHA, yellowness index, whiteness index and transmission haze.

Lysack Sales 416-620-9796

SUPERIOR INTER-INSTRUMENT AGREEMENT and user-friendly programming are two benefits of X-Rite’s SP64 portable sphere spectrophotometer. The unit can operate in either Job or Project mode. Job mode uses a programmed sequence of steps to assist the operator with the color measurement process. In Project mode, multiple color standards can also be collected under an identified Project to support corporate color standards programs.

X-Rite Inc. 616-534-7663

LCR 7000 SERIES CAPILLARY rheometers from Dynisco Polymer Test are ideally suited for studying the viscosity of molten polymers. The instruments are designed per the ASTM D3835 test specification. All models use a 32-bit microprocessor that permits improved temperature control, digital recognition of sensors, real-time multi-sensor data output and a dynamic speed range of 20,000:1 of quick QA/QC testing.

Tests include shear rate vs. viscosity, shear stress vs. viscosity and thermal degradation vs. time.

Cyronix Inc. 888-297-6649

A LOW-COST BRIGHTNESS and color meter is now available from Testing Machines Inc. for less than US$12,000. The instrument can measure color purity, degree of yellowness, degree of whiteness, color matching and color fastness. A built-in printer provides a hard copy of results, and an RS-232 output provides an interface to a PC through the optional TestLink software.

Testing Machines Inc. 631-439-5400

Control costs through color X-Rite Inc. 616-534-7663

Your portable spectrophotometer, aside from its obvious use for quality control, can also be used for cost control, explains Murray Steeves, Canadian district manager for X-Rite. “Color measurement can also be an internal control for excessive use of masterbatch or color concentrate. In the dark colors, it’s hard to see the difference between 2% or 3% let-down, but the difference is measurable, and then the operator can adjust additive levels accordingly.”

Steeves also reports a trend toward increasing automation of optical and physical property measurement. He says X-Rite has introduced a non-contact continuous monitoring system that can be used to judge the color of either resin pellets or finished products. “I think that type of technology will see increasing use in the future,” he concludes.

BRING YOUR TENSILE TESTER up-to-date with Electro Standards Laboratories’ new tensile tester retrofit kit. The company’s DataView Lite-Plus software can provide retrofitted testers with expanded capabilities including file management, real-time data plotting, report generation and zooming, and password security.

Electro Standards customizes each kit. Kits can include ESLSense I-Plus intelligent indicator, load cell and extensometer, and a graphical user interface (GUI) software package.

Electro Standards Laboratories 401-943-1164