Milacron Renews Partnership With Barr for Screw Technology

Milacron Injection Molding & Extrusion (Cincinnati, Oh.) will continue to offer Robert Barr Inc.’s ET (Energy Transfer) and VBET (Variable-Barrier Energy Transfer) screws following renewal of its exclusive partnership with the company. Specified with new Milacron injection molding machines, or delivered as an aftermarket product via Milacron’s ServTek business, the patented screw designs promote energy efficiency and uniform melt.

The ET screw has a patented low-shear solid/melt mixing section, which reportedly provides faster melting and better energy efficiency. The newer, and also patented, VBET has a much longer solid/melt mixing zone, which the company says significantly increases energy efficiency, eliminates hot spots, and produces uniform melt. Milacron says screw designs can be customized for the specific application to provide better mixing and melting, lower energy costs and processing productivity improvements of up to 50 percent.

Milacron noted in a release that it is taking steps to perform developmental testing on Barr screws to provide feedback for customers and apply that gained knowledge to new applications. The company’s ServTek division can also retrofit these screws into any injection molding machine.

Ritch Waterfiled, Milacron’s manager of applications solutions aftermarket, told Plastics Technology that the original agreement with Barr dates back to 2004. This newest renewal is good for three years, going through 2022. Waterfield said that Milacron has shipped more than 1000 feedscrews of this design since its collaboration with Barr began.