NEWS

6Sealing Technology January 2013

Trelleborg launches innovation award

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Germany GmbH has launched an

innovation award. The competition is open to anyone, and prizes are offered for the best submissions.

According to the company, the philoso-phy behind the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Innovation Award is that everything around us started with somebody having an idea. That idea then needs to be taken and made into real-ity – to form it into something tangible. The scope of this award is broad, so that innovative suggestions are not limited, says the firm.

‘Open Innovation is one of Trelleborg’s core values and we know that there are lots of ideas out there that can add value to existing appli-cations today and those in the future. We are not just interested in suggestions for products, technology and materials, but anything that relates to improving our business or the way in which we do business, for instance, novel suggestions for on-line tools, manufacturing processes or logistics-related services,’ explained Robert Zahiri, Director, Global Marketing and Communications, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions.

In addition to receiving a prize of E5000, the winning innovation will be ‘‘converted’’ into a tangible project, if possible. iPads will be awarded to the ideas in second and third places. The deadline for submissions is 28 February 2013.

Contacts:

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Germany GmbH,

Handwerkstrasse 5–7, DE-70565 Stuttgart, Germany.

Tel: +49 711 78640, Fax: +49 711 780 3171,

www.tss.trelleborg.com/de

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions UK Ltd, Pegasus House,

1 Cranbrook Way, Solihull Business Park, Solihull,

West Midlands B90 4GT, UK. Tel: +44 121 7441221,

Fax: +44 121 7332442, Web: www.trelleborg.com

Editor’s comment: Further details on this award and how to submit ideas can be found by going to the Web-site: www.seals-innovation.com.

FSA appoints president and vice president of its board of directors

The Fluid Sealing Association (FSA) has announced the appointment

of Greg Raty and Henri Azibert as the

president and vice president, respec-tively, of its board of directors.

Raty, Vice President, Slade Inc, which is based in Statesville, North Carolina, USA, also serves the FSA as a member of the committees that are responsible for strategic planning, government affairs and marketing. He joined Slade in 1996 and is currently in charge of global expansion and the day-to-day operation of the firm. Slade’s exports now make up over 60% of its business and cover over 55 countries throughout the world.

Previously, Raty worked for a large pub-lishing firm in New York for 13 years, where his experience included expansion within a network of over 100 branches in over 230 countries. He was also heavily involved in the management of funds and real estate.

Azibert, Chief Technology Officer, A.W. Chesterton Co of Woburn, Massachusetts, USA, received his Baccalauréat from Lycée Louis Le Grand, Paris, France; a Bachelor of Arts in politi-cal science from the University of Massachusetts, a doctorate in jurisprudence from Boston College, and a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University.

After a varied career, Azibert joined A.W. Chesterton Co in 1980 as a design engineer in its Mechanical Seals Division. He now has responsibility for all the mechanical seal and mechanical packing engineering staff and prod-uct lines, and has been granted over 30 patents on mechanical seal designs and improvements.

Azibert maintains his standing in the Massachusetts Bar. He is a member of the API 682 and 3A Mechanical Seal Standard Task forces, and a member of the Texas A&M Pump Symposium Advisory Board. He also served the FSA as Chairman of the Mechanical Seal Division, and of the Mechanical Seal and Mechanical Packing Technical Committees. He is also a member of the FSA committees that are responsible for strategic planning, government affairs and marketing.

Contact:

Fluid Sealing Association, 994 Old Eagle School Road

#1019, Wayne, PA 19087, USA. Tel: +1 610 971 4850,

Email: info@fluidsealing.com,

Web: www.fluidsealing.com

Victrex boosts production of PAEK polymers

Victrex Polymer Solutions, part of UK-based Victrex Plc, has

announced plans to increase produc-tion of its polyaryletherketone (PAEK) polymers by around 70%.

The company says the move reflects con-fidence in the growth potential for global

demand across a wide and growing range of applications in the transportation, industrial and electronics sectors.

This new capacity will add 2900 metric tonnes (MT) of polymer output annually and will come on stream in early 2015. Total annual production of Victrex PAEK polymers after completion will then stand at more than 7000 MT per annum – an increase of around 70% on the firm’s current capacity of 4250 MT per annum.

This new investment in increased capacity fol-lows reported sales results for Victrex’s financial year ending 30 September 2012. Sales volumes for the full year ended at 2904 MT – a new record – which, combined with a strong and vital pipeline of future applications, supports this key investment decision, says the company.

Contacts:

Victrex Plc, Victrex Technology Centre, Hillhouse

International, Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire FY5 4QD,

UK. Tel: +44 1253 897700, Fax: +44 1253 897701,

www.victrex.com

Victrex Europa GmbH, Langgasse 16,

65719 Hofheim/Ts, Germany. Tel: +49 6192 96490,

Fax: +49 6192 964948

Jury to hear Bal Seal patent violation claim later this year

In the USA, a judge has determined that a lawsuit filed by Bal Seal Engineering

Inc against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp will proceed to trial.

The suit alleges that Saint-Gobain infringes patent US5 160 122 held by Bal Seal for its spring-energised sealing technology.

In a ruling issued during October 2012 by Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the US District Court’s Southern District of California, the court denied a motion for summary judgment brought by Saint-Gobain, and ruled in Bal Seal’s favour on several of the asserted claims in the civil suit.

The decision, which was based on the court’s review of technical drawings used to illustrate the alleged similarities between the Bal Seal spring-energised seal patented tech-nology and Saint-Gobain’s OmniSeal APS, paves the way for a trial before a jury, sched-uled for October of 2013.

Founded in 1958 by engineer and entre-preneur Pete Balsells and based in Foothill Ranch, California, Bal Seal Engineering is a privately-owned manufacturer of custom-engineered sealing products. The company’s seals, which employ its Canted Coil Spring as