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GE’S LEXAN EXL RESIN HELPS MAKE BSH WATER KETTLE APPLIANCE A HOT ITEM FOR CONSUMERS
29 March 2005 - GE Advanced Materials
| BSH has chosen LEXAN EXL resin for its sleek BOSCH TWK8SL1 electric water/tea kettle. |
For BSH Group, a leading manufacturer of consumer appliances, a major design concern is ensuring each product continues to perform well and look great over an extended lifespan. In the case of water kettles, that lifespan is about 10 years and is characterized by repeated cycles of cold and heat as the kettle turns icy tap water into boiling liquid. To meet the rigorous demands of this application, BSH turned to GE’s LEXAN EXL 1443T resin, which proved its temperature resistance by successfully completing 12,000 test cycles of heating and cooling. LEXAN EXL resin easily surpassed the closest competitive material, which lasted only through 7500 test cycles, by a wide margin. As a result of the tests, BSH chose LEXAN EXL resin for its sleek BOSCH TWK8SL1 electric water/tea kettle. However, the resin offered BSH much more than resistance to wide temperature swings. It delivers a wide spectrum of opaque colours, which can be custom-matched to specific requirements. Further, its outstanding surface finish allows the creation of visually appealing designs that meet consumer demand for striking and beautiful appliances. Finally, the GE resin meets today’s European standards for food contact, as well as US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requirements. “When we considered the requirements of the water kettle application, we knew that the material we chose would have to withstand more than 10,000 uses over the life of the appliance and still look like new,” said Mark Heier, product manager, BSH Group. “GE’s LEXAN resin clearly stood out from the competition after passing demanding tests simulating years of use. It gave us not only the durability we required, but also superior aesthetics for a very attractive finished product.” One of the new products in GE’s X GEN portfolio, LEXAN EXL resin builds on the strength of standard LEXAN resin – one of the toughest plastics available – with even greater impact performance and low-temperature ductility. The copolymer structure of LEXAN EXL resin combines the best of polycarbonate (PC) and siloxane properties, resulting in a significant upgrade to the PC and PC blend materials available in the market today. The low-temperature ductility of the silicone provides outstanding impact performance. And because silicone is relatively unaffected by heat or humidity, these materials retain their properties for a longer time than standard polycarbonate resins. “Consumers today want more than functionality in their household appliances,” said Günther Grüner, application development specialist, GE Advanced Materials. “They also expect great design. Companies like BSH depend on GE materials for both the durability and the superior aesthetics that make a product a hit with consumers. Design engineers can use our resin to create innovative products with greater reliability, even over years and years of constant use.”
http://www.ge.com
About: GE Advanced Materials
GE Advanced Materials is a world leader in providing materials solutions through engineering thermoplastics, silicone-based products and technology platforms, and fused quartz and ceramics. Among its businesses are:• Silicones, which includes GE Toshiba Silicones in the Pacific region and GE Bayer Silicones in Europe, offers silanes, specialty silicones, urethane additives, adhesives, sealants, resins, and elastomers for a variety of industries such as personal care, automotive, tire and rubber, construction, healthcare, electronics, household and institutional, agriculture, textiles, appliances, bedding and furnishings, foam control, and consumer (http://www.gesilicones.com/gesilicones/am1/en/home.jsp); • Plastics is a global plastics materials supplier and distributor, which serves customers in a variety of industries including aerospace, appliances, automotive, building and construction, data storage and optical media, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications, computers and peripheral devices, outdoor vehicles and devices, and packaging (http://www.geplastics.com/); • Quartz produces high purity materials for the semiconductor, fiber optic, lamp making and water purification industries. GE Quartz is a leading supplier of quartz materials to the semiconductor industry (http://www.gequartz.com/en/index.htm); Established in 1968, GE Advanced Materials’ Specialty Film & Sheet business is a leading supplier of high-performance engineering film and sheet products to the United States, Europe, Africa, India, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and operates a worldwide network of sales, research, manufacturing and technical services facilities. Today, GE Advanced Materials, Specialty Film & Sheet employs about 600 people, and manufactures engineering sheet and film products at 12 facilities in 9 countries worldwide. Recent investments:
• 2003 New Roofing Structures Line in Italy, Europe
• 2003 New Coating Lines in China & Malaysia, Pacific
• 2002 Acquisition of Plastech, China
• 2001 New Film Lines in USA and Europe
• 2001 Acquisition of Carboron, Malaysia
• 2000 Acquisition of Matraplast, Canada
• 2000 Acquisition of Nim Plastics, USA Products:
GE Advanced Materials offers a variety of film materials are to meet different type of applications such as graphic film, coated products, electrical & electronic products, and specialties. The key film materials available today include:
• Lexan* Polycarbonate film
• Ultem* film
• Lexan* SLX film
• Valox* film
• Lexan* Illuminex* film GE Advanced Materials’ sheet product line includes a wide range of structures from solid sheet, multi-wall sheet and corrugated sheet through to coated sheet and laminates and combinations of each of these. The key sheet materials available today include:
• Lexan* Polycarbonate sheet
• Lexan* Solar Control IR sheet
• Margard* coated sheet
• Lexgard* laminated sheet
• Ultem* sheet
• Lexan EXL* sheet GE Advanced Materials, Specialty Film & Sheet, serves customers in a variety of industries including aircraft, appliances, automotive, building and construction, business machines, electrical & lighting, furnishing, greenhouse, industrial roofing, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications and packaging. In January 2004, in line with GE Corporate’ new brand architecture, GE Advanced Materials has announced the change of GE Structured Products business naming to GE Advanced Materials, Specialty Film & Sheet. |
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