An apparatus for vacuumizing and sealing a package includes a plurality of platens and vacuum chambers, each chamber adapted to mate with a dedicated one of the platens; a conveying system for conveying the platens and chambers along a generally angular path having a single axis of rotation; an automated loading assembly having a linear component and configured to load a package onto each of the platens; an automated unloading assembly having a linear portion and configured to unload a vacuumized, sealed package from each loaded platen onto an outfeed conveyor; and a vacuumizing/sealing system configured to cause relative movement of each chamber/platen pair, along a portion of the angular path, to form therebetween an air-tight enclosure accommodating the package and effect vacuumization and sealing of the package.

An apparatus for vacuumizing and sealing a package includes a plurality of platens and vacuum chambers, each chamber adapted to mate with a dedicated one of the platens; a conveying system for conveying the platens and chambers along a generally angular path having a single axis of rotation; an automated loading assembly having a linear component and configured to load a package onto each of the platens; an automated unloading assembly having a linear portion and configured to unload a vacuumized, sealed package from each loaded platen onto an outfeed conveyor; and a vacuumizing/sealing system configured to cause relative movement of each chamber/platen pair, along a portion of the angular path, to form therebetween an air-tight enclosure accommodating the package and effect vacuumization and sealing of the package.

A foam molded article includes a main agent resin, a filler of greater than or equal to 15% by mass and less than or equal to 80% by mass, and a foaming agent of greater than or equal to 0.01% by mass and less than or equal to 10% by mass, and a foaming ratio caused by the foaming agent is greater than or equal to 1.1 times.

Ethylene-based polymers are characterized by a melt index less than 1 g/10 min, a density from 0.94 to 0.965 g/cm.sup.3, a Mw from 100,000 to 250,000 g/mol, a relaxation time from 0.5 to 3 sec, and an average number of long chain branches (LCBs) per 1,000,000 total carbon atoms in a molecular weight range of 300,000 to 900,000 g/mol that is greater than that in a molecular weight range of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 g/mol, or an average number of LCBs per 1,000,000 total carbon atoms in a molecular weight range of 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 g/mol of less than or equal to about 5 and a maximum ratio of η.sub.E/3η at an extensional rate of 0.1 sec.sup.−1 from 1.2 to 10. These polymers have substantially no long chain branching in the high molecular weight fraction of the polymer, but instead have significant long chain branching in a lower molecular weight fraction, such that polymer melt strength and parison stability are maintained for the fabrication of blow molded products and other articles of manufacture. These ethylene polymers can be produced using a dual catalyst system containing a single or two atom bridged metallocene compound with two indenyl groups, and a single atom bridged metallocene compound with a fluorenyl group and a cyclopentadienyl group.

A plant fiber-containing composite resin molded article contains a base resin, plant fibers, and, a dispersant, in which each of the plant fibers contains an aroma component, the base resin is a crystalline resin, and in a case where a total content of the base resin, the plant fibers, and the dispersant is 100% by mass, a content of the plant fibers is more than or equal to 50% by mass and less than or equal to 90% by mass.

Thermoplastic moulding composition consisting of (A) 51 to 69.9 wt % of polyamide elastomer; (B) 15 to 38 wt % of ethylene-α-olefin copolymer; (C) 3 to 25 wt % of polyamide selected from the group consisting of: PA6, PA66, PA6/66, PA610, PA612, PA614, PA616, PA6/610, PA66/610 or mixtures thereof; (D) 0.1 to 2.0 wt % of heat stabilizers based on copper and/or iodide, organic stabilizers or a mixture thereof; (E) 0 to 5.0 wt % of additives, different from (A) to (D);
where the sum of (A) to (E) makes 100 wt % of the total moulding composition, and with the proviso that the sum of (B) and (C) is in the range from 30 to 48 wt % based on the total moulding composition.

A machine direction oriented film comprising a multimodal copolymer of ethylene and at least two alpha-olefin-comonomers having: a) a density of from 906 to 925 kg/m.sup.3 determined according to ISO 1183, b) an MFR.sub.21 of 10-200 g/10 min determined according to ISO1133, wherein the multimodal copolymer of ethylene comprises c) a first copolymer of ethylene and a first alpha-olefin comonomer having 4 to 10 carbon atoms; and d) a second copolymer of ethylene having an alpha-olefin comonomer different from the first copolymer, said second alpha-olefin comonomer having 6 to 10 carbon atoms.

A process to form a “functionalized ethylene-based polymer” from a first composition comprising an ethylene-based polymer and at least one polar compound, and at least one peroxide, said process comprising at least the following: a) thermally treating the first composition, in at least one extruder comprising at least one barrel, to form the functionalized ethylene-based polymer; b) extruding the functionalized ethylene-based polymer, in melt form, to form an extrudate; c) cooling the extrudate; and d) pelletizing the extrudate; and wherein the “efficiency of the peroxide consumption, after the thermal treatment, is ≥91 wt % within the at least one extruder; and wherein the “normalized feed rate” at which the process is nm is ≥0.0018 (lbs/hr)/(mm).sup.3; and wherein, for step c), after the extrudate exits the extruder, and before the extrudate is pelletized, the extrudate is cooled in a cooling medium to a pelletization temperature, T.sub.pel in ° C.), ≤ the crystallization temperature T.sub.c (in ° C.) of the functionalized ethylene-based polymer.

Disclosed herein is a film comprising a polymer blend, the polymer blend comprising a first polyolefin elastomer having a weight average molecular weight of 120,000 to 350,000 grams per mole; and a second polyolefin elastomer having a weight average molecular weight of 15,000 to 75,000 grams per mole; wherein the overall melt index of the polymer blend is less than 8 g/10 minutes when measured as per ASTM D1238 at 2.16 kilograms at 190° C. Disclosed herein too is a method of manufacturing a film comprising blending a first polyolefin elastomer having a weight average molecular weight of 120,000 to 350,000 grams per mole; and a second polyolefin elastomer having a weight average molecular weight of 15,000 to 75,000 grams per mole to form a polymer blend; wherein the overall melt index of the polymer blend is less than 8 g/10 minutes when measured as per ASTM D1238 at 2.16 kilograms at 190° C.; and forming the polymer blend into a film.

The present invention deals with a process for producing a multimodal ethylene polymer composition suitable for producing films by blow moulding and comprising the steps of (i) homopolymerising ethylene or copolymerising ethylene and an alpha-olefin comonomer in a first polymerisation step in the presence of a silica supported Ziegler-Natta catalyst to produce a first ethylene homo- or copolymer (PEI) having a density of from 940 to 980 kg/m.sup.3 and a melt flow rate MFR.sub.2 of from 2 to 1000 g/10 min, provided that if the first ethylene homo- or copolymer (PE1) is a copolymer, MFR.sub.2 thereof is in the range of 2 to 100 g/10 min; (ii) homopolymerising ethylene or copolymerising ethylene and an alpha-olefin comonomer in a second polymerisation step in the presence of the first ethylene homo- or copolymer to produce a first ethylene polymer mixture (PEM1) comprising the first ethylene homo- or copolymer and a second ethylene homo- or copolymer (PE2), said first ethylene polymer mixture having a density of from 940 to 980 kg/m.sup.3 and a melt flow rate MFR.sub.2 of from 10 to 1000 g/10 min; (iii) copolymerising ethylene and an alpha-olefin comonomer in a third polymerisation step in the presence of the first ethylene polymer mixture (PEM1) to produce a second ethylene polymer mixture (PEM2) comprising the first ethylene polymer mixture (PEM1) and a third ethylene copolymer (PE3), said second ethylene polymer mixture (PEM2) having a density of from 915 to 940 kg/m.sup.3 and a melt flow rate MFR.sub.5 of from 0.3 to 5 g/10 min, and wherein the second ethylene polymer mixture comprises from 10 to 35% by weight of the first ethylene homo- or copolymer, from 10 to 35% by weight of the second ethylene homo- or copolymer and from 45 to 70% by weight of the third ethylene copolymer.