mycon reaches agreement in patent dispute with stainless steel tube manufacturer
For several years now, mycon has been producing cleaning systems that can be used to manually clean and grind the inside and outside of pipes. These systems are now also used internationally in semi-automated or fully automated form.
mycon has developed and supplied a simple application of the previously used TubeMaster process for a tube manufacturer, especially for the removal of light drawing agents on inner and outer tube surfaces. The customer also received a blasting device from mycon for cooling and lubricating saw cuts for cutting the pipes to length. This blasting device works with liquidCO2. The cleaning process for internal and external pipe cleaning works with compressed air and dry snow. The dry snow is produced from liquidCO2 directly in a special blasting gun from mycon’s IceMaster series.
The customer later registered patents in his own name for the developments used by pipe manufacturers without consulting mycon. Mycon had fought against this.
After lengthy negotiations, both sides have now agreed that mycon has an unrestricted right to use these patent applications free of charge. These systems are now also available to mycon customers worldwide. mycon sees considerable advantages in this face-saving agreement for both sides by saving its own patent costs. This also avoids a lengthy legal dispute with a long-standing customer.
Advantages of the IceMaster process
The mycon IceMaster systems are effective, cost-effective and can be automated indefinitely. It also has lowCO2 and compressed air consumption. There are also ecological advantages to using an IceMaster snow blasting system from mycon. The use of compressed air and dry ice particles means that no environmentally harmful blasting agent residues such as waste water or blasting granulate are produced. The dry ice particles are generated in the IceMaster’s blasting gun during operation. This also eliminates the storage problems associated with the use of dry ice pellets. IceMaster in its various versions is suitable for a wide range of industrial cleaning applications, e.g. for removing residues such as environmental soiling, oil, grease and dust from surfaces of all kinds. However, both processes are limited in terms of performance when using dry ice / dry snow as a blasting agent and cannot be used for all requirements.
Development of further processes for pipe cleaning and coating
Kipp Umwelttechnik, mycon’s sister company, is working together with the University of Paderborn on a new process. This is funded as part of the ZIM program (Central Innovation Program for SMEs). With this process, even stubborn residues can be removed from the inside and outside surfaces of pipes in a fully automated continuous process. This system can also clean the inner pipe surfaces of small-dimensioned pipes with long lengths and is therefore likely to have a unique position on the world market. Kipp Umwelttechnik is already able to carry out automated test cleaning of pipes for potential customers on a test system. With one application of the system, pipes can also be coated on the inside and/or outside. Kipp Umwelttechnik expects the coating plant to be completed in fall 2018.
Kipp Umwelttechnik and mycon together offer completely new possibilities for the sectors with the mycon systems already available and with the new developments from Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH:
- Cleaning of stainless steel pipes inside and outside as well as internal coating,
- Cleaning pipes from the outside before galvanizing,
- Cleaning and coating of other pipes both inside and outside,
- Cleaning and coating of profiles,
- Cleaning and coating of bars,
- Cleaning and coating of belts,
- Cleaning and coating of wires,
- Cleaning of greased wire ropes for testing and re-greasing.
Kipp Umwelttechnik and mycon are convinced that there will be further potential applications for the aforementioned processes.
Image source: Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH
Press contact: Maike Küppershaus, Kipp Umwelttechnik GmbH – m.************@ki****************.de
