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ACCUCURE™
PRESS RELEASE – George F.W. Telfer (540) 989-6246
ARDEN,
N.C. – A new patented instrument that tracks chemical
reactions in real time could become a cure for the common plastic.
Tison Wyatt’s invention called AccuCure™ could simplify
and slash the cost of making polymers and plastic parts for everything
from automobile components to transformers. Using patented techniques,
AccuCure™ constantly monitors the exact stage of a reaction
and instantaneously signals when it’s completed, the inventor
says.
“Accucure™
takes the guesswork out of making plastics,” says Wyatt,
52, president of Tison Technologies, LLC, of Arden. Once calibrated and coupled with the speed of microprocessor technology, AccuCure™ automatically indicates to within a thousandth of a second how far a reaction or the curing of a polymer has progressed, Wyatt says. The AccuCure™ system is superior to many current methods, which can’t instantly track and confirm reaction completion, he says. Most of these methods use experience tables or “off-line” reaction data that require collection of samples from a batch of material during processing. The samples are then analyzed “off-line” to determine the extent of the reaction. This “off-line” process can take anywhere from several minutes to several hours to generate data. Because the reaction continues while the data are collected, the information is considerably out of date, Wyatt says. “AccuCure™” provides consistent results, confirms process and production uniformity and reaction completion, and leads to higher productivity,” Wyatt says. This instrument is patented in the United States and Australia. Patents are pending in Europe and Asia. The Mississippi Polymer Institute in Hattiesburg, Miss., has run tests of AccuCure™, concluding that it works and that the data are repeatable. Virginia Tech’s Dr. McNair has followed the progress of Wyatt’s invention from its early stages. “I was surprised at how simple it was, and at the magnitude of the response you get from the reaction,” McNair says. “It’s so good to have a instrument like this that will cut the curing, or processing time, of making plastic. It can save people a lot of money,” he adds. McNair is recognized internationally for his lifelong contributions in the field of analytical chemistry. Most notably, his book “Basic Gas Chromatography” has been translated into 12 languages, and over 130,000 copies of the English edition have been sold. McNair was named recipient of the Dal Nogare award for 2001, for his work in chromatography, by the Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley. Formerly a marketing manager at Hewlett Packard Corp., he has advised Tison Technologies on how to market the invention. Wyatt and his brother Tracy credit a renowned scientist and inventor, the late George A. Fowles, with helping get the project off the ground. "Initially, as with a lot of inventions, no one believed our technique would work,” recalls Tracy Wyatt, Vice President of Marketing at Tison Technologies. “Tison and I believe it was through unbelievable good fortune that we met George Fowles. When he saw AccuCure™, his eyes got as big as saucers. Then things started moving with George’s help.” After graduation from MIT in Electrical Engineering, Fowles developed applications for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which was little known then. Fowles is credited with revolutionizing the wire industry by being the first to coat plastic on wire. Years later, he followed up with the invention of PVC pipe. Fowles,
who lived in Highlands, N.C., and Sarasota, Fla., died in Sarasota
at age 90 in August 2001. Tracy Wyatt commented, “We’re
saddened at his passing. George told us from the beginning we
were onto something big. He knew AccuCure would revolutionize
the process of monitoring the curing of plastic. George encouraged
us to keep going. He helped us with the first and most important
steps toward making AccuCure™ a success. We wish he could
be with us now to see his predictions coming true. He was a wonderful
mentor.”
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