technology | Machinery MEDICAL


Adding laser capabilities to medical catheter production


Putnam Plastics has expanded its capabilities in advanced medical extrusions by introducing new laser production technologies. The company now includes


advanced laser machining and state-of-the-art short pulse and ultrashort pulse laser technologies. Its in-house tool shop allows it to design custom tooling and fixtures to handle materials and tubing that need laser machining. The strategy reduces lead time and shortens customers’ supply chains to bring them one step closer to a finished device, says Putnam. Laser machining can manu-


facture medical devices with tight tolerances and machine complex features with repeatability better than 4 microns. These lasers, some


TOOLING Extrusion die for precision tubes


Guill Tool & Engineering has introduced its new Micro Medical, an extrusion crosshead that uses


micro-fine adjustment screws for precise concentricity adjustment. The precision of concentricity is 0.008in or finer, per revolution. Guill says this single point concentricity adjustment is unique for the extrusion of thin-walled and precision ID/OD medical tubing. One adjustment bolt controls 360° of adjustment. Features of the


Micro Medical


crosshead include a patented cam-lock


deflector for quick change- 48 PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION | March 2017


overs, with a residence time of one minute at 0.5lb/hr material flow, optimised usage with extruders measuring 0.5in and 0.75in, and a max die ID of 0.25in. At the same time, the


Guill Micro Medical cross- head offers flexibility to its users. It accepts both vacuum and micro-air accessories, and is ideal for pressure and sleeving applications. Fluoropolymer designs


are available on request. ❙ www.guill.com


PP PIPE


Newcomer produces water pipe


KraussMaffei Berstorff has provided a pipe extrusion system to Moscow-based SLT Aqua – which is a newcomer in plastics pipe production. The company focuses on


of which have 4-axis capability, can produce simple and complex micro-features, precision cuts, braid and coil terminations, and laser printing and marking. “Our 2 and 4-axis lasers


can cut precise patterns with reliable accuracy even in our most difficult configurations – such as multi-lumen, thin walled, lined, and braid reinforced catheter tubing,” said Ray Rilling, director of


technology at Putnam. “This makes our laser machining capabilities ideal for a variety of catheters, including micro catheters, guide catheters, and EP catheters.” Other applications in


medical catheter design that can benefit from laser machining include drug delivery access ports, selective removal of material, and position markings. ❙ www.putnamplastics.com


the production of drinking water and hot water pipes, and when selecting machin- ery providers it was looking for a high quality end product. “In laboratory tests, we paid particular attention to material destruction,” said Georgiy Gusev, managing director of SLT Aqua. SLT Aqua produces single-


layer PP-R drinking water pipes in the diameter range 20 -110mm on one produc- tion line with the KME 60-36 B/R single-screw extruder and KM-RKW 32-110 pipehead.


On the second line,


three-layer PP-R pipes – the middle layer being filled with glass fibre – are manufac- tured for use in heating pipe systems. Here, alongside the two KME 45-36 B/R single- screw extruders, a KM-3L RKW 73-160 multi-layer pipe head is used. Mikhail Basilevsky, deputy


technical director, added: “The sample pipes produced showed the lowest level of material destruction, thus proving top pipe quality.” The systems were


successfully put into operation in October 2016, says the company. ❙ www.kraussmaffeiberstorff.com ❙ www.slt-aqua.ru


www.pipeandprofile.com


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