TECHNOLOGY & MATERIALS | MEDICAL
The company says that air-blowing on an injection moulding machine is suitable for smaller hollow bodies. “One benefit of air-blowing is the possibility of manufacturing even more complex contours at the bottle neck extremely precisely, which is only possible to a limited extent in traditional blow mould processes,” it says. Four preforms are injection moulded in the first
step. Then the preforms are rotated 180˚ around an index plate and inflated with compressed air to produce the finished bottle contour in the same mould. The eye drop bottles are packaged directly after demoulding in the clean mould area of the clamping unit and carried away by a conveyor belt. Dr Boy says: “Using a manifold system devel- oped specifically for this application, the preforms are injected without sprue so that no waste is produced in bottle production. Unlike with blow moulds, the bottle is finished at the end of the blowing process. No material used to seal the mould body needs to be cut and removed.” Engel and Max Petek Reinraumtechnik have been involved in research for a new cleanroom concept for high temperature applications. The influence of mould temperature on cleanroom quality was investigated and a cleanroom solution with reverse laminar flow suggested on the basis of these results, where air is sucked upwards out of the mould area. A first industrial system has been built. The study showed that the influence of mould temperature on reliable cleanroom operations cannot be ignored. Laminar flow is already dis- turbed at mould temperatures above 40°C. A mould temperature of 110°C was established as a limit for conventional clean airflow from top to bottom, without an additional laminar flow module. Results and process simulations have shown that the particle load can be minimised by reversing the flow of clean air. Moretto has introduced the X-COMB medical
dryer, a high performance mini-dryer for treating small batches and engineering resins. The com- pany says that the X-COMB mini-dryer has been specifically engineered for use by the medical industry where stringent requirements on perfor- mance and design are compulsory. The dryer has a compact design and is available in four sizes ranging in throughput from 1.4–14.4 kg/h (3.1–32 lb/h), and includes OTX hopper technology with internal geometry that is claimed to improve material mass flow and air flow distribution. Moretto says that the hopper is capable of treating the same material as conventional hopper designs while requiring 40% less hopper volume, drying time and airflow. The X-COMB features an integrat-
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ed dew point equaliser that manages the speed and revolution of a zeolite-based desiccant cartridge. A direct drive geared motor drives the cartridge rotation and can achieve a stable -52°C (-61.6°F) dew point. Rinco Ultrasonics has developed the Electrical Motion ultrasonic welding machine to meet stringent requirements for precision, traceability and cleanliness in medical technology. The company says that its electrical drive and control by means of an ultrasonic generator with built-in industrial PC ensure particularly accurate so- notrode control, while welding force and rate are also accurately adjustable. This is claimed to result in consistency and reproducibility of the welding, punching, cutting and sealing operations carried out on thermoplastic mouldings and films, nonwo- vens and synthetic textiles. According to Rinco, due to its electrical drive, the Electrical Motion’s welding force, rate and speed are very much more
accurately controllable than on a conventional, pneumatically driven machine. Distance mode, for instance, permits positioning with an accuracy of 0.01 mm. The Electrical Motion has ISO Class 6 certification for cleanroom manufacture. Mike Kvalo, Engineering Manager at medical
parts moulder EVCO, states that from a medical manufacturer’s perspective, the requirements for raw materials are much more stringent due to biocompatibility considerations. “We have been moulding medical market plastics for over 30 years, and the typical materials we use for other end markets are no longer of use in medical,” he says. “Because of this, we have seen many material manufacturers bow out of the medical market due to the high levels of risk and lower volumes associated with medical work. When ordering material, resin manufacturers are also now inquir-
Above:
Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has supplied 50-tonne IntElect
machines to Trend Technolo- gies Ireland, a contract moulder of devices for the medical and life sciences sectors
September 2017 | INJECTION WORLD 25
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