MEDICAL | INNOVATION
tion of development partner Hack. The Arburg moulding machine communicates with the mould, hot runner controller, material dryer and automa- tion via the Gestica control system and OPC-UA. The system in the demonstration consists of two
combined in the mould, helping to achieve 45% overall production savings. The tool is also de- signed using Braunform’s MED mould concept which incorporates electric drives and corrosion resistant steels for use in cleanroom medical applications. Arburg’s Gestica control on the Allrounder More 1600 series machine monitors or controls many key aspects of the overall production process. Gestica monitors the four servo-electric drives from Arburg’s sister company AMKmotion which are incorporated into the Braunform RotaricE2 tool to control internal mould sequences, including core-back, lifting the lid, capping the closures, and unscrewing the luer threads. In the same moulding cell, Arburg integrated a
six-axis industrial robot from Yaskawa into its Gestica control for the first time, where it removed the finished parts from the mould with a four-fold gripper. The robot presented the luer connectors to an inline camera for inspection then deposited the parts into containers separated by mould cavities via a drawer system. The robot can be programmed directly through the Gestica machine controller. Arburg planned to add the Yaskawa industrial robot to its automation range starting Spring 2023. Arburg also implemented a new solution for communication between mould and machine that highlights the advantages of a digitally networked medical moulding production cell. A turnkey system featuring an Arburg Allrounder 630 H machine in a cleanroom setup produced blood vials from PET in a 32-cavity tool from Hack at last year’s K show. The blood vials have a shot weight of 227 g and were produced on a 7.5 s cycle time. A Moldlife Sense computer system, which enables the complete life cycle of the part to be monitored, was designed, and implemented by Arburg at the K show, together with the coopera-
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cameras that capture images or video of mould separation and part ejection, sending the data directly to the injection moulding machine’s controller via OPC-UA. There are also four displace- ment sensors and four knock sensors for the tie-bar guidance. “In this way, even minor deviations, such as slider and ejector movements, can be detected, process changes recognised at an early stage and damage to the mould reliably avoided,” Arburg says. A Waldorf side-entry robot removes the parts from the mould, placing them on a two-level table where four cameras offset by 90° conduct a visualised inspection. Test results can be visualised on a screen at the production cell. The Hack dashboard can be displayed directly in the Gestica machine controller and opened via the network per integrated browser. Malfunctions and performance-dependent maintenance intervals can be displayed through the controller. The hot runner controller, special PET material dryer and the automation are connected to the Gestica control via OPC-UA, allowing the monitoring of various aspects of the process, such as the temperatures of the hot runner and dryer, or energy management. MHT Mold & Hot Runner Technology and
Kebo announced a partnership in January to provide complete blood collection tube (BCT) solu- tions to their customers. MHT develops, manufac- tures, and distributes injection moulds and hot runner technology for PET applications, including BCTs for the medical packaging industry. Kebo develops, manufactures, and distributes high-per- formance injection moulds and hot runner solu- tions for medical, pharmaceutical and laboratory products in the medical industry. The companies say there is a strong market need for diagnostic and laboratory applications,
Left: At K2022, Arburg showed the Moldlife Sense system in a partnership with Hack
Below: MHT and Kebo have started a partnership to provide
complete blood collection tube solutions
September 2023 | INJECTION WORLD 45
IMAGE: ARBURG
IMAGE: MHT
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