INDUSTRY NEWS
 |
Arburg will present its electric Allrounder 370A unit suited for moulding miniature parts at K 2007. Managing partner Michael Hehl is pictured.
|
Plastic people may be a pejorative term in some parts of the world, but not in Düsseldorf. Every three years, the city on the Rhine hosts a plastics happening, otherwise known as the K show, at its massive messe. It should come as no surprise that a fair number of exhibitors will be presenting medical applications at the event, which runs 24–31 October. A small sampling of them is featured in this article; many more can be found at www.k-online.de.
Dr. Boy GmbH & Co. KG (Neustadt-Fernthal, Germany) and Max Petek Reinraumtechnik (Rudolfzell, Germany) are teaming up at this year’s event to showcase a cost-effective cleanroom moulding and production cell. Consisting of a Boy 22A moulder and sterile packaging unit, the cell will be used to demonstrate the production of infusion components.
The injection moulding machine’s dual-platen cantilevered clamping unit combines with the overall architecture to yield a compact design. The ionizer, sprue picker, and sterile packaging unit are integrated within the machine’s footprint to save space. To meet ISO Class 6 cleanroom specifications, a laminar-flow box is mounted on the machine’s safety gate, ensuring that clean air flows through the clamping and packaging units.
 |
Maker of injection moulding machines Dr. Boy GmbH and cleanroom designer Max Petek Reinraumtechnik will demonstrate the manufacture of infusion components in a sterile cleanroom environment at K 2007.
|
By keeping the amount of space that needs to be sealed off from the surrounding atmosphere to a strict minimum, equipment costs can be contained as well, says Boy process engineering manager Michael Kleinebrahm. “With the Boy 22A, the entire cleanroom consists of the clamp’s mould area and the packaging unit under the cantilevered clamp. No floor space beyond the machine’s 1.85-m2 footprint is needed,” he explains. Visitors to the K are invited to check out the cleanroom installation at stand A 43 in Hall 13.
As always, Arburg (Lossburg, Germany) will be a huge presence at the show, occupying 1400 m2 of floor space in Hall 13. The maker of injection moulding equipment will exhibit its full range of machinery, including its largest unit with a 5000-kN clamping force, and several models of electric machines.
Of special interest to medical device manufacturers is the Allrounder 520 A. The machine, with a clamping force of 1500 kN, will be exhibited moulding a medical part at the show. Also displayed at the event will be the Allrounder 370 A and 720 S Golden Edition, the latter of which will be producing an inhaler cap on a 32-cavity mould. The manufacture of the technical part with two film hinges is designed to showcase the equipment’s attractive cost/performance ratio. Arburg is booked into stand A 13, but, frankly, just walk into Hall 13—you can’t miss it.
Assembling medical tubing is the focus at stand D 23 in Hall 11, where Gentex (Great Abington, Cambs, UK) will be holding court. The firm will demonstrate how to laser weld plastic fittings to medical tubing using Clearweld technology.
The demonstration will be using Sure Bond tubing developed by Natvar Corp. (Erembodegem, Belgium), which incorporates Gentex’s laser-weldable resin additives, and a laser system from Branson Ultrasonics (Danbury, CT, USA). The laser is designed to weld the tubing without rotating it. Natvar and Branson are strategic partners of Gentex.
The Clearweld process involves the use of light- absorbing materials that focus laser energy and convert it to heat. Localized heating where the two pieces of plastic are joined produces strong hermetically sealed welds with minimal thermal and mechanical stress, according to the firm. The company touts the process as a significant advance over the use of adhesives, solvents, or ultrasonic welding to join plastics. But talk is cheap, as they say—come see for yourself at K 2007.
