EQUIPMENT NEWS
Bowl feeder is suited for cleanroom use
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Built for cleanroom operation, an autoclavable bowl feeder offers pharmaceutical-quality design. RNA Automation Ltd. (Birmingham, UK; www.rna-uk.com) has engineered the assembly automation accessory to allow rapid changeover and facilitate cleaning and maintenance. The feeder’s drive unit secures the bowl top, which is dowelled into position for accuracy by means of a pneumatic clamp. The clamping mechanism is operated via push button, and no tools are needed for changeover.
To adhere to GMP standards for cleanrooms, all tooling is manufactured from Type 316L stainless steel. Basic system elements, including the drive unit and bowl top, are standard, but the tooling is bespoke, constructed in-house to ensure that the customer’s specified requirements are met. In addition, the feed speed and orientation of components can be tailored to the application, ensuring the continuity of assembly line automation into the future.
Drug-device test systems are designed for versatility
Afamily of automated test systems for pharmaceutical device manufacturing applications has been expanded to encompass a greater variety of drug-delivery products. Now including systems for tablet sample preparation as well as inhaler and nasal spray testing, the semiautomated Walkaway Specialist solutions offered by RTS Life Science (Manchester, UK; www.rtslifescience.com) provide a midrange approach to product testing. Fully automated Process Masters are inhaler, nasal spray, and tablet testing systems for manufacturers whose production scale and budget tend toward the high end, and Benchtop Assistants fill the market niche below Walkaway Specialists, being suitable for product testing at an individual level.
The robust and reliable automated testing systems are designed to provide accurate data in testing devices with respect to users’ propensity to develop repetitive strain injury or work-related upper limb disorder. Whichever range is employed, the systems support the principles of quality by design by automating the conditioning and firing of orally inhaled and nasal drug product devices, thereby allowing critical method parameters to be used to explore and understand device performance. In addition, by freeing staff from conducting repetitive test procedures, they enable drug development and quality control labs to minimize process waste, shorten analysis times, and enhance data quality.
Assembly platform accommodates wide range
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A modular linear assembly platform available from a designer and manufacturer of high-performance parts-handling and assembly machinery can be readily tooled and configured to assemble a wide range of medical devices automatically.
Based on a magnetic linear drive, the SmartPod system from AGR Automation Ltd. (Arbroath, Tayside, UK; www.agr-automation.com) has configurable pallets that run continuously and in indexed mode. The company offers untooled base modules as well as fully tooled solutions. It has experience in machinery for the assembly of plastic and metal components such as pins, cannulae, and springs.
The company has met US FDA requirements for the automated manufacture of medical devices, has worked with the GAMP 4 validation protocol since 2000, and is certified to ISO 9001:2000.
Modularity makes linear assembly system versatile
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A flexible linear assembly system from Mikron Assembly Technology (Boudry, Switzerland; www.mikron.com) is an automation platform that reflects the developer’s consistent standardization of mechanical and electrical modules. The G05 product family ranges from manual workstations to semiautomated stations and fully automatic work cells, the fully automated cells being available also as microcells that offer production rates up to 100 cycles per minute with an indexing accuracy of ±10 µm.
System modules can be combined in any configuration as a hybrid concept. Modularity allows for rapid delivery and a level of capital investment matched to production requirements. The system can be adapted to suit changing production requirements. Retooling in the event of product changes is quick, and system components are reusable. All products are Class 10,000 cleanroom compatible. The manufacturer offers a qualification procedure that satisfies good automated manufacturing practice guidelines.
Bar code imager inspects caps and test tubes
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Designed to be able to inspect caps as well as test tubes, a megapixel bar code imager enables manufacturers of laboratory automation systems and clinical diagnostic equipment to implement inspection and data tracking in a single system. The MS-4 EZ Match imager from Microscan Systems Inc. (Renton, WA, USA; www.ezinspect.com) can evaluate the cap type, detect absence or presence of caps and tubes, and read linear and 2-D bar codes. Besides integrating reliable data capture with robust inspection capabilities in one small, intelligent imager, the system is said to be easy to integrate into analyzers, sample preparation and handling systems, and other laboratory and diagnostic instruments. Its powerful algorithms and advanced software features enable the imager to read long bar codes and high-density 2-D symbols accurately and to provide custom cap and tube inspection data output.
Ultrasonic welding systems for plastics assembly can be networked
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U ltrasonic welding systems are available to medical device manufacturers needing to automate their assembly lines. Among the machines provided by Branson Ultrasonics Corp. (Hayes, Middx, UK; www.bransonultrasonics.com) are 2000 X–series ultrasonic welding systems, which offer manufacturers the option of integrating system components into semiautomated or fully automatic assembly lines. Units can be used for welding, staking, inserting, swaging, or spot-welding thermoplastic parts. The systems are typically used to assemble valves, ports, filters, connectors, adapters, fluid-transfer kits, analytical and surgical devices, drug-delivery devices, and other products.
Ultrasonic welding systems in this series feature a full VGA touch screen with intuitive menus, graphing capability, and a choice of operation in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. They offer multiple user input/outputs through a 2-V-dc logic interface for direct hookup with programmable logic controllers or personal computers. Other key communication features include an external VGA port for hookup to a remote monitor or touch screen; Ethernet ports and X Net software for networking and remote monitoring; and an interface that allows users to monitor welding performance and generate visual alarms when user-specified limits are exceeded. The system comes with a full statistical processing control package and supports compliance with US FDA’s recordkeeping requirements in 21 CFR Part 11.
White paper aids in photoelectric sensor selection
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A manufacturer of sensors for industrial automation has released a white paper with application-specific information and advice regarding automation control. EMX Industries Inc. (Cleveland, OH, USA; www.emxinc.com) has based PhotoElectrics: The Key to Successful Automation Control on the premise that photoelectronic sensors are critical elements of reliable automation systems. The paper marshals information aimed at assisting in selecting the optimal sensor for a particular application.
Contents of the white paper include an overview of optical sensors, essential considerations for sensor commissioning, and the characteristics of and best uses for contrast sensors, colour sensors, colour mark sensors, and luminescence sensors. The final section discusses factors in the selection of photoelectric sensors. It poses questions that focus on variables that may affect sensor operation, such as whether the object to be measured is glossy or matte, the size of the object, the speed at which it is moving when measured, and the distance and mounting conditions under which it is measured.
