valve to extinguish fires in the line between
an oxygen concentrator and the user’s mask
or nasal cannula ─ a lifesaving technology.
The customer was dispensing a two-part
epoxy to bond two halves of the valve’s body
in a precise repeatable volume, metered and
mixed correctly, to achieve a bond integrity
to meet conformance for CE marking under
the Medical Device Directive. Testing
revealed that the preeflow eco-DUO would
provide an appropriate solution. The system
has proven itself in their production line,
with its dispensing accuracy also providing
a rapid return on investment through a 16%
material savings per part.
When metering, mixing and dispensing
small amounts of two-part materials,
consistent mixing and precise application to
the correct location can impact a project’s
success and provide significant cost savings
over the lifetime of production.
Intertronics
01865 842842
www.intertronics.co.uk
UV curing for medical devices
Medical device applications which use UV curing adhesives include needles and
cannulas, reservoirs, tube sets and catheters. Using the right technology can
result in increased production efficacy and productivity.
“When assembling a medical device, it is critical that processes are reliable,
consistent and are able to be validated,” says Peter Swanson, managing director,
Intertronics. “For bonding parts, UV light curing adhesives perform well against
these criteria. They are single part systems and come in a range of viscosities,
facilitating precise, repeatable dispensing, both in quantity and location. Curing
is fully completed in seconds and within a controlled process window, meaning
that immediate on-line quality assurance checks are possible.”
Traditionally, mercury-based arc lamps were used for UV curing as they generate
a broad spectrum of UV light. LED-based UV lamps have grown in popularity,
offering several benefits over broad spectrum lamps. For example, instead of
warm up and cool down periods, LED-based UV lamps are instant on-off, which
uses much less power. They also have no bulbs to replace and generate less heat,
allowing manufacturers to work with more sensitive substrates.
“The choice of adhesive will be substrate dependent,” adds Swanson. “An
adhesive which adheres well to PVC may not adhere well to stainless steel.
Ensuring good adhesion to all substrates may be even more challenging in
medical device manufacturing, where some less common plastics are used,
e.g. polyether ether ketone. In some cases, plasma surface treatment can be
used to improve adhesion to low surface energy polymers.”
LED-based UV curing lamps are available in 365-405nm wavelengths, and
power outputs sufficient for even high-speed production. They range from
lamps generating spots a few millimetres in diameter to large area floods,
and can be hand-held, configured for benchtop use, or designed for use in
automation or conveyors.
www.fastening-solutions.co.uk 33
/www.intertronics.co.uk
/www.fastening-solutions.co.uk