American Kuhne Inc. introduced a Modular Micro Extruder at the Medical Design & Manufacturing West trade show, Feb. 12-14 in Anaheim, Calif.
Kuhne ran micro tubing on the machine, which has a 12-millmeter screw diameter, servo drive and pressure control.
The Micro extruder allows fast and easy changes of barrel and screw diameters, and configurations of feed section geometry.
The new extruders are available in 12, 16 and 19 mm barrel/screw sizes. They are suitable for medical device and pharmaceutical applications. Very low output volumes can be achieved, down to 125 grams an hour, using standard-sized pellet shapes and granules.
The machine can run resins for micro catheters, such as Pebax polyether block amides, nylon, and polyurethane, high temperature polymers like polyetherketone (PEEK) and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) and bioresorbable polymer formulations such as polylactic acid (PLA).
Kuhne, of Ashaway, R.I., offers complete Micro systems to produce tight-tolerance medical tubing, coextruded tubing, fine wire jacketing, filaments and solid-dosage forms.
"Micro extruders allow for a short residence time in the barrel, which helps to minimize thermal degradation, especially compared to traditional size extruders running at very low screw speeds," said Steve Maxson, vice president of extrusion systems.
Tel. 401-326-6200, email [email protected].