Novatec Inc. rolled out its Bessemer Rx-SmartMED series of medical downstream equipment at MD&M/Plastec West in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 5-7.
Medical extruders need to meet stringent clean room standards and tight-tolerance requirements for producing medical tubing.
The Rx-SmartMED line includes vacuum-sizing and water-cooling tanks, and a line of puller/cutters. Bob Bessemer, Novatec's vice president of extrusion technology, said standard features on the downstream equipment “will ease the cleaning process, provide increased process control and offer more efficient setup and operation.”
The MVT series medical vacuum tanks, available in three models, were designed meet the critical ovality and concentricity requirements of single- and multi-lumen microbore tubing. The tanks boast operator convenience and efficiency features, and they are easy to clean, Novatec said.
Some features of the MVT tanks include: digital closed-loop vacuum control that lets operators enter fine vacuum settings (within 0.01 inch) for increased dimensional control; servo-linear actuator in place of a handwheel that optimizes “hot gap” precision and repeatability, and material properties, with a handheld tablet that can be used to remotely setup and operate the equipment; an easy-to-clean design; a water pump with a three-way water valve allows quick system flushing and draining; medical-grade, three-stage filter and an ultraviolet filter with a five-micron pre-filter will render germs and filter pyrogens from the cooling water.
The NPC Micro-Medical puller/cutter series has been designed with an intense focus on the requirements to manufacture medical tubing. Available in three models, the pulling speed regulation and cutting accuracy are optimized for extremely small, thin-walled, low-durometer and potentially tacky operations, Bessemer said.
Novatec said that on the puller/cutter, advanced servo-drive and control technology makes complex setups efficient and intuitive. Drop-down menus let the operator input information including extruder size, material, durometer, throughput, digital and proximal dimensions, transition lengths and designed line speed, whether the tubing is single- or multi-lumen and whether it's symmetrical or non-symmetrical taper tube. On the puller side, an advanced servo boom with two independent servos eliminates the old-style manual hand wheel system for belt gapping.
Bessemer will play a key role in developing Novatec's growing customer base for downstream extrusion equipment, and expansion the portfolio in the coming months. Novatec, based in Baltimore, plans to introduce new extrusion products through 2019 and into 2020.
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