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Cutting and Profiling Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Clamason Industries | Subject: Precision metal pressings
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 July 2006
Precision metal pressings fight back
Clamason's precision metal pressings are fighting back against plastics, providing superior solutions for many so-called "traditional" plastics applications in the medical device sector.
Clamason's precision metal pressings are now fighting back in all sorts of ways against plastics, providing superior solutions for many so-called "traditional" plastics applications in the medical device sector Accordingly, in comparison with metal pressings, plastics may suffer from shrinkage, joint line and RFI / EMI shielding problems, be degraded over time by heat, light and ultraviolet rays and hold lower dimensional tolerances
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 25 Sep 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Then, unlike plastics, Clamason presswork is recyclable in 95% of cases.
The latest examples of how metals are effectively replacing plastics in medical equipment were displayed on Clamason Industries' Stand 711 at Medical Device Technology 2006, NEC, Birmingham, on February 15th - 16th.
Clamason Industries takes great care to safeguard customer confidentiality, so therefore cannot detail the growing number of medical devices incorporating its pressed metal, precision components, which go well beyond the more traditional pressed scalpel blades, pins, rods and implants.
Further reading
Subcontractor ingenuity lowers inflator costs
A material properties solution of folding steel shut to enclose a device and their cost-saving transfer press line have now been successfully carried over to various other components.
Pressings replace extrusions for enclosures
An enclosure manufactured from four zinc-coated steel components at a lower cost has replaced a version produced from aluminium extrusions and plastics mouldings.
Clamason Industries can, however, quote the capabilities and procedures which the company has in place to ensure that its engineering solutions meet the exacting standards demanded of medical device protocols.
In fact 50% of the cost of a medical component can be its validation cost.
Accordingly, all Clamason medical components are fully process validated using Design, Installation, Operational and Production Qualification protocols (DQ / IQ / OQ / PQ).
In addition, the Clamason team is trained in the use of URS (User Requirement Specifications), CAPA (Corrective and Preventative Actions) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice).
The new £40,000 Simac Masic 3D realtime vision system at Clamason measures and monitors in 3D 100% of thin and intricate healthcare components fed from a high-speed press in a continuous strip and requiring measurement of key features to 50-micron tolerances.
Meanwhile, over in the Metrology Department, Clamason's Nikon Nexiv 3020 non-contact, CNC video measuring system featuring a through-the-lens laser autofocus facility ensures the repeatability of small, complex and highly toleranced, sample parts from large batch production.
Such close monitoring of key dimensions enables Clamason to anticipate when and where adjustments need to be made to the process.
A specific example would be tool wear, especially when processing hard stainless steels for medical device applications.
The Metrology Department also operates a hardness tester and a £60,000 Brown and Sharpe Mistral CNC co-ordinate measuring machine, with a Renishaw PH10M contact probe, for the checking of high-tolerance parts having complex 3D forms and the preparation of associated reports.
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