Medical Design Briefs - May 2024 - 13

Watch the video to see how the jetting valve process works. (Credit: marco Precision Dispensing Systems)
Following is a profile of one such medical component manufacturer
that is upgrading from manual dispensing approaches
to a highly automated fluid dispensing capability.
Making the Switch
This medical device manufacturer was looking for a solution
to a manufacturing assembly issue. For years the company had
been manually assembling a medical component which involved
gluing a very small diameter medical wire (0.014 in. or
14,000 of an inch) within a larger diameter metal tube (0.008
in. or 8,000 of an inch).
The assembly process was performed manually with technicians
looking through microscopes while applying a small
amount of UV-cure adhesive, drop by drop, with a crude handheld
tool. A very tedious and slow process which produced inconsistent
results from operator to operator.
The manufacturer wanted to double its production. Instead
of increasing the number of assembly technicians and expanding
its floor space, the company was looking to automate the
process, but did not have a solution identified for increasing
precision and production volume. So, the medical device manufacturer
elicited the help of an engineering firm to design
and implement an automated production solution.
That firm was Pipeline Design & Engineering, LLC (Pipeline),
which partners with engineering and manufacturing
teams to translate their needs into engineering requirements,
develop advanced manufacturing processes and custom manufacturing
equipment to meet specifications.
" Our core strength is R&D, which is effectively developing
these manufacturing processes, " says Aaron Moncur, founder of
Pipeline. " We excel in developing the process and then building
the automated machine around this assembly process. "
And this is indeed what Pipeline has been engaged in delivering
for this medical component manufacturer - advanced
manufacturing process development through automated machine
building including robotics and process controls.
" Our customer engaged us in this process development
phase because their internal efforts hadn't produced the reMedical
Design Briefs, May 2024
sults they were hoping for, and they needed a team to focus on
finding a solution, " explains Moncur. " The challenge is that everything
was so small - trying to automate the precise application
of glue with an industrial robot onto the tip of something
that is 0.014 in. in diameter. "
" Consequently, the initial process development aspect of
this project addressed the automation of fluid dispensing, " says
Moncur. " To support this initial phase, we selected marco Precision
Dispensing Systems. "
Engineering a Micro-Dispense Solution
Marco Precision Dispensing Systems (marco) is a world leader
in the engineering and manufacturing of products and systems
used for micro-dispensing of adhesives, coatings, sealants,
biomaterials and other fluids for the assembly of critical components
in medical devices, electronics and other industries.
" The project involved, essentially, integrating valves, fluid
systems and controls for a micro-dispense station, " says Tom
Schafer, general manager, North America, for marco. " We have
developed many dispense systems with UV-cure adhesives, particularly
for bonding plastics in medical device assemblies. This
application was similar to what we have done for other companies.
We used an off-the-shelf product but have customized it
for their specific application. "
The dispense parameters did involve some complex maneuvers.
Each wire required several drops of UV-cure in different
locations to adhere the wire to the metal tubing. A unique conical-shaped
bonding between the end of the metal tubing and
the wire needed to be dispensed with the UV-cure adhesive.
It required some experimentation to create the desired shape
correctly. Also, a UV-cure deposit in a specific geometry needed
to be dispensed onto the tip of the wire, which was equivalent
to building this geometry on the end of a staple.
" We were trying to find an appropriate nozzle for the size of the
dispensing, " says Michael Gorman, senior applications engineer
at marco. " One of the difficulties was dispensing material onto the
metal tube, and then relying on the fluid to flow into precise locations.
In initial trials, it would not flow into the correct locations.
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