Emerson will showcase Branson welding equipment and automated solutions for plastics joining and mould cleaning, in addition to ASCO miniature valve technologies for fluid control at the MD&M West trade show.
The ASCO fluid-control portfolio is uniquely designed to address the speed, specificity and exceptional quality demanded by leaders in the analytical and medical world. Branson plastic joining solutions simplify assembly and reduce the number of device components. Both Emerson brands have vast technical applications experience and a global footprint with local engineering teams to support product design.
Product highlights:
Branson Ultrasonic Cleaning for Injection Moulds
Branson ultrasonic mould-cleaning system increases efficiency dramatically compared to traditional cleaning methods. The non-contact system uses cavitation, or the rapid formation and collapse of minute bubbles in a cleaning solution, to dislodge soils and contaminants from the mould surfaces, making it ideal for close-tolerance medical-device tooling. Side-mounted immersible ultrasonic transducers convert electrical energy to sound energy to achieve high levels of cleanliness that, in turn, result in better part release, improved productivity, and reduced scrap and waste.
Branson GL-300 Laser Welder
The Branson GL-300 laser welding platform can be quickly and cost-effectively adapted to changing production demands. This flexible, quasi-simultaneous plastic joining solution was designed to deliver efficient high-quality welds in a wide range of applications, while cost-effective and easy-to-change tooling enables faster setup and adjustment for changing product specifications. Manufacturing capabilities are further enhanced by a range of unique features including a high-quality scanning system, easy-to-use human-machine interface (HMI), large (300 mm x 300 mm) weld area, multiple weld modes, variable spot size as low as 0.5 mm and an adjustable laser power source height.
Branson GPX PulseStaking Series
The heat staking process provided by the Branson GPX series offers medical manufacturers a broad range of benefits, including product aesthetics and reduced energy use. The GPX series, comprising three full-sized models and a small handheld unit, gives manufacturers greater design freedom by making it possible to join more complex, delicate and sensitive components to plastic mouldings. A unique instantaneous heating and cooling process suits increasingly challenging applications. These include parts made of dissimilar materials with complex 3D geometries, closely aligned features, and fragile or heat-sensitive components, such as soldered components or sensors; and parts that use a greater number of blended, glass-reinforced, chromed and metallicised plastics.
Branson GSX-E1 Ultrasonic Welding Platform
The Elite Precision+ version of the Branson GSX-E1 ultrasonic welder is an advanced and intuitive flexible joining solution for plastic components. It uses Branson’s patent-pending “dynamic mode” along with servo actuation to deliver greater flexibility and precision than are possible with single-parameter weld-mode controls typically found on conventional ultrasonic welders. Controls automatically monitor, recalculate and adjust multiple weld parameters in real time (e.g., force, weld energy, velocity, distance) to achieve optimal, user-specified results such as consistent insert depth/position and pull strength. Among other things, real-time control, monitoring and communication capabilities allow medical manufacturers to automate bad-part processing and data logging that are necessary to maintain quality. It also supports the 100% traceability required under standards such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) 21 CFR Part 11, which requires manufacturers to deliver electronic records, data management and audit trails. Mechanically, the GSX-E1 welders offer other benefits to medical device manufacturers, including ISO class 5.5 cleanroom certification.
ASCO Series 090 Miniature Valves
This line of miniature solenoid valves is designed for use with air and inert gases. Their compact, lightweight architecture and low power consumption make the ASCO Series 090 ideal for portable medical devices. The valves’ exceptional service lifetime of over 50 million cycles significantly increases OEM instrument reliability. Typical applications include oxygen-delivery and compression-therapy devices and gas analysers.
ASCO Series 062 Rocker Isolation Valves
ASCO Series 062 rocker isolation valves are designed for use with neutral or highly aggressive liquids in clinical diagnostic and laboratory instruments. The isolating diaphragm prevents heat transfer, and the special rocker mechanism has easy-to-flush and low-volume internal cavities. The valves' 16 mm size and both two-way and three-way functions make them interchangeable with most other 16 mm isolation valves in the market. Typical applications include in-vitro diagnostics, haematology, DNA sequencing and industrial liquid analysers.
ASCO 038 Miniature Isolation Solenoid Valve
The ASCO Series 038 miniature isolation solenoid valves offer isolated fluid control and are designed for use with neutral or aggressive liquids in clinical and diagnostic instruments. With a width of 5.7 mm, low internal volume, and low power consumption, the valves are suited for dispensing and precise flow control. The valves can handle aggressive reagents while reducing their consumption, which translates into critical cost savings for diagnostic laboratories. Latching coils are available for minimal heat transfer to thermally sensitive samples. Applications that are well suited to the Series 038 valves include clinical diagnostics, DNA sequencing, immunoassay, and sample preparation.
ASCO Series 202 Preciflow IPC Proportional Valves
These proportional solenoid valves are designed to control the flow of air and inert gases by varying the electrical input signal to the coil. The compact pressure-compensated architecture of the Preciflow solenoid valve saves valuable space in analytical and medical instrumentation applications, including respiratory therapy, gas chromatography, blood-pressure monitoring and anesthesia delivery. Their low power consumption meets the most stringent instrument requirements.
ASCO Series 088 Solenoid Valves
ASCO Series 088 solenoid valves are designed for use with air and inert gases and can also be used to pilot other valves or cylinders. Compact architecture and low power consumption of only 1.3W make them ideal for portable medical devices. Typical applications include respiratory therapy, dental, anesthesia delivery and gas analysers.