Plastic Molds – Production and Prototype Molds, Plastic Medical Molding

Case Studies

Plastic Molds, Production Prototype Molds, Plastic Medical Molding

Harvest Medical Corporation is an innovator of blood conservation technology and supplies its SMART PRePTM system worldwide. Designed to specifically produce platelet concentrate rapidly and simply, this medical marvel required the help Hy-Ten Plastics to bring this amazing product to market.

Situation:
The company needed product development and processing support, to create a sustainable supply of product to its global customers.

Challenges:
The material chosen for this product was challenging to mold due to its extrusion formulation and poor welding characteristics. The part and tooling design was critical to its long term success and time was of the essence.

Solution:
Hy-Ten employed not only its innovative approach to product development to further reduce unit cost but pushed the processing envelope by customizing the injection molding screw to maximize efficiency. To complete this development and manufacturing exercise, Hy-Ten had to resolve challenging welding issues associated with the material. This lead to an unconventional but successful welding process capable of meeting the high standards of medical products.

Belimo Case Study

Belimo Aircontrols (USA) Inc. (Danbury CT), a division of The Belimo Group out of Hinwil Switzerland is a world leader in HVAC technology. They produce top of the line valves and actuators to support worldwide markets.

Situation:
Belimo uses a Tefzel disc to control the rate of flow through the valve. The discs were coming in oval instead of round, creating a high scrap rate and slow assembly time.

Challenges:
The resin selected is challenging to mold in a concentric form. The cost of the part needs to remain low to ensure the competitiveness of the product. The part design cannot be changed due to the existing product in the field. The part design leaves the product susceptible to differential shrinkage pulling it out of its concentric form.

Solution:
Hy-Ten agreed to build an experimental tool to confirm that the product could be molded in a concentric shape. We were able to produce the discs in the shape required, and we provided samples from a variety of cycle times to get the best cost to concentricity ratio. The disc project has lead Belimo to award additional new programs to Hy-Ten, including the full line of discs for their most recent product releases.

“Hy-Ten accepted a challenge to do what many other injection molders said could not be done. Their engineering staff tested a number of different solutions and responded very well to the challenges in the development process. Then their moldmakers had tools done in record time. Hy-Ten has been an invaluable partner in new product development and production.”

Engineering Manager
Belimo Air Controls (USA) Inc.