Minimised cycle time: MeKuMed research project - injection mould with handling

Turning five into three: Until now, there used to be five different individual manufacturing steps necessary for the production of medical crimp claps. As part of the state-funded “MeKuMed” research project, Hofmann has worked with project partners to develop a more efficient production in three steps only.

Decisive for this: The mould developed by Hofmann, including a handling system for time-saving and automated production.

From pilot mould to automated series mould

1. In the first stage of tool development, Hofmann created a new forming punch with different polishes and coatings for an existing test injection mould of the Institute for Plastics Development.
2. Following, a pilot tool with a single mould cavity was then designed, manufactured and further optimized to develop the combined process.
3. Using the resulting findings on the process and mould design, we then constructed and manufactured the final 4-cavity mould.

New production chain

With the new production chain, the time and equipment requirements can be significantly reduced thanks to our injection moulding tool. This results in a more efficient production with higher quality and which is less prone to errors.

New manufacturing process

1. Microstructuring, pre-damaging and cutting out the blanks using a laser by project partner Fraunhofer ILT: circular pre-damaging allows the aluminium to be precisely removed. The rubber stopper can then be pierced with a needle.
2. Forming the metal blank into a crimped cap, followed by injection moulding the plastic component within the combined mould from Hofmann.

Shorter cycle times

The complete injection moulding process with our tool has a minimal cycle time of just 38 seconds – for seven different individual steps. Our series mould therefore saves a lot of production time, effort and costs. In addition, the mould concept and process are scalable to an even higher numbers of cavities.

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