2C injection moulding in Class 100 cleanrooms

The teat is made of TPE, instead of the conventional latex. Project manager Uwe Wagenknecht summed up the process and the benefits: "The basis of the production concept was an improved teat design, which has made it possible to optimise the whole production process. We have successfully reduced the number of process steps including eliminating a disinfection step. The whole process is carried out in a Class 100 cleanroom." Previously, the teats were made of latex and the PP screw-on ring was added post mould. Each part was then disinfected and packaged in a blister pack. In Mapa's new process, the product is injection moulded in a Class 100 cleanroom, which is itself embedded in a Class 10,000 cleanroom (air cleanliness Class 7 (10,000)/micro-organism Class C). The air for the Class 100 cleanroom comes from the Class 10,000 cleanroom. The solution is an entirely new and highly effective cleanroom concept, not simply another variant of the double-floor design. It takes cleanroom injection moulding to new levels, all the more impressive because this is a true 2C moulding process. The automated manufacturing cell uses a KM 150-390-160 CZ and a parts removal robot. The parts are produced and packaged totally without operator intervention – the end products, emerging from the Class 10,000 cleanroom, are blister packed 2C teats. Mapa decided on completely automated production and the 'rooming-in' concept as the best way to achieve the necessary extremely low airborne particle and biocontamination counts. The solution currently installed in Zeven has achieved consistently good results. Mapa experts say that, given a positive market response, they could well take this approach on to other projects. As Uwe Wagenknecht commented: "Setting up the project with this process technology is unique and as such it's currently a one-off, but it certainly opens the door to a number of options in the future."

Krauss-Maffei T: +49(0)89 88990 info@krauss-maffei.de