Tag: medical parts

Compressed Air Use in the Medical Industry

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

EXAIR uses many different methods to connect with our customers.  We have our website, social media, blogs, publications etc. We like to share solutions for some of the most common pneumatic problems in industry.  EXAIR generates a large collection of application information where EXAIR products have already solved problems and improved processes. We organized them by Application and by Industry.  In this blog, I will show you how to use our Application database; specifically, for the Medical Industry.

Vortex based products used to cool skin during air removal laser surgery

Compressed Air Systems are considered to be a fourth utility within industries because they use a large amount of energy.  Whether an air compressor that uses fuel for portable units or that uses electricity, it is important to use this system as efficiently as possible.  This would also apply to the Automotive industry.  EXAIR has a library of different processes in which we already improved these areas safely and efficiently.  If you are part of the Automotive industry, it could benefit you to take a peek at the areas that we already improved, established OSHA safety, and saved money.

Drying medical Bins with the Super air Amplifier!

Here is how you can find this library.  First, you will have to sign into EXAIR.  Click here: Log In.  Once you fill in the proper information, you can then retrieve a great amount of resources about EXAIR products that we manufacture.   The Application database is under the Resources tab.  (Reference photo below).

EXAIR Application Data Base

At the Application Search Library, we have over one thousand applications that we reference.  In the left selection pane, we organized then in alphabetical order under two categories, Application and Industry.

Scroll down in the selection pane until you come to the sub-category: Industry.  Under this Sub-category, you will find three selections that are related to this blog: Medical, Health and Beauty, and Healthcare.  We have other applications as well that may relate to your specific processes if you scroll up and down the list. You will find many product applications that have already improved processes and solved problems.

Why is this important?  If you are a plant manager or owner, the value of the Application Database can improve your current processes with pre-qualified results.  Within the Automotive industry, simple solutions can be found to address those “nagging” issues that you see every day.  For crisis situations and shutdowns, EXAIR categorized these applications in a way to reference quickly and easily.  And since EXAIR has a high volume of stocked items, we can get the parts to you very fast so you can quickly be on your way to a solution.

In today’s market, companies are always looking for ways to cut cost, increase productivity, and improve safety.  EXAIR can offer engineered products to do exactly that.  With the “been there and done that” solutions already described in the Application Database; you can have confidence in finding a way in solving pneumatic issues.  If you do not sign up at www.EXAIR.com and take advantage of these offerings, you will be missing out on a great tool to optimize your compressed air system.

Jordan Shouse
Application Engineer

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Super Air Knives Remove Water from Knee Replacement Parts

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

EXAIR’s Super Air Knives are the go to when you need to dry your parts as they’re traveling along a conveyor. The high velocity, laminar airflow from the Super Air Knife does a fantastic job of stripping away moisture, leaving your part dry for the next stage of the process. With models available in both 303 & 316 Stainless Steel, Aluminum, and polyvinylidene fluoride and at lengths ranging from 3″-108″, there’s a knife for every application.

I was recently working with a customer that manufactures knee replacement devices. He was designing a new blowoff station to eliminate having to have operators manually dry the parts after a washing operation. He created a test rig to test out his theory of using Super Air Knives. While conducting his tests, he was having issues completely removing the water from the parts. Due to some of the grooves and pockets, the underside was not drying in one pass. This led to him having to manually blow the parts off after they exited the basket. This would not be acceptable as the purpose was to remove the operator from this part of the process. After taking a look at some photos of the setup, I noticed that he had the knives angled so that the airflow was blowing perpendicular to the parts. In doing this, the amount of time that the part is exposed to the airflow is greatly reduced. In any blowoff application, maximizing the time & contact that the part has with the airflow is critical in maximizing effectiveness. By angling the knives so that the parts were exposed to the airstream just as they exited washing, he was effectively able to dry the parts in one pass.

Optimized-IMG_20170313_133531
Improper Positioning of Super Air Knives

We’re frequently contacted by customers who may have the right product for the application, but are not seeing the results they expected. EXAIR has a highly trained team of Application Engineers that are ready and waiting to help you optimize your installation. In addition, EXAIR offers an unconditional 30 Day Guarantee on all stock products. We want you to have an opportunity to test the product out in your application before committing to the purchase. In doing this, we have the unique opportunity to work with you as you troubleshoot the application. If you have an EXAIR product installed and still aren’t seeing the results you expect, give us a call. We’d be happy to look into your setup and determine if there’s anything that can be done to enhance the performance.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer

E-mail: tylerdaniel@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

EXAIR Mini Chip Vac: Phase 2 for Improving Medical Devices

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

Medical Anatomy

In my previous blog about the manufacturing facility that machined small plastic components for the medical industry, I explained how the Stay Set Ion Air Jet Kit was able to improve the machining process by eliminating static.  (You can read the blog here: EXAIR Ion Air Jets: Phase 1 for improving medical devices).  With their machining center being in a semi-clean room, cleanliness was very important.  So, after each machining operation, they would have to sweep the plastic chips from the machining table and discard.  This extended the cycle time in their machining operation.

Since they had such a great relationship with EXAIR in dealing with their previous application, they contacted us again to improve their cleanup operation.  Non-conductive materials like plastic generates static on the surface when the material is peeled, shifted, or rubbed against another surface.  Since we removed the static from the plastic shavings with the Stay Set Ion Air Jet, we wanted to target that area before static could regenerate and start “sticking” to clean parts.  In getting more details about their setup, they were machining with vertical CNC mills.  The mills had a platform table that had a pneumatic fixture to grab the medical part.  Before machining began, the operators would have to close Plexiglas doors as a safety requirement.  The CNC mills did have an opening at the top of the machine.  (This was where they were supplying the Stay Set Ion Air Jet with compressed air and power supply.)

Mini Chip Vac

With my experience, I had a good suggestion for refining their cleaning operation.  I suggested the model 6193-5 Mini Chip Vac System.  This system uses compressed air to generate a vacuum for picking up chips.  The vacuum generator does not have any moving parts or bearings to wear; so, they are very durable and long-lasting.  The Mini Chip Vac System uses a 5 gallon drum which is very compact and easy to use in tight areas.  The system includes a 0.1 micron filter to keep all the contamination inside the drum and not allowing it to escape back into the room air.  (Very necessary in a semi-clean location.)  Even for its small size, the Mini Chip Vac is very powerful and quiet.  It has a decibel rating of only 77 dBA; so, noise will not be a nuisance when operating the vacuum.  It comes standard with a 10 foot vacuum hose which make it easy to reach into tight areas to clean.

As a suggestion, I recommended that they could collect the plastic shaving during the machining process Instead of waiting until after the operation to clean.  They could mount the Mini Chip Vac drum near the machine, and bring in the vacuum hose through the opening at the top.  The suction end of the vacuum could be placed on the opposite side of the Stay Set Ion Air Jet.  In conjunction, the Stay Set Ion Air Jet would remove the static and swarf from the plastic surface; at the same time, the Mini Chip Vac would collect and remove the plastic shavings from the machining area.  This combination of EXAIR products would keep the parts clean as well as the machining area.  When they installed the Mini Chip Vac System into their process, they almost doubled their production rate.

If you are dealing with messy chips in your machining operation, the EXAIR Chip Vac Systems can be a solution for you.  For the customer above, I was able to find a simple way to use the Mini Chip Vac to keep the area clean and increase their production rates.  If you are spending too much time in cleaning up your area, you can contact an Application Engineer to find the best solution to streamline your operation.

John Ball
Application Engineer

Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

 

Photo: Muscles Anatomy Medical Human by Heblo/64.  CC0 Public Domain

EXAIR Ion Air Jets: Phase 1 for Improving Medical Devices

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment

Medical Anatomy

A manufacturing facility was machining small plastic components for the medical industry.  They had their machining center located in a semi-clean room to keep dust and debris from getting onto the product.  As a procedure before entering the machining area, the operators would have to put on a lab jacket, wear hats, step on tack matts, and then test themselves for static buildup.   This was to ensure the operators were not bringing in contamination.  For this company, there was a high importance in keeping the area and the parts very clean.

With any non-conductive material like plastic, static is a common problem.  Static causes things to “stick” to the surface like a magnet.  Stuff like dirt, dust, and in this case; the swarf from the machining process.  When the plastic material was being machined, static would build and cause the fragments to stick to the part.  This was causing surface defects on the components which caused a rejection failure.  They tried to use a small brush to keep the fragments from gathering, but it was not real effective.  They decided to contact EXAIR to see if we could eliminate the problematic issues caused by static.

Stay Set Ion Air Jet

When it comes to removing static, EXAIR has a large product line of Static Eliminators.  Our design creates both positive and negative ions to remove any type of static charge.  In most of our systems, we can use compressed air to carry the ions to the problem areas to remove the static.  Then the air can easily blow the debris from the surface.  For the above operation, this company needed a hands-free device.  Since the size of the products being machined were small, I recommended the Stay Set Ion Air Jet Kit; model 8494-9362.  This kit includes an Ion Air Jet, magnetic base, a 12” Stay Set Hose, power supply, filter and regulator (a complete startup kit to begin removing static).  The Ion Air Jet delivers a concentrated air flow of ionized air that can be focused on the parts.  With a small amount of compressed air, the Ion Air Jet induces the surrounding air at a ratio of 5:1; making it very efficient to use.  The magnetic base and the Stay Set Hose allows for easy maneuverability to direct the ionized air at the best position for maximum effectiveness in removing the swarf.

Once they installed the model 8494-9362 onto the CNC platform near the part, they started to see much improvement in their process.  As the Ion Air Jet was keeping the surface clean during machining, the reject rate for surface defects were reduced over 90%.  Another benefit that they saw was the reduction in time for cleaning after the machining process.  It was already debris-free and ready for the next operation.  One other thing that they did notice was the surface roughness was much “cleaner”.  They believed that the air from the Ion Air Jet was removing the heat from the tool and the surface of the part during the machining.   This allowed for a smoother and cleaner finish.

If you are dealing with plastic and non-conductive materials, the EXAIR Static Eliminators are designed to make your process run more efficiently by removing the static.  It was a great benefit for the above manufacturer to keep the product clean, reduce defects, and streamline their operation.  If you have issues with static, you can contact an Application Engineer at EXAIR to see how we can eliminate it.

John Ball
Application Engineer

Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

 

Photo: Muscles Anatomy Medical Human by heblo/64.  CC0 Public Domain.