3 Approaches For Custom Medical Rubber Part Manufacturing
The products used in a medical setting must meet the highest safety and quality standards. Many of these products are manufactured specifically for medical use.
The rubber parts that are found in hospital machinery and devices must be custom manufactured by companies that specialize in creating rubber components for medical use. These companies use one of three approaches when producing rubber parts for the medical industry: injection, compression, or transfer molding.
Learn more about the differences between these approaches so that you will be better prepared to work with a custom rubber part manufacturing company to source your medical components in the future.
1. Injection Molding
One of the most basic approaches to custom rubber manufacturing is injection molding. This process begins with the creation of a mold that meets a customer's unique specifications. The mold is then injected with liquified plastic polymers and placed in a safe space for cooling.
Once the polymer has completely cured, the rubber component can be removed from the mold and the mold can be used to create another component.
Manufacturers that specialize in injection molding will typically utilize multiple molds simultaneously. This allows for larger production runs at minimal cost to the client.
Injection molding can also be used to complete a process known as overmolding. This process allows rubber manufacturers to mold a polymer over an existing substrate. Overmolding creates soft-touch handles for various medical devices that can facilitate the comfort of both the patient and provider.
2. Compression Molding
Compression molding is another manufacturing approach that is used in the production of rubber parts for the medical industry. Unlike injection molding, compression molding doesn't require the use of molds. Instead, specialized dies are used to form a rubber base into the desired shape.
The polymer compound that will serve as the base of the rubber component is placed into a heated mold cavity. The top part of the die is then lowered onto the mold cavity and pressure is applied. This pressure forces the polymer to come into contact with all of the specialized die.
Since the dies used in compression molding don't require as much tooling or fabrication as the mold used in injection molding, rubber parts manufactured using a compression approach tend to be more affordable.
Compression molding is the perfect manufacturing approach for large, thick rubber components and shorter production runs.
3. Transfer Molding
Transfer molding shares many of the same characteristics as injection molding. Both transfer molding and injection molding use an enclosed chamber that has been tooled to match the exact dimensions of the desired rubber part. The major difference between injection and transfer molding comes in the handling of the polymer molding material prior to processing.
The polymer is placed into a separate chamber where it is pressurized and pre-heated in preparation for the transfer molding process. Once the polymer reaches the correct temperature and pressure, it is forced into the enclosed molding chamber.
The small opening through which the polymer passes as it enters the enclosed molding chamber helps maintain even temperature distribution throughout the molding material. This temperature consistency results in fewer distortions in the resulting rubber parts.
Transfer molding is utilized to create rubber medical parts that have an intricate shape or multiple cavities.
Manufacturing methodology is critical when it comes to the successful creation of rubber medical parts. The approach that is used during manufacturing will have a direct impact on the overall cost, quality, and precision of the rubber components that are produced.
Be sure that you are utilizing the most efficient approach when investing in custom rubber medical parts for your facility in the future.
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