Offtext: Around 120 million people worldwide use insulin pens to inject themselves with insulin.
Because they must work with absolute reliability, the components of these pens require extremely precise manufacturing. At the engineering company Servomold, we take a look at how one of these components is made.
Insulin pens are made up of as many as twelve different plastic parts. At the heart of the injection molding machines where these parts are formed, Servomold’s motors drive key production processes.
Thomas Meister: We ensure that the movements required to produce these plastic components inside an injection mold are carried out with the highest precision and repeatability.
Offtext: When parts are molded with threads, they need to be unscrewed after shaping. Here, this is done using servo-electric unscrewing units and linear actuators. Compared to traditional hydraulic systems, this approach offers several advantages, particularly for the production of medical components.
Thomas Meister: The real value of using servo-electric drives in injection molding tools lies in the control they offer. Movements can be executed with pinpoint accuracy, at any desired speed between positions, allowing for incredibly precise control of the process. Compared to hydraulic systems, that's a huge advantage.
Especially in cleanroom environments, servo drives offer another key benefit: they operate completely free of emissions. That means no contamination from oil or particles, which is essential for medical production.
Offtext: Only components that are precisely measured, milled, and assembled will operate accurately later on. Every single part is polished until it's spotless, down to the last speck of dust.
When manufacturers want to use electric motors in their molding processes, they need to plan for it in advance. That’s where Richard Gane comes in. He guides Servomold’s clients through this crucial step.
Richard Gane: It's very easy to think that you'll convert a hydraulic or a mechanical movement into electric by just adding an electric motor, but there's a lot more to it than that. The whole mold would be far more efficient if it's designed from the beginning with electric.When we receive a request, we would need the 3D part file or 2D part drawing plus the data resin sheets, so that we can do a calculation of exactly the required demolding forces would be.
Offtext: With the right motor setup, injection molding production in cleanrooms can be carried out at high volumes with perfect precision. It’s exactly what’s needed for producing large quantities of insulin pens – a product that millions of patients around the world rely on for their health.
