Trelleborg: Two-component injection molding
Trelleborg invented a new molding process for precision medical device parts. [Image from Trelleborg]
In the new molding process, either two dissimilar silicones or a combination of silicone and thermoplastics are injected in two shots into a single tool using a fully automated operation. Trelleborg is calling this its 2K solution.
The technology offers medtech companies broader design latitude and eliminates the need for secondary handling and assembly operations. The 2K process may be used for multiple-component devices or complete ones, according to Ursula Nollenberger, product line director of Trelleborg Sealing Solutions’ Global Elastomers Operations
“It’s a growing trend that we’re seeing where it’s a matter of combining multiple materials, multiple components, multiple functions,” Nollenberger told Medical Design & Outsourcing.
“Device makers are looking to combine into one composite, solid, fully-bonded device versus the alternative, which a lot of times you have several components and you put them together in an assembly,” Nollenberger said.
The process is especially well-suited to devices that must be small enough to fit inside wearables or long-term implants such as pacemaker micropumps, she added.
“We’re helping designers to be able to come up with solutions to near-impossible problems in terms of intricacy of shape, size of shape, especially with this trend of devices becoming smaller and smaller,” Nollenberger said. “For patients, I think it’s more freedom. It’s about the reliability of the devices that they’re in contact with.”
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