The Saint-Gobain Seals Group was recently selected to supply OmniSeal® spring-energized seals and Rulon® bearings for use in high-performance clinical chemical analyzer systems. Chemical analyzers are used in a variety of professions such as medicine and forensics and in such industries as environmental, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, agricultural, consumer products, and food and beverage. In large routine laboratories, the number of sample numbers that are being handled can reach to hundreds of thousands per year because a single analyzer can analyze different types of samples whether they are, for example, whole blood samples for stat testing; serum and plasma samples for routine testing; or CSF and dialysate samples for specialty testing.
Laboratory managers utilizing chemical analyzer systems fitted with these seals and bearings will significantly maximize equipment run time while minimizing maintenance costs. The benefits are due to a combination of the Seals Group’s proprietary Fluoroloy® seal and Rulon® polymer bearing, which improves maintenance intervals by 200% or more, resulting in the end user needing to only service the equipment one to two times per year in comparison to a typical six times per year with other systems. This reduction in maintenance time and spare part costs translates into an overall lower cost of ownership for the end user.
Aside from contributing to the workflow and cost-efficient value of the analyzer systems, the Seals Group has also provided sustainable solutions such as surgical tools in the medical and dental fields (seals are being used in the only full-powered, battery-operated endoscopic stapler in the world ) and hematology, HPLC equipment and mixers in the analytical and pharmaceutical fields. The group has been a trusted manufacturing partner in the Life Sciences market for over 30 years, and key elements in their sealing and polymer designs address critical sealing, friction control, chemical compatibility, material compliance and weight reduction.
Their Fluoroloy® and Rulon® product lines are registered trademarks of the Seals Group, consisting of a family of proprietary materials that are composed primarily of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) based resins and developed to perform in the most diverse and extreme applications for various markets such as Life Sciences, Aerospace, Oil & Gas and Automotive. There are more than 100 standard Fluoroloy® and Rulon® grades available, several of which are FDA compliant and USP Class VI certified, making them well suited for medical and analytical equipment applications.
Saint-Gobain
www.saint-gobain.com
