Product category:
Materials processing and testing
News Release from: Tecan | Subject: Small and complex metal part production
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 15 October 2001
Medical designers home in on tiny metal
parts
Ground-breaking manufacturing techniques have been developed by Dorset based Tecan, allowing medical industry design engineers to specify increasingly small and complex metal parts
Ground-breaking manufacturing techniques have been developed by Dorset based Tecan, allowing medical industry design engineers to specify increasingly small and complex metal parts with unprecedented cost/performance ratios and unparalleled performance characteristics Bespoke metal components can be routinely produced to satisfy highly-specialised medical-environment needs
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 12 Mar 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Typically these may include microscopic hearing aid baffles, in-line gas/fluid flow regulators, micro-size laboratory tools, discs for in-line capacitive gas analysis, in-line pressure burst discs, radial/linear encoder disks, drip regulators and individual stent parts.
The techniques allow the rapid production of these and similar high-performance bespoke parts at optimum cost, providing designers with open-ended opportunities for the most novel leading-edge designs.
Different manufacturing techniques are employed by Tecan to produce the most cost-effective fit-for-purpose solution for a given requirement.
Further reading
Detailed precision parts with critical tolerances
Tecan can now electroform ultra-accurate three-dimensional parts where holes and lands may be produced up to ten times thinner than their own height - virtually impossible using any other technology
Can-on-board solder migration problems solved
Tecan Components has solved a range of problems associated with automated soldering of RFI screening cans/fences onto PCBs with the introduction of the 'Plimsoll line and lattice bridging stencils'.
Photo-chemical machining (PCM), for example will produce excellent results for a wide range of applications, typically with accuracies of +/-10% the thickness of the metal used - from 1.5mm down to 0.004mm.
In cases requiring even greater accuracy, electroforming manufacturing techniques are utilised, a typical tolerance here being +/-8 microns, in some cases ultra high-tolerances of +/-2 microns can be achieved.
Single-thickness, or bi-level, parts can be produced readily.
Techniques have been developed to produce fine metal screens and meshes with higher, and more rigid, side walls than have previously been available by any other means.
Aspect ratio, the relationship between the width of an aperture and the thickness of the adjacent plate wall, has now been significantly increased through enhancements in photo-resist and lithographic manufacturing techniques.
The result is increasingly wider application potential for designers and OEMs.
For example, a part can be produced with selective mesh areas across a sheet, with higher profile ribs for mechanical strength and rigidity.
Alternatively, robust slatted designs could be produced for optical applications such as light columnation and measurement.
Easy cleaning and long operational life are inherent properties resulting from the manufacturing techniques.
The parts are typically produced from nickel which can be subsequently plated in house, usually with gold, and in some cases, selectively.
Unlike traditional woven products, the single-sheet screens and meshes do not have cross-over areas.
This brings a range of benefits, including the elimination of contamination due to trapped debris, no de-lamination at the edges, consistent cross-sectional thickness and consistently accurate aperture shapes and sizes.
A five-day prototype service produces parts for despatch within five working days from the acceptance of a design.
All standard CAD formats are accepted.
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