In the medical field, injection molds play a vital role. The high quality, high precision and strict hygiene standards required of medical products make the design and manufacture of injection molds face unique challenges and opportunities.
- Characteristics of injection molds for medical products
High precision requirements
Medical products usually have complex geometric shapes and fine structures, such as miniature medical device parts, high-precision medical connectors, etc. For example, the pipette tips commonly used in laboratories are small in size but require extremely high precision to ensure that the amount of liquid sucked each time is accurate. Another example is the indwelling needle, the size and shape of its needle tip and catheter need to be precisely controlled to ensure safety and effectiveness during use.
Strict hygiene standards
Since medical products are in direct contact with the human body or used in medical operations, molds must meet strict hygiene standards. This means that the mold material needs to have good biocompatibility, a smooth surface and be easy to clean to prevent the growth and residue of bacteria and contaminants.
The particularity of material selection
In order to ensure the safety and reliability of medical products, the materials used in injection molds usually need to have properties such as high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance. For example, commonly used mold steels such as P20 and H13 can meet the requirements of long-term use of medical products after special treatment.
- Key points of mold design and manufacturing
Mold structure design
Reasonable mold structure design is the key to ensure product quality and production efficiency. For medical products, multi-cavity molds, hot runner systems or special demoulding mechanisms may be required to improve production efficiency and product consistency. For example, when producing a large number of pipette tips, multi-cavity molds can significantly improve production efficiency.
Optimization of cooling system
The precise cooling system can effectively control the mold temperature, reduce the deformation and internal stress of the product, and thus improve the dimensional stability and quality of the product.
Surface treatment technology
In order to improve the wear resistance and demoulding performance of the mold, various surface treatment technologies are often used, such as hard chrome plating and nitriding.
- Quality Control and Testing
Dimensional inspection
Use high-precision measuring equipment, such as a three-dimensional coordinate measuring machine, to strictly inspect the key dimensions of the mold to ensure that it meets the design requirements. Taking the indwelling needle as an example, the inspection of key dimensions such as the angle of the needle tip and the inner diameter of the catheter is crucial.
Trial mold and sample evaluation
After the mold is manufactured, trial mold production is carried out, and the samples are subjected to comprehensive performance testing and appearance inspection, including physical properties, chemical properties and biocompatibility.
Monitoring during production
During mass production, molds are regularly maintained and inspected to promptly detect and resolve possible problems to ensure the stability of product quality.
- Development Trends and Innovation
Digital design and manufacturing
With the continuous development of computer technology, digital design and manufacturing technology are increasingly used in the field of medical injection molds. Through CAD, CAM software and simulation analysis, possible problems can be predicted in the mold design stage and optimized and improved.
Micro injection molding technology
With the increasing demand for medical micro devices, micro injection molding technology has developed rapidly. It can produce medical parts with extremely small size and high precision, such as more delicate pipette tips.
Application of new materials
Continuously explore and apply new mold materials, such as high-performance engineering plastics, ceramic materials, etc., to meet the higher requirements of medical products for mold performance.
In short, injection molds for medical products are an important support for the medical manufacturing industry. The level of their design, manufacturing and quality control directly affects the quality and safety of medical products. Continuously innovating and improving the technical level of injection molds is of great significance to promoting the development of the medical industry.
