The company manufactures two-platen injection machines at its flagship 560,000-m2 campus in Shenzhen. Chen Hsong prides itself in manufacturing all components bar electronic ones in-house. casting of platens and machining of screws included. “In this way we can control what raw materials go into our machines,” says C.K. Chiang, executive director of manufacturing and technology in Chen Hsong.

Chen Hsong has also worked to reduce sound levels during machine operation. The latest machines operate at a sound level of is 80 dB versus 84 dB for the national standard in China.

To reduce friction in products made from thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), lubricious coatings can be applied to the devices or the TPEs can be compounded with specialty additives. Shruba Manna , senior development engineer at compounder Foster Corp., will explain the low-friction technolgies available on the market along with the effect of additives on a polymer’s properties and processability.

Wei Shen, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, will present a class of thermoplastic elastomers that exhibit elastomeric properties in both wet and dry environments. The elastomers can be processed via 3D printing, extrusion, and hot-press processing at 60°C. The collective elastomeric, biodegradable, biocompatible, and thermoplastic properties make these materials highly valuable for biomedical applications.

The recently qualified medical device development tool (MDDT) provides an accelerated test methodology to address the performance of new materials at long human implant times. Not only does careful use of accelerated testing reduce dependency on preclinical models, the MDDT increases certainty in predictions of a new material’s bio-durability. Kimberly Chaffin, vice president corporate technologist at Medtronic, will review predictive accelerated testing conducted for a series of commonly implanted medical device polymers, where the accelerated predictions are validated with up to 20 years of real-time human implant data.

Another auto parts supplier is using two Chen Hsong two-platen machines, a SM1650 model and a SM1050 model, to mold seat backs for the Audi Q5 using a low-pressure injection technique. The machines use Chen Hsong’s extractable platen technology” to facilitate easy tooling changes.

“Customers who come to us nowadays are not asking for a machine with a specific clamping force. They are coming to us looking for a solution, be it in medical, automotive or other sectors,” Ringo Au, head of international sales for Chen Hsong. The company offers a variety of clamping unit and injection unit options for the SM-TP Series to cater to varying industry requirements: 14 clamping tonnages in all are available between 700 and 6500 tonnes and also 29 shot weights ranging between 1968 and 106,081 grams per cylinder (meaning the options are even more abundant when considering the Y-configuration permeations). The permeations for combining clamping and injection options are thus numerous.

Durable medical devices typically are expected to function for up to 10 years or more under a combination of mechanical and/or thermal loads. Designing and analyzing medical devices that incorporate polymeric components, therefore, requires a thorough understanding of the material properties that influence creep and fatigue performance, as well as test and analysis methods for evaluating device performance. In this session, Paul Briant, practice director and principal engineer at Exponent, will review polymer properties that affect creep and fatigue, test methods for evaluating long-term creep and fatigue, and simulation methods of polymer performance under thermal and mechanical loads.

Leading Chinese auto OEMs are among users of Chen Hsong machines that the machine builder is working with, including an auto parts molder in Chongqing that is using a 1650-tonne SM1650 machine with the D130 injection unit (screw diameter of 130 mm, which is the standard injection unit for this machine size) to mold an instrument panel, and an auto parts molder in Shanghai which is employing the same type of machine to mold a mat.

Chen Hsong two-platen machines are selling extremely well in the market of late. The company reports 126 on order for delivery through to March 2017, including 700-tonne, 2200-tonne, and 3600-tonne units.

Chen Hsong recently delivered the unit to Australian processor Trident Wastewater Services (Adelaide, SA) for molding large septic tanks from polypropylene in a single color. Shot volume is an incredible 152,094 cubic cm.

Plastics have been instrumental in advancing medical technology for many decades, but, to my mind, a seminal moment happened during WW II, when plastic replaced glass in IV bags on the battlefield and proved its superiority, particularly when it comes to breakage. Since then, polymers have been on a roll in medical technology. From single-use devices that prevent patient infections to resorbable implants that eliminate having to undergo a second surgical procedure to remove the devices, plastics have revolutionized healthcare practices, improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

In micromolding, plastics can reach a point where shear thinning behavior is stretched to its limits. In this talk, Patrick Haney, R&D engineer at MTD Micro Molding, will explore the typical flow behavior of plastics and discuss the intriguing phenomena that arise under extreme shear conditions. He will touch on the ramifications of these changes on the final micromolded product, including the effects on final part microstructure as it applies to device application.

Industry experts from the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Medical Plastics Division will discuss growth drivers and trends in medical polymers, including new resins, advanced molding methods, sustainability, personalized medicine, and regulatory shifts. Rob Klein, senior principal materials engineer at Atricure, and Chris Lyons, managing scientist at Exponent, are scheduled to speak. They will be immediately followed by Arthur Erdman, founding director of the Bakken Medical Devices Center, at 9:30 a.m. Named for Earl Bakken, the founder of Medtronic, the center follows his lead in exploring new avenues for medtech innovation through material development and 3D printing. Erdman will discuss several case studies illustrating the role polymers play in advancing medical technology.

A daylong conference track at Plastec Minneapolis is devoted to current and emerging medical plastics technology, bringing together experts from industry and academe to share insights on everything from micromolding to biostability in implants.

Further, two injection cylinders deliver a high degree of processing flexibility to the molder lest it want to use the machine for another application in that minimum shot size per cylinder is just 15 kg. The option of using just one injection cylinder is possible.

Plastec Minneapolis is part of the Advanced Manufacturing Minneapolis event, along with co-locates MD&M, ATX, MinnPack, and D&M, at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Oct. 16 and 17, 2024. The event is organized by Informa Markets – Engineering, which also produces PlasticsToday.

Editor in chief of PlasticsToday since 2015, Norbert Sparrow has more than 30 years of editorial experience in business-to-business media. He studied journalism at the Centre Universitaire d'Etudes du Journalisme in Strasbourg, France, where he earned a master's degree.

Key performance attributes include a dry cycle time (according to the Euromap 6 standard) of 6.8 seconds for the 1900-tonne SM1900 injection machine, high concentricity of screw and barrel of 0.07 mm, and +0.1% injection precision by utilizing a specially-designed injection screw, and optimized hydraulic and control systems. Further, electric plastication employing a servo motor and gearbox  is offered as an option, which boasts 90% energy efficiency versus 77% for the efficiency of a hydraulic injection unit.

Here are capsule summaries of some of the key sessions and speakers at the medical plastics conference track, which takes place on Oct. 16 in room 102F.

Material science experts will discuss current and emerging applications for medical plastics during a daylong conference track.

Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

When faced with a challenge from a processor requiring a shot weight of 110 kg, Chen Hsong turned to one of its large two-platen machines with a special modification. The solution was to configure a 6,500-tonne SM6500-TP injection molding machine with two parallel injection cylinders of 55 kg shot weight capacity each in a “Y” configuration.