motan-colortronic gmbh, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, a renowned producer of systems for sustainable raw materials handling in the areas of injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion, compounding and in the chemicals industry, will show the latest version of the ULTRABLEND 95 gravimetric batch dosing and mixing unit during MEDTEC, Stuttgart, Germany, 26th to 28th February 2013.
The ULTRABLEND 95 offers clear advantages to manufacturers of thermoplastic medical devices. The processing of raw material compounds that are sometimes extremely expensive in hygienically clean operations (possibly also in cleanrooms) into medical primary packaging, components, implants, instruments and equipment requires the highest levels of cleanliness, precision and cost discipline. The medical device moulder Aero Pump GmbH, with its headquarters located in Hochheim, Germany, meanwhile has more than 50 of these special systems in use on injection moulding machines. As a leading supplier of pharmaceutical devices, the company supplies more than 140 million dosing and atomising units annually throughout the world for nose, throat and ear sprays, as well as eye drop dispensers [we reported about this, see the email of 11th Dec. 2012].
The gravimetric ULTRABLEND blender has been developed for consistently precise dosing and mixing of free-flowing raw materials – plastic granulates and additives. It improves process quality and stability and makes its own contribution towards minimising production costs. With the design in electro-polished stainless steel, motan has placed great emphasis on clear functions, minimum maintenance and easy operation in a hygienically clean production environment. All material hoppers and mixing chambers have been designed without any “dead zones”. All seams are fully welded. As a result, no residual amounts of material can build up and contamination of subsequent batches is therefore eliminated.
The ULTRABLEND 95 is especially suitable for precise dosing of extremely small amounts of material directly into the injection moulding, extrusion or blow moulding machine. A maximum of four raw material components can be dosed by weight, one after the other, precisely as required by the recipe. They are then mixed together homogeneously in the downstream mixing chamber (4.5 litres volume) and fed into the feed throat of the processing machine.
The minimum dosing amount is 3 g per component (900 g lot size). When two components are used a maximum throughput of 260 kg/h can be achieved. This gravimetric batch dosing and mixing unit is ideal for applications with frequent material changes: all parts in contact with the product can be rapidly removed and cleaned. In addition, the dosing slider remains closed during material changeover – not even the smallest amount of residual material can run out or be shaken out. The single load cell principle compensates for any vibration from the processing machine. This ensures the highest weighing precision.
The GRAVInet control system is used to control the ULTRABLEND unit. The full colour display offers menu-based operation via the touch panel. Due to integrated Ethernet technology, operation can also be made via a motan WEBpanel or a PC, from any desired location. A conveying control for up to seven material loaders is integrated into the GRAVInet control as standard.
The motan Group
The motan Group, with its headquarters in Konstanz on Lake Constance in Germany, was founded in 1947. As the leading provider of sustainable materials handling, the company is active in injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion and compounding, in-line systems and chemicals. Part of the application-orientated product spectrum are innovative modular systems solutions for storage, drying, and crystallisation, conveying, dosing and mixing for the plastics manufacturing and processing industries.
Production takes place at various locations in Germany, India and China. motan distributes its products and systems solutions via its regional motan-colortronic centers. Currently, more than 500 employees contribute to an annual turnover of approximately 100 million Euros. As a result of its network and its many years of experience, motan offers its customers what they actually require: solutions with genuine added value.
