Vario TIP FSS – The necessity of cavity sorting

Waldorf Technik introduces itself at
the Chinaplas 2018 in Shanghai, China and is focusing on
the topic “pipette tips cavity-sorted in racks”. For this purpose,
the patented automation system Vario TIP FSS will be
presented at the booth of Engel Austria in Hall 5.1H / Booth
E71. Producing with 32 cavities. With its slimline design, the
system opens up the market to the MedTec injection
moulders in new performance classes and keeps the space
requirement in the clean room low.
For the first time, a highly integrated production cell for manufacturing
pipette tips under cleanroom conditions is presented. This
exhibit is the result of cooperation between Europe and China.
Engel (Schwertberg, Österreich), Waldorf Technik (Engen, Germany)
and Wellmei Mold (Dongguan, China) have combined
their know-how and experience with medical precision parts and
tailored the system solution exactly to the specific requirements
of the Chinese processors.
The automation solution developed by Waldorf Technik removes
32 pipette tips from the mould in sync with the injection moulding
process and loads groups of 96 pipette tips, sorted by cavity, into
racks. Every 18 seconds, 96 pipette tips are discharged from the
production cell, which is enclosed to create a cleanroom environment.
The Vario TIP from Waldorf Technik is the patented and worldwide
leading system concept, for example in the production of pipette
tips, cuvettes or reagent wells. These products are laboratory
consumables that must fulfil high quality requirements and
they demand cavity sorting in the packaging unit to guarantee delivery
reliability in every case.
Massive reduction of rejects by replacing individual missing
parts: In the patented Vario TIP system, individual parts are
checked prior to packaging and individual missing parts are replaced
by good parts. This way error-related rejects with sporadic
errors can be reduced by about 90 % on average compared to
conventional devices.

Testing Technology: The concentricity of pipette tips at the thin
end, this means the even wall thickness distribution, as well as
the horizontal injection rate (flash) are two of the critical quality
features that are difficult to detect with normal camera testing.
Waldorf Technik has developed its own procedure for this test:
Faulty parts are also rejected immediately after detection.
Run-Out-Forecast: Waldorf Technik goes a step further with its
new technology to predict the development of the concentricity of
the pipette tips per cavity.
In a statistical procedure, a prognosis curve is determined, which
enables the manufacturer to procure the spare parts for the affected
cavity in the mould weeks before the critical concentricity
tolerance is exceeded, in order to replace these in good time
without any additional downtime as part of tool maintenance.
This avoids today’s practice of discarding the defective cavity at
the time of the failure (scrap), locking (validation problem) or
stopping the system until the problem is solved (loss of production).
Waldorf Technik once again sets new standards in the field of automation
for laboratory consumables. Convince yourself and visit
the Engel Austria booth in Hall 5.1H / Booth E71.