Additional challenges needed to be addressed when manufacturing components for point of care locations

Axiam carefully tested all materials and surface finishes to ensure no adverse chemical reactions

Ball-burnishing gives a long-lasting clean and polished finish & providing a substantial cost saving to Nanosonics

Processes used in this case study

DESIGN:

Process design
Product design
Tool design
Engineering design
Product testing
Jigs & fixtures

MANUFACTURE:

Tool manufacturing

Injection moulding

Reaction & composite moulding

High pressure die-casting
Low pressure die-casting
Shell (cronin) casting
Sand casting
Heat treatment

Sub-supplier management

FINISHING:

Linished
CNC machined
Alodine pre-treatment
Vacuum impregnation
Vibrated
Ball burnished
Shotblasted
Clear anodised
Hard anodised
Wet painted
Powdercoated
Hard coated
Hot foil stamped
Pad printed

Q&A:

Certificate of compliance (CoC)
PPAP, PPEP

SIR - sample inspection report

Continuous evaluation & verification

CP & CPK study
CMM

Verification & testing
Environmental management (RoHS)

ASSEMBLY, PACKING & DISPATCH:

Assembly

Pack & dispatch: NZ

Pack & dispatch: Export

Additional challenges

The right finish

Processes used

Trophon EPR

Front and Rear Chambers

With the number of health care acquired infections on the rise, Medical Sterilisation innovator Nanosonics saw the need for a fast, effective and environmentally friendly disinfection device for ultrasound transducers. While developing these innovative point of care automated disinfection systems, AXIAM was able to join forces with the Nanosonic engineers and designers to develop the best possible casting for their disinfecting chamber needs.

Within the health care industry, there are additional challenges that need to be addressed when manufacturing components for point of care locations. As the two chambers which AXIAM manufacture are integral to the aesthetic and functioning of the disinfection unit, great care was needed with the development of the product to ensure no disruption to the disinfection process. Working together with Nanosonics scientists, all materials and surface finishes were carefully tested to ensure no adverse chemical reaction with the NanoNebulant™.

In addition, AXIAM implemented a Ball-burnishing surface finish technique which gives the entire casting the clean and polished appeal that someone would expect to see in their doctor’s office. Not only does this technique leave a long lasting polished effect on the entire casting, but it is a substantial cost saving to Nanosonics over other manual polishing processes.

The casting process itself held it’s own difficulties. Each chamber measures 463mm x 320mm with a nominal wall thickness of 3mm, which means to achieve the clean and blemish free results required, the die cavity must be filled extremely rapidly (within 0.30 milliseconds).

To achieve this speed, the AXIAM development team carefully simulated then designed the metal flow direction, positioning of the inlet gates, plunger velocity, and overflow size and location. This attention to detail has allowed AXIAM to achieve a consistent and repetitive diecast result from the casting process.

Working together with Nanosonics and offering their extensive knowledge and experience in the field of Diecasting, the AXIAM team have been able to offer consistent, effective and aesthetically pleasing components for the medical disinfecting field.

These components are of the highest standard possible and help give the overall product an air of sophistication and purity. As the Trophon EPR is rolled out in medical facilities worldwide, AXIAM can take pride in the knowledge that their expertise has helped bring this innovative design to fruition, and to doctors’ surgery’s across the world.