Client: Safety Medical Products
Automatic 'SecureTouch' Safety Syringe Assembly Machine (2006-2007)
The challenge posed to Procontrol Systems was to design a fully automated machine to retro-fit standard syringes resulting in SecureTouch safety syringes. Assembly involved automatically sorting and orienting parts, inserting the syringe into a plastic sleeve, correctly rotating the syringe with respect to the sleeve, plastic welding a locking device to the syringe body and finally testing this weld.
Click here to see a video of the machine in operation!
Safety Medical Product's SecureTouch Safety Syringe
The locking device ensures that once the sleeve is slid over the sharp end it is secured in place and provides absolute protection from needle stick injury. Testing and quality assurance methods were necessary to ensure product conformance and consistency and to gain approval from the relevant medical authorities.
SecureTouch Assembly Machine showing bowl feeders and ultrasonic welders
The outcome is an outstanding example of what a small company can achieve. Significant technical challenges required the use of technologies such as ultrasonic welding and machine vision. A highly developed ultrasonic welding technique integrated within the design provided a fast and consistent plastic bond. An innovative machine vision approach led to fast automatic part sorting and rejection, high accuracy quality assurance and high speed part alignment.
SecureTouch Assembly Machine showing linear feeders and control panel
The result of our combined expertise is a machine capable of producing upwards of 30 million syringes per year. The entire machine was designed from scratch, built and commissioned in-house at the Procontrol Systems premises.