Design

Research on electro-activated polymers that began at Stanford University, and was further developed at a company called Artificial Muscle Inc., has now been acquired by Bayer MaterialScience. The acquisition of the company, its patents, and its patent applications is the latest purchase by the massive plastics and chemicals supplier to focus on plastic film's surface haptics and appearance.

Painting of plastics, or any material, can be a very costly process, with the costs even higher if environmental responsibility is on the agenda. But Alliance Surface Finishing thinks its powder-coating process could be a game changer in the way all plastics are painted. "This will change the way the world paints," predicts Robert Langlois, CEO and president of the company.

A technology initially developed to absorb impact in running shoes now protects soldiers, seeing use in everything from helmets and kneepads to blast-limiting sheets and seat cushions, with development of ballistic grades for vests currently under way.

How much protection? During an interview with Mike Buchen, president and CEO of Skydex, at its Centennial, CO headquarters, he covered one hand with the company’s new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) sheet padding and used the other to repeatedly slam a ballistic helmet into the material. This reporter was convinced.

Working on behalf of an unnamed diagnostics company that it has collaborated with for 18 years, contract manufacturer/molder Gerresheimer Regensburg developed lancing devices for a multi-use blood sugar monitoring system, and now molds 19 parts and performs final assembly of the user-friendly device.

Architectural privacy blocks injection molded from acrylic have become popular as interior privacy walls in baths and other areas of the home, and as privacy windows to let in natural light. And now they are being offered in casement windows.

The medical industry is a good one for molders and moldmakers who relish seeing how their work can make a difference—sometimes a huge difference—in a person’s life. This processor even got to work with one of the first patients for a device it helps manufacture.

The recession has taken its toll on nearly every industry, and that includes medical devices, to some extent. OEMs are feeling the pressure and depending more on their supply chain—materials suppliers, moldmakers, and molders—to help them get products approved and to market faster.

Three new pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) have been added to the range offered by this supplier, offering converters solutions to a broad array of package labeling. All of the new PSAs are supplied by Omnova Solutions (Fairlawn, OH), which develops and markets emulsion polymers, specialty chemicals, and decorative and functional surfaces. These PSAs are branded NovaCryl and are marketed to processors and converters of polyvinylchloride (PVC) film, tape, and labels.

An exchange of letters between an enthusiastic father and IMM’s By Design columnist and plastic part design expert Glenn Beall puts credit where it belongs.

With little to no published rheological data for plastic parts less than 0.040 inch thick, but growing demand for them, medical products designers should look to specialized micro testing techniques for empirical guidance prior to product development.