Die-sink innovations from GF Machining Solutions help pipette tip mould tool manufacturers improve productivity, achieve consistent product quality and reduce operational costs.
With more than 30 billion pipette tips used globally every year, a figure growing 8% annually, the demand for the high-quality mould tools to manufacture them has never been higher.
Manufacturing these mould tools which, typically, have a multi-cavity design, involves significant time devoted to manual (hand) polishing in order to achieve the stringent surface finishes required. These difficult and time-consuming operations are performed by skilled technicians and, as such, are expensive, can create production bottleneck and affect the time to market.
Little wonder then that mould tool manufacturers are looking for proven technologies that allow them to produce these high-quality tools more efficiently and less reliant on costly secondary finishing operations.
GF Machining Solution’s advanced, robust and thermally-stable die-sink machines equipped with technical innovations that include the company’s iGAP technology and fast digital (Intelligent Power) generators provide manufacturers with a reliable, time- and cost-saving solution.
Pipette tip mould tool manufacturing is difficult and can be time-consuming.
Used extensively in the medical (diagnostics), food and chemical industries, the pipette tip market is experiencing 7% – 8% annual growth and, currently, over 30 billion tips are produced each year.
To produce this volume of tips it is estimated that 5000 mould tools, equating to 100,000 hours of manufacturing time, are currently being used by manufacturers located (predominantly) in Europe, the US and the Far East.
But, with shortages being experienced across the world – it is reported that this is still not enough to meet future demand: it is anticipated that over 500 new mould tools, not including repairs to existing tools, will need to be manufactured every year.
It’s a tough ask but it is against this backdrop that GF Machining Solutions (GFMS), the EDM, milling, laser and additive manufacturing machine tool specialist, and automation and tooling system solutions’ provider can, with its advanced EDM die-sink machines, offer some respite.
GFMS has a long and rich pedigree in providing high-end machining solutions to manufacturers and works in close collaboration with medical device manufacturers (to name but a few) in designing and developing high-productivity turnkey and process improvement solutions for customers.
With regard to pipette mould tool manufacturing, the company’s recent technological advances made to its die-sink machines – most notably its iGAP and digital generator technology – provide a way forward.
iGap technology
iGap technology, an innovative feature in GF Machining Solutions’ advanced FORM-series of die-sink machines, is an embedded auto-adaptive system that can, by responding to changing machining conditions, alter the discharge current and pulse duration in real time, elevating cutting speeds and reducing electrode wear (especially lateral wear) during roughing and finishing operations.
The system is most effective when using copper or graphite electrodes to machine mould tools with deep multi-cavities, using a spark gap of less than 0.2mm, to deliver smooth, homogenous and repeatable surface finishes (VDI 0), reducing/eliminating the need for hand polishing.
The virtual elimination of secondary finishing operations enables pipette tip mould tools to be manufactured more quickly and efficiently than before with fewer electrodes and, as a consequence, reduced costs.
It is interesting to note that hand polishing just one square millimetre of the interior of a cavity can take up to 30 minutes. With deep cavities the time required for hand polishing each cavity could be as much as 20 hours; and for multi-cavities hundreds of hours could be required to achieve the desired “polished’ finish
iGAP technology is therefore a real asset for pipette tip mould tool manufacturers, boosting productivity, ensuring high and consistent surface finishes and reducing overall costs.
