Process Solution

EXTRUDER SYSTEM

TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

    • 100% automated micro-compounding and extruding of powder material with filament control-, cut and sort device
    • Product Dimension:
      - Diameter: (0.1 -  4.5) mm
      - Length:     (50 – 350) mm
    • Tool capacity: 0,3 g/h up to 500 g/h continuous extrusion dependent on filament diameter and density
    • Extruder with conical twin-screw compounder
    • Lift- and movable force feeder for continuous material feeding and easy loading and cleaning
    • Integrated viscosity measurement of the melt by two pressure transducer
    • System complies with GMP requirements 

The IMSTec Extruder System represents a high precision solution for compounding materials, measurement and sorting of extruded filaments such as used for nano-composites, bio-polymers or pharmaceuticals. The Extruder System blends, melts, mixes and cuts extruded filaments fully automated to a desired length and diameter. All product and process relevant parameters are being controlled through a system controller with HMI touch screen. The filaments will be sorted in separate trays according disposition.

 

 

The Automated Extruder Line is especially developed to perform the product extrusion as part of a manufacturing process for synthetic absorbable polymers for drug delivery. The Automated Extruder Line consists of a MiniLab micro compounder for a small amount of materials (i.e. 0,3 g/h or up to 500 g/h), based on a rotating conical twin-screw compounder with an integrated backflow channel which enables the recirculation of the melt with a well-defined residence time for continuous extrusion. Two pressure transducers that are integrated in the backflow channel allow the simultaneous measurement of the melt viscosity. The recirculation is stopped by opening the bypass valve while the material compound extrudes through a hole in the extruder-nozzle as a filament. For a continuous powder-compound feeding the MiniLab extruder is connected with a force feeder. The cooled feeding zone avoids the melting of material in the feeder funnel.

 


The force feeder is supported by a lift and move device in order to provide the correct position onto the extruder barrel and to remove the force feeder after extrusion in a convenient and save position for setup and cleaning. A heated guide plate guides the extruded filament into the laser micrometre for diameter measurement.  The filament diameter can be altered by an actuated puller wheel. For system setup the guide plate and puller wheel can be adjusted manually into the correct position by micrometres.

The extruded filament diameter will be controlled and adjusted automatically. A high precision laser micrometer measures the filament diameter and transmits the data to the micrometer controller which compares the actual data with stored recipe parameters. This information is being used to adjust the filament diameter by modifying the puller wheel motor speed. A second guide plate guides the filament from the diameter measurement through the puller wheel into the cutter. The length of the filament can be adjusted to the desired target by an adjustable cutter timer. Depend on disposition the cut filaments will be collected automatically in two bins, one for good parts and one for rejected sections. All functions of the system will be controlled by a panel-PC with touch screen for interactive actions and display of detailed system status and operational modes.