The patented RotaricE²® injection molding technology promises maximum compactness and efficiency. Designer Braunform, an innovation driver for precision mold making, combines several production steps in his cleanroom tool, presented using the example of manufacturing pharmaceutical caps. Coatings from long-standing partner Oerlikon Balzers ensure lubricant-free mobility of the technology in confined spaces.
Braunform from Bahlingen am Kaiserstuhl has made a name for itself as a leading global partner in plastic mold making - particularly with the aim of increasing production efficiency and reducing costs. The RotaricE²® tool concept impressively implements this mission and saves the customer time, money, installation space and production space. It combines the 2-component injection molding including servo technology and assembly of the component in a very small space. The final tool therefore does the job of two injection molding tools and machines as well as a line for assembling the individual parts.
What this looks like in practice can be seen in the production of Luer connectors, delicate 2-component closures for the pharmaceutical industry. For this purpose, Braunform built a 4+4-cavity tool as a demonstration basis for later series tools with up to 64+64 cavities. Its special feature: The multi-component injection molding tool combines the 2K core-back function, Luer capping and unscrewing with servo-electric drives in a very small space.
Like butter with three high-performance layers
The tool is also suitable for clean rooms. This is what the MED Mold® concept has been, tried and tested since 2010, which Braunform uses and further develops for pharmaceutical customers in its own clean room production in neighboring Endingen. An important component for grease and emission-reduced cleanroom production are low-friction coatings. They help to ensure the largely lubricant-free operation of moving parts in the tool. “Items for pharmaceuticals and medicine must under no circumstances be contaminated during production. That’s why it doesn’t work without high-performance coatings,” says Reinhard Steger, Senior Business Development Manager at Braunform.
The Baden-based company relies on three layers from long-standing partner Oerlikon Balzers: the DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) layer BALINIT DYLYN as corrosion protection with non-stick properties, especially for the musculoskeletal system with slide elements; on the very smooth, scratch-resistant S3p layer BALIQ CRONOS for better demoulding, shaping elements and contours; on the hardening of mold surfaces with the BALITHERM PRIMEFORM diffusion process.
“A partner who speaks our language”
“We use coatings mainly from Oerlikon for almost every tool,” emphasizes Nico Kramer. The head of work preparation at Braunform also explains why: “Oerlikon has an extremely broad, FDA-compliant coating portfolio for almost all applications. The company is innovative, our Oerlikon support partners are experts and speak our language. Above all, our elaborately manufactured parts are handled conscientiously. Coating is the last step in the process chain; all previously incurred costs are at stake here. Oerlikon meets all of our requirements.”
This also applies to customers. In the pharmaceutical industry, an injection molding tool must run reliably for ten to 15 years; the number of units reaches tens of millions. Sometimes replacement or extension tools are necessary, which must be a 100% copy of the predecessor. Against this background, Braunform builds 100 to 130 tools a year and raises the bar to the very top. That's exactly what RotaricE²® stands for, and that's what Oerlikon wants to stand for with its surface solutions.
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