Conair has introduced a new traveling planetary cutter (TPC) for the high-precision cutting of small-bore medical tubing. Unlike a rotary fly-knife cutter, which chops through tubing in one quick slice, the planetary knife rotates around the tubing, gradually penetrating the wall to yield a precise, square cut without the shattering, whitening or distortion that commonly occurs with other cutting methods. The TPC is particularly suitable for the cutting of high-density polyethylene, highly-filled resins, or more brittle materials like crystal polystyrene.
Planetary cutting is not a new technology, but it has been used mainly in the manufacture of larger-diameter pipes. Today, however, it is possible to handle tubing as small as 0.080 inch (2.032 mm) in diameter, while holding cut-to-length tolerances of ±0.015 inch (±0.381 mm). Cutting speed and force are controlled by adjusting the rotational speed of the cutter head. The faster it spins, the more quickly the knife penetrates the tube wall. Rotation is servo controlled for precision. The TPC is designed to allow quick cutting blade changes without removing product from the machine so that it is not necessary to stop and restart the extrusion line when a blade needs to be replaced.
www.conairgroup.com
The new traveling planetary cutter allows producers of small-diameter medical tubing to automate cut-to-length operations (photo: Conair)
