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February 16, 2007
From Medical Equipment to Implants, Self Locking Threaded Fasteners Safeguard Reliability
Medical device manufacturers using thread locking form to secure their products against shock, vibration, and thread loosening
(PRWEB) February 14, 2007 -- Despite recent technological advances in the medical field, equipment and devices still need simple fasteners to function properly. Failure is not an option when it comes to medical equipment. From critical or sensitive devices like lasers, MRI scanners, knee joints, and implantable pacemakers to instruments as straightforward as stethoscopes, when life or quality of life is at stake, medical equipment must be reliable. Because these fasteners are so critical, manufacturers have been taking advantage of self locking threaded fasteners.
Due to medicine's working environment inside and outside the human body, fasteners such as C-clips and specialized retaining rings can prove too cumbersome and costly. Because repetitive loads, shock and vibrational loosening must be decisively handled, traditional fasteners susceptible to self-loosening rotational movement, stripping, and shearing are not always appropriate either.
Medical equipment manufacturers are successfully attacking these problems with a variety of new technologies. One of the most interesting solutions is an innovative self locking threaded fasteners called Spiralock. By its unique design, Spiralock is capable of resisting loosening even under loads and vibrations strong enough to break the fastener.
In a proactive design change to increase reliability in the field, the medical/aesthetic laser technology firm Lumenis recently sought to safeguard its precision critical laser alignments that could potentially become misaligned during rough shipping or handling using standard thread forms.
"We wanted to increase the design's robustness to better withstand the shock and vibration of shipping, as well as carting from room to room in the field," said Peter Hines, a Lumenis R&D engineer responsible for laser design.
Hines ruled out chemical adhesives because of their tendency to emit gaseous material which could collect on sensitive optics, degrading their performance. He was less than satisfied with traditional techniques, such as locking washers, which add weight and complexity with less than desired locking ability. Lumenis chose Spiralock self locking threaded fasteners.
Hines says that using Spiralock's self locking fasteners "help alleviate our concerns regarding a system's critical precision alignment. With its shock and vibration resistance, we're preventing screws from backing out and preserving critical alignment for enhanced reliability."
Manufacturers of ultra-precision devices and instruments who face product reliability problems or whose components are used in larger OEM systems turn to Spiralock whose self locking threaded fasteners are able to withstand micro-vibrations and restrict minor but noticeable torsional loads. The self locking fasteners are ideal for securing Teflon-coated parts that are difficult to retain, and yet can be easily removed by hand.
By using Spiralock's self locking threaded fasteners, manufacturers can achieve increased productivity, durability, more cost-effective and repeatable manufacturing processes, as well as the ability to retro-manufacture thousands of inventory parts that could end up as very costly scrap.
Production changeovers to Spiralock self locking threaded fasteners are typically quick and seamless. Existing parts stock that have unreliable standard tapped holes usually require just an exchange of traditional nuts, wire inserts or simple drilling out and re-tapping with the thread locking form.
Spiralock Corporation
Kate Turowska
Phone: (248) 543-7800
Fax: (248) 543-1403
http://www.spiralock.com
Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at February 16, 2007 03:09 AM