Technifor - Coding and Marking Systems for Medical Devices

Marking and traceability specialist Technifor supplies various marking systems, including electromagnetic, pneumatic, scribing and laser types. Established in 1981, the company has more than 31,000 marking systems installed worldwide.

For many companies, particularly OEMs and their first tier suppliers, product and component identification throughout a manufacturing process has become a vital and indispensable part of quality control.

Part-marking systems record the life of a component, from the first process to the moment the part is delivered to the customer. En-route, information is recorded on the part in the form of a discreet mark, which can be scanned manually or read by automated vision systems.

Thanks to the development of coding techniques, the amount of information that can be stored in a mark has, in recent years, increased dramatically.

DATA MATRIX CODING

Most of the recent advances in marking technology are owed to the advent of data matrix, a two-dimensional matrix code containing dark and light square data modules. It has a finder pattern of two solid lines and two alternating dark and light lines on the perimeter of the symbol. A two-dimensional imaging device such as a CCD camera is necessary to scan the code. The more elements in the array, the more information the code can store. It is fast becoming the mark of choice for many in the medical sector.

Mark’nRead™ by Technifor is based on a two-dimensional data matrix code, which is marked on parts by either laser or micro-percussion, allowing verification and automatic reading by industrial vision tools. Parts can be monitored all along the manufacturing process, and the data read in the 2D code is transmitted and recorded in a database.

Thin or fragile components can easily be marked using this technique. In the medical industry, typical applications for this marking technology include artificial knee and hip (acetabular cup) joints made from high density ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.

The company supplies the Mark’nRead™ system to a wide range of manufacturing facilities across various industry sectors. Medical device manufacturers in particular are beginning to see traceability as a means of achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

LASER MARKING

Laser marking is rapidly becoming the process of choice for many wishing to apply data matrix codes to their components. The advantage of laser systems is the small beam width, allowing manufacturers to mark particularly small parts, an issue of increasing concern as the quest for increased miniaturisation continues in keyhole surgery applications. Laser marking is clean, reliable, simple to maintain and has greater durability than many other systems, making it particularly suitable for medical applications.

TD410 LASER MARKING SYSTEM

Featuring short pulses for high peak power and excellent beam quality, the Technifor compact TD410 laser marking system provides optimum marking precision on metal and plastic medical components.

The TD410 is air cooled with a low maintenance fibre-coupled diode that has a guaranteed lifetime of 5,000 hours, although many users can expect greater than 10,000 hours. This represents a ten-fold increase over lamps in conventional laser marking units.

The unit's innovative design includes an adjustable head with 360° of orientation, for greater application flexibility and versatility. The laser module and head measures a compact 770mm x 142mm x 237mm, and weighs in at just 15kg. The control unit fits a standard 485mm (19in) rack, and is 485mm x 480mm x 267mm, weighing 20kg.

The small footprint makes for easy integration into a production line or use as a simple dedicated permanent marking system in low or high volume applications, such as medical and surgical instruments, electrical components, automotive, aerospace and general metalworking parts, identification plates, promotional items and more. The marking window ranges in diameter from 80mm-200mm depending on the required resolution.

With speed of the essence in modern manufacturing, the new laser marker from Technifor can create a typical 10-character, 12 x 12 data matrix code on metal in less than one second. Alternatively, it will take just 0.4 seconds to create an eight-character code with 3mm text height on a plastic component.