Page 40 - Plastics News September 2022

Sound TPE Solution For Hearing Aid Applications New PET Stretch-Blow
System Saves Energy &
Downtime, Aids rPET Use

he new fourth-generation
TContiform rotary stretch-blow
molder from Krones is said to be
more efficient, more operator-
friendly and more environmentally
compatible than ever before. Firstly,
it addresses two key factors in en-
ergy consumption: heating and com-
earing loss affects billions of peo- KRAIBURG TPE’s breakthrough pressed-air usage in blowing. The
Hple globally. The World Health THERMOLAST® H is the ideal mate- oven has been made more compact,
Organization (WHO) predicts that by rial solution for healthcare and medical spacing the heaters closer together,
and the heaters have been redesigned
2050, hearing loss will be a problem for applications as well as hearing devices. with parabolic reflectors. The result
2.5 billion people worldwide. TPE compounds can be easily pro- is 11% lower energy consumption in
While causes of hearing disability usu- cessed by overmolding or co-extrusion heating compared with the previous
ally ranges from an aging population with most common thermoplastics, Contiform generation, Krones says.
and prenatal conditions to limited without requiring additional adhesives, In addition, the new Air Wiz-
healthcare access, particularly in devel- and allowing for a faster and more cost- ard Triple air-recycling system
oping countries, the WHO finds that effective processing. is a three-stage system that re-
unsafe listening practices will expose The compound meets worldwide ma- portedly cuts compressed-air
consumption by up to 20%.
over a billion young adults to perma- terial requirements such as cytotoxic-
nent, preventable, hearing impairment. ity according to ISO 10993-5, GB/T And Krones’ new Contiloop AI is
an automatic process-control system
Demand is increasing for hearing aids, 16886.5, REACH and RoHS Direc- that uses artificial-intelligence soft-
cochlear implants, and other assistive tive, and are free of PVC, silicon, or ware and newly developed hardware
technologies to allow these devices latex. It can be sterilized at autoclave to detect even the slightest varia-
to improve and make sounds audible 121°C or by EtO. tion in material distribution in PET
hearing in a hearing-impaired person. The connector or TPE sealing will pre- containers and automatically adjusts
Hearing aids can vary in size, special sent a clean and sleek feel to the devic- processing parameters in real time to
maintain bottle quality. These capa-
features and the way they are placed in es, thanks to its haptics and soft touch bilities are especially valuable in com-
the ear. Performance of these devices surface characteristic for outer sealing. pensating for variability in rPET raw
depends largely on the design and ma- Other characteristics of the TPE com- materials, according to the company.
terial used. pounds that display good sealing per- To top off the “green” features of
THERMOLAST® H - adherence to formance including excellent compres- this machine, the protective pan-
safety standards sion set and resealing properties. els are made of recycled plastic.

40 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022 41 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022