Extrusion International 2-2024

44 Extrusion International 2/2024 EXTRUSION TOOLING Extrusion Takes Some New Turns A longtime global leader in extrusion tooling for medical tubing and other products, Guill Tool has achieved a series of successes in the areas of multi-layer dies and, most recently, a reciprocal tubing die for wound draining that reconfigures the internal chambers of the tubing to accommodate drainage. D rain tubes can be inserted prophylactically to pre- vent or remove the accumulation of fluid in a wound. Alternatively, such tubing can also be thera- peutically inserted to evacuate an existing collection of fluid in a wound. Fluid is removed in order to treat or prevent infection and promote wound healing and pa- tient comfort. Drain tubes can also be used to diagnose post-operative complications such as an anastomotic leak or hemorrhage. The Guill design has unique fea- tures that eliminate the need to weld or otherwise join sections with different profiles together. “Our automated extrusion process drastically changes the extruded profile in production, with no need to join separate sections of internal profiles,” comments Tom Baldock, Sales Manager, Guill Tool Guill has engineered this new reciprocal tubing die with various features, unique to the product. The tra- ditional tip and die assembly is replaced with a linear reciprocating assembly that changes the tube’s profile within a given length. This process is repeated through- out a single extrusion run without interruption. Cutting capability, in association with the extrusion speed, cuts the finished product to length. While cost and value stream activities are reduced, quality is actually improved. Only one extrusion run is needed to produce a finished product, as opposed to multiple extrusion runs with tooling changes along with a manual assembly operation to connect different tub- ing shapes via sonic welds or other methods of joining. Guill’s new reciprocating head eliminates this entire assembly operation. It also eliminates in-process inven- tory. Thus, there is no need for storage of various tubing shapes and connectors needed for assembly, fulfillment of orders and replenishment of finished goods. Furthermore, the reciprocating head eliminates a connecting piece, allows JIT production and products made-to-order. Lastly, it reduces total run time from re- ceiving the order to shipping product. In the multi-layer extrusion arena, a primary focus of Guill Tool over the years, the company has also in- troduced the latest generation of its Series 800, the 2-to-6 layer extrusion tooling designed to produce the highest quality, highest material-efficient 1/8” to 6” OD tubing for medical and surgical applications. The rede- signed Series 800 produces flawlessly smooth extrusion and layer definition of Fluoropolymer and other materi - als for all multi-layer, multi-lumen medical tubing. The Guill design further allows thin layer combinations of polymers and adhesives to 0.02mm or less. Guill offers its extensive line of crossheads and inline tubing dies in fixed and adjustable center, for single or co-extrusion applications. The tooling is designed to pro- cess all compounds and features the company’s patent- ed, precision Feather Touch Concentricity adjustment, the Seal Right System, which combines with the Feather Touch system to eliminate polymer leaking. Guill also of- fers its unique spiral flow distribution system. All Guill tooling is produced with rigorous computer simulation of the flow channels using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programs, resulting in optimum uniform flow with no weld lines. Internal configurations of different designs used on wound drain and surgical tubing no longer require separate sections to be extruded, then joined. The Guill reciprocating head design produces various profiles within the tubing in a constant production run Guill Series 900