Company M, a manufacturer of medical devices in the fields of cardiac surgery and dialysis, faced several issues regarding the specifications of an extracorporeal circulatory device.
Conventional machines use either a solenoid or a stepping motor for the clamping mechanism," says Mr. H, Manager of the Design and Development Department at Company M. "The clamping mechanism is a safety feature that closes the gripper in the event of an air bubble and blocks the tube from being fed.
The clamping mechanism is a safety function that closes the gripper in the event of an air bubble, thereby blocking the tube from releasing air bubbles. With a solenoid, this would have required manual unlocking, which would have been time-consuming and labor-intensive in the field."
In addition, the stepping motor drive system that automates the opening and closing of the gripper requires many parts such as couplings and ball screws, making it difficult to downsize the system. In many cases, medical institutions in Japan do not have enough space for a medical treatment room, and miniaturization is an indispensable factor for making effective use of such cramped spaces, and Company M has often received requests from users.
We have been developing the device with an emphasis on ensuring safety, but in order to differentiate the device from others, we needed to incorporate the needs of the medical field into the device in detail. We urgently needed to make improvements to achieve both improved operability by automating the opening and closing of the gripper and a smaller size." (Mr. H)
Mr. H, who had been gathering information to improve his extracorporeal circulation equipment, visited SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. 's booth at an exhibition, where they were exhibiting a variety of motor systems, and asked for advice about these issues.
After listening to Mr. H's requirements in detail, the SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. representative proposed an auto clamp opening and closing mechanism that uses a "5-phase linear drive stepping motor" that combines a ball screw and a motor. This proposal strongly appealed to Mr. H.
"Because it is driven by a stepping motor, it can open and close the gripper automatically, and because the ball screw is contained inside the stepping motor, the mechanism is simplified and about two-thirds smaller than conventional configurations. We are convinced that this will ensure safety and improve operability at the same time. In addition, because the number of parts is reduced, we believe that there will be great benefits when it comes to maintaining the equipment." (Mr. H)
Mr. H was convinced that he could overcome the biggest obstacles of automation and miniaturization, so he immediately ordered samples and evaluated them. He soon decided to use SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. Denki's "5-phase linear drive stepping motor" and began developing a prototype.
SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. responded to M Company's requests by customizing the system and providing full support for the development of the equipment.
When the motor was installed, we were able to customize the design so that the motor could be directly mounted on the equipment, which further shortened the overall length and made it possible to significantly downsize the machine.
In addition, we were able to start considering safety devices at an early stage because we were provided with information on possible failure risks of components in advance. Since safety is our top priority, the fact that we were able to take sufficient measures to prevent accidents due to failures was a most important advantage. The company contributed to our development with precise support." (Mr. H)
The new model of the extracorporeal circulation device was released after much anticipation and was well received by users.
"Thanks to their extensive lineup, prompt delivery, and detailed technical cooperation, the development period was significantly shortened. We were able to fully differentiate our new models in terms of performance. We look forward to consulting with SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. on various matters in the future."
For more information about stepping motors, please see "What is a stepping motor? An explanation of its structure, types, usage (drive system and control method), advantages and features."
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