Food & Drug Applications
Processing equipment used in the food, beverage and packaging industries often require that certain components meet FDA guidelines and pass a number of tests before put in production. These packaging industries include fruit and juice, dairy, food additive, brewery, meat, alcohol, dry ingredients, wine, bakery goods, and numerous others. Pharmaceutical companies also need their facilities and processing equipment to meet strict standards. Cosmetic manufacturing, creams & lotions manufacturing, powder drying and granulating, powder mixing and blending, and tablet and capsule filling all involve custom built processing equipment with one-of-a-kind components.
Food mashers, sugar and chocolate molds, dough rollers, pill chutes, filling nozzles, and sorting channels are a few examples of components that can be made from Hapco materials. The ease of processing and high strength of polyurethanes makes them the material of choice for these types of applications. Unlike thermoplastics, thermosets are available in small quantities, i.e., quart and gallon units, and can be processed without the use of expensive equipment or tooling. In food and drug applications, where certain components are only manufactured in limited quantities, Liquid Molding is always preferred over Injection Molding.
In the past, manufacturing companies have had reservations using thermosets for food and drug applications. Many thermoset polyurethanes contain mercury and other toxic chemicals that would not pass FDA requirements. Hapco hassolved this issue with the introduction of the Steralloy™ FDG Series.
Steralloy™ FDG Series has been specifically formulated with FDA recognized components and have many advantages over standard materials. Many users have required that their parts pass cytoxicity, biocompatibility, and USP Class VI testing and have had no problems when using Steralloy™. These products range in hardness from 25 Shore A to 84 Shore D, making them useful for a wide variety of Food & Drug applications. Steralloy™ isn’t the only material used in the manufacture of processing equipment. When making a mold or a fixture for a food grade product, just about any Hapco product can be used. Here are a few products that have been used in the past:
Part Materials
Hapflex™ – Hybrid elastomeric polyurethanes ranging in hardness from 25A-72D.
Ultralloy™- General Purpose rigid casting compounds. All speeds.
S-RIM™ – Low viscosity, 1:1 casting resins that de-mold in less than 10 minutes.
Tuffalloy™ – Liquid Molding Compounds with thermoplastic properties. 4 speeds.
Ultraclear™ – Crystal clear, UV stable casting resins with gel times ranging from 5 to 900 minutes.
Castalloy™ – Low viscosity, 1:1 ratio casting resin that de-molds in less than 10 minutes.
Hapcast™ - Aluminum, steel, and iron filled epoxies used for high temperature applications.
Mold Materials
Steralloy™ FDG Elastomeric Series – Food & Drug Grade elastomers ranging in hardness from 25 to 90A.
Hapflex™ 500 Series - Flexible polyurethanes that will outlast silicone.
Hapflex™ 600 Series - Semi-rigid elastomers that wear like iron and are virtually indestructable when fully cured.
Hapcast™ - Aluminum, steel, and iron filled epoxies used for cast composite and production tooling.
Haprez™ 3744/63 - Glass filled epoxy laminating system for structural backups.
Fill-Its/Haprez™ Combo – Economical, composite mixture that will reduce shrinkage and mold cost.
Equipment
RAPIDFIL™ - LCD / computer controlled, two-component dispensing equipment.
MINIFIL™ - Low cost, two-component, portable dispensing equipment.
RAPIDSHOT™ – Handheld cartridge dispensing system.
X-11 Molding Chamber – Ergonomic post-curing device that reduces the visibility of bubbles in parts and molds.