DesignEdge turned to Midas Pattern to help manufacture the PATHATRIX AUTO system, an innovative laboratory testing unit.
The short manufacturing runs, high surface quality, relatively large moulding size and close tolerances required, of the external housing moulding, provided challenges.
It was decided to manufacture the mouldings using the Midas composite resin MRIM tooling process, which uses a blend of laminated and cast resins. The manufacture incorporates areas of CNC machined aluminium and steel to produce high quality polyurethane mouldings in small batches, with short production lead times. The process can accommodate both thick and thin sections, square faces, undercuts and cast features and is QMS accredited to ISO9001:2000.
Over the course of several meetings between the designers and Midas Pattern, the details of the housing moulding were refined to ensure trouble-free manufacturing and the best fit between the cassettes and the housing. The position and angle of the touchscreen were process optimised, as its location on the upper curved face is not in the line of draw of the moulding.
Midas also painted the finished mouldings in corporate colours, one of a range of additional services the company offers, including, screen printing and final assembly.
The PATHATRIX AUTO system is being used by regulatory agencies and food companies around the world. Since its launch, at the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) 2009 conference, PATHATRIX AUTO has been shipped to customers worldwide in Africa, Europe and North America.