Extruder machine
Why?
The main objective of this project was to design from scratch a machine capable of producing the filament to join the two components of an endovascular catheter.
The raw material used to produce this filament is a soluble polymer in the form of clinical-grade pellets, which are essential for the final application.
How?
The first step was to design the extruder that would melt the pellets and extrude them through a nozzle to obtain the filament. Next, two other mechanisms were designed to guide and wind the filament under specific conditions.
But before starting to design the different components in SOLIDWORKS, some initial hand sketches were made to visualize all the features to be included in the machine
The challenge of this project was that time was very limited, I had only 10 weeks to design from scratch, manufacture, assemble and test the machine. Therefore, before starting, I made a Gantt chart to organize all the tasks as much as possible.
The project timeline
The assembly process
To assemble the entire machine, 143 parts, 212 screws, 59 wires, and two full days were required.
(For confidentiality reasons I cannot show more content about the process or CAD models of the machine).
