REDWIRE Festo components help to meet the high demand for face masks

June 17, 2020 REDWIRE is news you can use from leading suppliers. Powered by FRASERS.

Posted by Festo Inc


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face masks

Globally ready for fast delivery: Components from the Festo core product range like the DFM guided drive are preparing the earloops in Mikron mask production.

As face masks continue to be in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, Festo Canada is playing a vital role. Swiss corporation Mikron has developed a compact manufacturing system using Festo pneumatic and electric components. This is a scalable, open-source system that makes 50 to 100 protective mouth-nose masks per minute, or up to two million a month. The system was developed in a mere six weeks with help from Festo engineering support.

An integrated air-conditioning system

The Mikron system fits into a 20-foot shipping container that can act as a clean room too. Users can install it in a hospital, a school, a shopping mall, or even in a remote location. Due to the integrated air-conditioning system with air-purification filters, production is feasible even in locations with a high risk of viral contamination.

A system of this size typically takes six months to build. But after Mikron designers and fitters developed a three-dimensional model, Festo offered components that were immediately ready for installation. In addition, Festo’s Automation Suite software made integration and commissioning of the CMMT servo drives easier.

The face masks that this system produces contain multiple layers of melt-blown, non-woven fabric made of fine fibres that filter out bacteria and viruses. The German medical system requires 50 million of these masks per month, according to Mikron’s estimation. Festo components offer motion for major process steps like clamping, folding, shaping, and sealing. The pneumatic components include ADN compact cylinders, DFM guided drives, and DSNU round cylinders. MPA valves actuate pneumatic drives, while MS6-SV-E safety valves ensure that safety-critical system components are exhausted and de-energized quickly during emergency stops.

Festo has an international production and sales network that ensures quick delivery of its wares in 176 countries. Components in Festo’s core product range are priced competitively, stocked globally, and arrive to customers within 24 hours. This way, Mikron assembly systems for face masks can be constructed locally. Due to current travel restrictions, Mikron technicians are not encouraged to attend worksites physically. Festo’s fast delivery makes this system easy to commission wherever it is assembled.

For more information, contact Festo.


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Posted by Festo Inc


Innovate today for a new tomorrow   For nearly a hundred years Festo has provided proven Industry Leadership, Super... Read more

Contact supplier