Blockwise Pmc Marker Band Positioning

The Blockwise marker band positioner / precrimper model PMC is a tabletop machine that slides bands along a catheter inner member or other substrate to position them, then lightly precrimps the bands into a hexagonal shape to hold them in position prior to swaging. The band positioner / precrimper model PMC uses a simple, reliable, mechanical approach to positioning bands, with no optical sensors or vision systems. The PLC control software can be set up by a novice in just a few minutes. In a typical application, the product consists of an “inner member” (plastic tube) slipped over a mandrel, with two bands placed on the mandrel. In a typical operating sequence (after setting up a recipe in the PLC) the operator places the catheter inner member with bands into the side-loading gripper and the mandrel into the crimper, then presses the START button. The crimper closes, and the operator touches the tip of the inner member against the face of the crimper dies (providing a position reference for the machine), then presses the START button again. The machine then uses the crimper, with almost zero closing force, to gently slide the bands, as a group, along the inner member to a known position. Then, one-by-one, the crimper is used to grab the outside of each band to move it away from the group, then push the band into position using the face of the crimper dies, then precrimp the band into a hexagonal shape.