Protolabs moves to support Mercedes AMG and UCL with CPAP ventilator

Protolabs is producing three new tools that will produce thousands of critical parts for a new breathing aid designed to support coronavirus patients.

Protolabs has created a 20-strong team to work with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains to develop injection mould tooling in just three days.

The company is helping the F1 team, along with University College London, increase production of its Continuous Positive Airway Pressure system that delivers oxygen into the lungs without the need for an invasive ventilator.

The first two tools are for moulding the bracket that will be used to hold the device next to the bed, whilst the third tool is for the production of a cap that prevents any air escaping from the machine.

Baninder Kaur, Strategic Account Manager at Protolabs, said: “Speed is of the essence for this project, as we need to get the CPAP systems to UCL as soon as possible.”

“Within a few hours of the call, we had mobilised a dedicated design and manufacturing team to review the bracket’s design for manufacturability.”

“This led to four quick iterations and the decision to make the bracket using two tools, allowing us to reduce lead times by running production simultaneously.”

“There were also some slight adaptations to the cap, with our engineers exploring the possibility of using one tool with two cavity moulds that would hit the 1100 daily required parts as well as keeping the accuracy in place.”