TINY INSERT-MOLDED VINYL CUSHION AROUND PERIMETER OF FILM PACKET ENSURES PATIENT COMFORT DURING DENTAL X-RAYS

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ROCHESTER, NY, U.S.A., July 23, 2003: Anyone who has been x-rayed at the dentist’s office knows the routine: Until the technician presses that button, you must hold perfectly still with the edges of the film packet pressed into your gums.

Now the Dental Products Business of Eastman Kodak Company has put an end to this discomfort by developing a delicate edge bead to cushion its intraoral x-ray film products. Using Apex (R) 3208-80-NT flexible vinyl compound from Teknor Apex, Kodak insert molds the bead around the perimeter of the film packet for a new product line that is aptly named SureSoft (R).

The first stage of manufacturing SureSoft products is the same as for other Kodak dental x-ray film packets: The company sandwiches x-ray film, paper, and foil between protective outer layers of vinyl film; from the resulting multi-layer sheet, Kodak then seals and die-cuts individual film packets. For SureSoft products, Kodak allows a tiny border of the vinyl film to extend outside of the seal and serve as an adhesion site for the cushioning bead. The company uses a robot to place the packets into a multi-cavity insert mold, then injection molds the Apex vinyl over the vinyl film border.

One challenge met by the product development team was to secure a vinyl molding compound that would form a strong bond with the vinyl film, said Michael McGovern, Kodak’s R&D technical associate. “One of our most stringent requirements was to ensure that under no circumstances would the insert molded vinyl bead come off the packet once the SureSoft product left our factory,” McGovern said. “We contacted and evaluated several compound suppliers, including Teknor Apex. The key contribution of Teknor Apex was to custom-formulate a vinyl compound that meets this adhesion challenge.”

Delicate Vinyl Cushion Weighs Just 0.27 Grams and Is Only 1.1 mm in Diameter

Kodak took other measures to ensure that the vinyl bead would remain firmly attached around the perimeter of the packet. “We narrowed the already close dimensional tolerances for
producing the film packets in order to present a consistent footprint of vinyl film for the incoming shot of molten vinyl,” said McGovern. “Also critical was the need for handling the packets throughout the injection molding process without damaging the film inside, and for getting a good balance of material flow to the different cavities so that they filled uniformly.”

Underscoring the necessity for precision is the delicacy of the vinyl bead—with a shot weight of only 0.27 grams and a diameter of 1.1 mm. “It was rather like insert molding angel hair pasta around the perimeter of the film packet,” said McGovern.

The SureSoft cushioned packets are available only with Kodak’s newest and fastest dental x-ray film, Insight (R), which the company says provides the additional patient benefit of reducing radiation exposure by 20 to 60% in comparison with its other grades of film.

For more information about Kodak’s dental products, visit www.kodak.com/go/dental.