In this Q&A, Tom Hoover, senior medical market manager for assembly technologies at Emerson , addresses the benefits of using ultrasonic technology to manufacture surgical face masks and other nonwovens amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Q: Can you describe the ultrasonic technology your company offers for the nonwovens industry? Can you tell me some of the nonwovens applications that use your technology?

Hoover: Emerson offers Branson ultrasonic equipment that can slit, bond, seal or quilt nonwoven synthetic materials to meet a wide range of medical and non-medical application requirements. Medical applications include surgical face masks, face shields, disposable hygiene products, gowns, and filter media. Non-medical uses for this versatile technology include consumer and personal care products, baby diapers and training pants, mattress pads, seat cushions and covers, household mops and cleaning products, disposable vacuum and filter bags, and more.

Branson ultrasonic equipment can slit, bond, seal or quilt nonwoven synthetic materials such as surgical face masks, face shields, disposable hygiene products, gowns, and filter media. (Credit: Emerson)

Q: What’s new with your company's business in relation to the nonwovens industry? Have you added any new products, capabilities, or has the company made any investments recently?

Hoover: One major improvement, relevant to customer needs for continuous improvement in quality control, is our ability to monitor and record weld data in real time, even in automated lines. Another recent advance is the availability of Fieldbus capabilities in Branson’s DCX F welding system, which allow multiple welding systems to connect to each other and communicate directly with a PLC. With Fieldbus, the user can control not only the weld parameters for individual ultrasonic welders, but monitor the status of a multi-welder production system.

Q: Are you seeing the use of ultrasonics grow for any particular applications?

Hoover: The largest recent source of growth has been in the medical industry. Because ultrasonic technology produces strong, repeatable seams and joints, withstands sterilization processes, and eliminates the need for solvents or glues, it not only solves medical nonwoven and device manufacturing problems, but does so while reducing the risks and sources of potential contamination.

Q: Are you finding new opportunities for ultrasonics in the nonwovens industry?

Hoover: New opportunities are everywhere, driven in the short term as manufacturers learn more about the value and versatility of this process and in the longer term by changing demographics. As the number of older citizens in the U.S. and many western countries continues to grow as a share of total population, the demand for medical, sanitary, consumer care, bedding, seating, cleaning, and filtration products will only continue to grow. So too will the need to produce these products efficiently, with maximum cleanliness and minimum risk of contamination. The unique ability of ultrasonics equipment to handle a broad scope of nonwoven product manufacturing—slitting, cutting, embossing, quilting and bonding, to name a few—offers the perfect solution to this growing need. In addition, Branson ultrasonics technology can meet clean room manufacturing requirements, where required, and provide the data monitoring and storage capabilities needed to meet the highest regulatory requirements. These and other ultrasonics capabilities will only continue to evolve and expand in the future.

Because ultrasonic technology produces strong, repeatable seams and joints, withstands sterilization processes, and eliminates the need for solvents or glues, it nreduces the risks and sources of potential contamination. (Credit: Emerson

Q: What benefits does this technology offer over other bonding methods?

Hoover: Ultrasonic bonding offers several advantage over other bonding methods: Because it uses friction and pressure to bond materials directly to each other, it makes the added cost of glue and solvents, as well as the cost for added fixturing and the time for glue to “set-up,” unnecessary. In addition, it eliminates glues and solvents as potential sources of contamination along with the need to clean and maintain glue and solvent application equipment. Because ultrasonics can bond over a range of frequencies and with varied levels of downforce, it also reduces the risk of damage to even the most delicate nonwoven materials and filter media.