SONO”R”US: New Machine for Microparts Moulding base on Ultrasound Excitation

SONO”R”US is a Demonstration Project from the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), with a funding scheme as a small or medium-scale research focused for the benefit of SME’s. It started the 1st May of 2011 and the project duration is 2 years.

A breakthrough concept in the manufacture of plastic micro and mini parts will be introduced into the market thanks to the SONO“R”US project: the first ready-to-market ultrasonic moulding machine. Based on previous project Sonoplast results (FP7-SME-2007-No. 222378), SONO“R”US will provide the market with flexible, reliable and cost-efficiency solutions for producing complex shaped and functional μ-parts.

The project has an impact in economically strategic areas like biomedicine, electronics, optics, precision engineering, etc. due to an increasing trend in miniaturization. However, the solutions available for micromoulding simply adapt the concepts used for bigger parts:  this perfectly explains the limitations in terms of dosage, accuracy and repetitiveness.

The fundamental demonstration activities areas will include:

* Adaptation and implementation of technical solutions in the prototype.

* Performance verification of the machine in industrial conditions.

* Feasibility studies for increasing functionalities and performance in the target market.

* Competitive intelligence study of the technology (target and new market possibilities)

* Dissemination activities (focused in Pilot industrial Demonstrations) and Exploitation activities (business model strategy and the final Exploitation Plan Agreement).

“The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA-Research Executive Agency http://ec.europa.eu/research/rea (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 286552”.