The production of disposable medical quilts can roughly be divided into five major steps: "material selection → molding → assembly → sterilization → packaging". The following is a detailed explanation of each step.
Material selection
Outer layer: Soft, breathable and low-cost polypropylene (PP) non-woven fabric is mostly selected. Sometimes, to prevent bacteria, an additional layer of melt-blown fabric is compounded.
Inner layer filling: Commonly used are polyester (PET) short fiber wadding or vacuum cotton, which are both light and warm.
Special function: If waterproofing is required, a layer of PE plastic film will be added to the bottom layer. If flame retardancy/anti-static properties are required, the corresponding additives should be added to the raw materials in advance.
Forming
① Net laying: Comb PP and PET fibers into a uniform net body.
② Reinforcement: The mesh base is made into non-woven fabric through hot rolling (hot air) or needle-puncture.
③ Cutting: Non-woven fabric, meltblown fabric and PE film are cut into quilt cover sheet materials and quilt chip materials according to the common dimensions (150×200 cm, 120×180 cm).
Assembly
There are two typical practices:
Three sides are hot-pressed (or ultrasonically welded) into a "pocket", then folded and the quilt core is stuffed in, and finally sealed.
Place the quilt core directly between two layers of non-woven fabric, and the four sides will be heat-pressed into shape at one time. Then, quilt a few lines to prevent the quilt core from shifting.
If designed in a detachable form of "quilt cover + quilt core", chains or plastic snap fasteners will also be added to the edge of the quilt cover for quick replacement.
Sterilization
Disposable quilts used in hospitals must undergo terminal sterilization. Commonly used sterilization methods include low-temperature sterilization with ethylene oxide (EO) or gamma-ray irradiation sterilization to ensure they are sterile and free of heat sources.
Packaging
Fold each piece individually and put them into medical-grade PE bags, then pack them into corrugated cartons at a rate of 10 to 20 pieces per box. The packaging workshop maintains a cleanliness level of 100,000. Labels such as "Disposable Medical Quilt", "Sterile", and "for Single Use" are affixed to the outside of the boxes, along with batch numbers and expiration dates.
After completing the above procedures, the products can be stored in the warehouse and sent to hospitals, emergency centers or quarantine sites in mobile cabins. After use, they will be incinerated as medical waste in a centralized manner to prevent cross-infection.