Precision tubing for the healthcare sector
The technical challenge of the healthcare sector
Silent movement, 24 hours a day
Beds articulate, wheels turn, trolleys move along corridors at any hour. When the tubing acting as the axle retains a pronounced internal weld bead, play, vibration and noise appear. On an inpatient ward, that noise is not a cosmetic defect: it is a complaint.
Exposed surfaces and constant cleaning
Much of the tubing in the healthcare sector is exposed —bed rails, IV poles, handgrips, chair frames— and is disinfected several times a day. Steel with porosity or drawing marks does not take chrome plating well: the imperfection surfaces after the plating bath and becomes a point where dirt lodges.
Mechanical reliability without excess weight
Equipment has to withstand dynamic loads and thousands of articulation cycles, but it also has to move easily. Increasing wall thickness is not always the answer; often the answer is a thin wall with the right formability to bend it without cracking.
Applications where you will find us
Articulated hospital beds
- Shafts and pivot points Tubing with a controlled internal weld bead (≤ 0.15 mm in the OPTIM range) allows the pin or inner shaft to fit with exactly the clearance specified in the drawing, with no play and no parasitic friction.
- Gas spring bodies and lifting mechanisms The inside of the tubing is the track the piston slides along. Any roughness attacks the seals and causes leaks. The PRECISE range offers a mirror bore to EN 10305-2.
- Exposed frames and bed rails A bright outer surface as supplied, suitable for direct chrome, zinc or brass plating.
Wheelchairs and mobility aids
- A wheelchair combines structure and rolling motion Manufacturers of wheels and castor components —regular Delmàs customers— need an axle that does not squeak and that holds its tolerance across the whole production run.
- Wheel axles and forks Thin walls with the formability for tight bends, without cracking or ovalisation.
- Non-circular profiles Thin walls with the formability for tight bends, without cracking or ovalisation.
Visible clinical equipment
- Straight into the plating bath The PREMIUM range leaves the factory with a bright, clean outer surface: the processor saves the polishing stage before chrome plating.
- Chrome, zinc and brass plating The tubing behaves consistently across all three treatments.
- Screen printing and decorative finishes When the equipment needs marking, visible graduations or range differentiation.
The right range for salud
OPTIMWheel axles, pivot points and joints. Internal weld bead ≤ 0.15 mm. Simultaneous control of bore and outer diameter
PREMIUMEverything on show: bed rails, poles, chrome-plated frames. Bright outer finish for direct electroplating
PRECISEGas springs, cylinders and lifting mechanisms. Mirror bore. An alternative to seamless tubing at 40% to 80% lower cost
Not just the tubing: the finished part
- Coil format or cut-to-lengthCoil supply eliminates end-of-bar scrap on component manufacturers' automated lines. Cut-to-length delivers the tubing at exactly the length specified in the drawing.
- Tubing transformed into a component ready to assembleWhen the customer needs it, we do not deliver tubing: we deliver the finished part. Cutting, bending, punching, end forming, threading, machining and surface finishing —to drawing— so that it reaches the assembly line ready to fit. The equipment manufacturer reduces its supplier base and eliminates intermediate handling steps.
- Documentary certification with every deliveryWe issue product certification to EN 10204-2.2 (declaration of conformity with non-specific inspection results) or EN 10204-3.1 (inspection certificate with specific results for the batch supplied), depending on what the customer's quality system requires. In-house laboratory at the plant.
Why manufacturers in the sector trust Delmàs
A family-owned business in La Roca del Vallès, specialising exclusively in small-diameter welded and calibrated steel tubing (⌀ 3–25 mm).
Below 8 mm, the market for precision calibrated tubing narrows dramatically. That is where we have been working for decades.
Manufacturing powered 100% by renewable energy since 2006, with two photovoltaic self-consumption installations at the plant.
Against seamless tubing with uncertain and unpredictable lead times, the PRECISE range offers equivalent performance with reliable planning.
Questions we hear every week
Do you manufacture the tubing or distribute it?
We manufacture it. Delmàs has been a manufacturer of welded and calibrated tubing since 1956, at its plant in La Roca del Vallès (Barcelona). We start from the customer's drawing, not from a standard catalogue.
What diameter do I need for the axle of a hospital bed wheel?
It depends on the bush or bearing you are working with. This type of castor normally falls within the OPTIM range (⌀ 3–10 mm), with the internal weld bead controlled to ≤ 0.15 mm so the inner shaft turns without friction. Send us the drawing and we will propose the exact size —including non-standard sizes such as 8.25 mm.
Does the tubing arrive ready for chrome plating?
Yes. The PREMIUM range is manufactured with a bright, non-porous outer surface, suitable for direct chrome, zinc or brass plating, with no prior polishing stage.
Can you replace seamless tubing in lifting mechanisms?
Yes. The PRECISE range offers a mirror-finish bore to EN 10305-2 and replaces seamless tubing in cylinders and gas springs, at 40% to 80% lower cost and with predictable lead times.
Do you deliver the finished part or just the tubing?
Both. As well as tubing in coil or cut to length, we transform the tubing into a finished component ready to assemble —bent, punched, end formed, machined and with whatever surface finish the drawing requires.