It is known that plastic injection molding can consistently produce thousands, if not millions, of plastic components or products for OEMs, parts suppliers, packaging companies and product manufacturers.
Plastic injection molding can produce a wide range of products of different sizes, complexity, and composition. The most reliable and reproducible applications for this process range from cars, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and commercial filtration to markets such as home appliances, lawns, parks and medicines.
How it works
Once the engineer has designed a part, the toolmaker will make a metal mold, usually steel or aluminum. The mold may contain one or more cavities, precisely formed to form the required part. The design of parts and molds can be very precise, reaching (or exceeding) a very high tolerance of +/- 0.001 inch.
A variety of polymers, including thermoplastics, thermometers and adhesives, can be used in plastic injection molding at qmolding.com. The granules or granules of the selected materials are heated in the barrel of the injection molding machine until the mixture is flexible enough to be injected into the mold.
The cylinder or screw-type presses on the correct size or “inflates” the material to fill the cavities under
pressure while fixing the two halves of the mold. The materials are cooled and hardened into the shape of the part, then removed from the open mold so that the process can start again.
Advantages of Plastic Injection Molding
Plastic injection molding reliably creates a large volume of consistent, high-quality units, and there are many other compelling reasons to consider the process of injection molding services:
• It allows the conversion of complex metals to plastics, which reduces the total cost of parts by reducing the multiple cutting operations in the casting process.
• Plastic components are lighter than forged or molded metal parts.
• When plastic can be used in place of metal, corrosion is no longer a problem.
• Plastic injection molds allow greater freedom in the design of parts by allowing the addition of a flexible radius or edge regions which require additional cutting (at an additional cost) on metal parts.
• Another element of design freedom is the ability to create highly detailed parts with complex engineering. Since the plastics are pushed into the mold at high pressure, it fills the cavity and presses the mold with more force than other forming processes. The plastic will match the small and complex shapes and details inside the mold.
• It is also possible to combine different materials in the same room for more benefits and less assembly. With stroke molding, you can use hard plastic and thin plastic to create a sealing edge or a soft edge or use two different colors. The mold insert allows you to incorporate non-plastic components, such as a metal screw built into a plastic cabinet handle.
• The plastic injection molding process includes a high degree of automation, which can result in great savings in production costs. Multiple steps can be performed by a single operator or controlled by robots, reducing labor and overall costs. The process can also be performed faster and more efficiently, and production can be increased.
• There is little or no waste from this process since plastic waste can be crushed and reused.
• Plastic injection molding produces reliable and inexpensive parts and components. It also offers you a variety of materials and design options and produces parts that can reduce the total cost of manufacturing your product, and by reducing the weight of the equipment or vehicle, and the costs associated with its use. It’s time to reassess your processes and find out how plastic injection molding can benefit your business.
• Q molding has many years of experience in plastic injection molding, and our team of experts provides information from a variety of molds and manufacturing environments. Request a quote or call us for more information.
Common disadvantages of molding
Injection molding is a complex technology that faces potential production problems. It can be caused by mold defects or often by the treatment of partsmolding.
Keep these factors in mind when designing the injection molded part and remember that it is easier to avoid problems at the start than it is to change your design later.