Injection Mold Development
Making molds for plastic injection molding
At the heart of the injection molding process is the mold, or casting mold into which the heated plastic raw material is injected under high pressure. You can provide us with your own molds for injection molding, or our engineer can use CAD software to design a mold for your product.
The mold contains the shape of the part and is used in injection molding to inject the molten plastic. When the plastic then cures again, the product is ejected and the process repeats itself.
During this process, a mold must be resistant to clamping forces as high as thousands of tons, for large parts such as crates. During injection, these pressures are released but heat is also generated from the molten plastic. Ideally, we also need the mold to withstand this more than 500,000 times!
Because of these requirements, mold construction is expensive and complex. A mold is made up of mostly separate components manufactured from a high-quality steel. Each component is precisely machined to a tolerance three times smaller than the thickness of a piece of copy paper. These components must then work together in the mold to create your plastic product.
Rules for injection molding
The foundation only begin with a good product drawing that complies with the design rules: uniform wall thicknesses, part line, discharges, roundings, position of injection and undercuts, and the position of the injection of the die. No problem, we are happy to help you with the product design.
Our first step is to analyze the product drawings and discuss with you the requirements the product must meet. Based on this, we also make an estimate of what the mold must meet and whether it fits within your budget.
Mould drawing
If the product drawing meets the various requirements, a mold drawing will be prepared. The mold drawing takes into account all the basic components. Here you can think of the mold cavities, location and geometry of the injection, the partial seam of the mold on the product, the cooling channels, placement of the ejectors and other technical components.
Creation by the mold manufacturer
When the mold drawing fully meets your and our requirements, the production of the mold will be initiated. Beforehand we have already looked at your budget and based on this we have made a choice for the suitable mold manufacturer, also called toolmaker.
We have been working with the same Dutch and Asian toolmakers for many years, where it is possible to make molds from different types of steel. This way we can always guarantee excellent quality.
When the mold is ready for production, it is extensively tested on one of our injection molding machines by means of a trial injection. You then receive the first samples (First Out of Tool) along with a dimensional report. This allows us to ensure that the products meet the product drawing and your requirements. Regardless of where the mold is made, production always takes place at our facility in Boxtel!
Existing injection molds
Of course, we are also always available to customers with in-house injection molds. In the preliminary stage, we express the expectations, on the day of arrival the molds are installed on the machine and by means of a trial injection the products are presented for approval. We ensure that this transition goes smoothly as if no transfer has taken place. Are you curious what Fleur Plastics can do for you? Feel free to contact us and we will discuss the possibilities!
