Injection molding machines are typically characterized by the tonnage of the clamp force they provide. The required clamp force is determined by the projected area of the parts in the mold and the pressure with which the material is injected. […]
There are many types of materials that may be used in the injection molding process. Most polymers may be used, including all thermoplastics, some thermosets, and some elastomers. […]
There are many techniques for designing sustainably. Depending on product usage patterns, some are more effective than others. […]
Extrusion is one of the most widely used manufacturing processes across many industries. Essentially, it is not much different from squeezing tooth paste out of the tube. Anything that is long with a consistent cross section is probably made by extrusion. Common examples are spaghetti, candy canes, chewing gums, drinking straws, plumbing pipes, door insulation [...]
A mold shop using this process originally machined the grooves with a four-flute, high-speed, steel-grooving tool, just after completing the bushing counterbore. Cutting the slot was faster than opening the screw hole, but still left plenty of room for improvement. Although the spindle and mold block remained in position in the X-Y plane for both [...]
A few moldmakers have adopted a new practice for bushing retention using snap rings, which helps create a more robust, more reliable and more easily serviceable mold. […]
Three Dimensional Printing (3DP) technology was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and licensed to several corporations. […]
Snaps allow an easy method of assembly and disassembly of plastic parts. Snaps consist of a cantilever beam with a bump that deflects and snaps into a groove or a slot in the mating part. Snaps can have a uniform cross-section or a tapered cross section (with decreasing section height). The tapered cross-section results in [...]
Inserts are used in plastic parts, to allow the use of fasteners such as machine screws. The advantage of this is that since these inserts are made out of metal, they are robust. Further, machine threads also allow great many cycles of assembly and disassembly, Inserts are installed using one of the following methods. [...]
1) Incomplete Fillings: a) not enough resin to fill the mold completely b) inadequate injection stroke c) low injection rate d) low injection pressure e) resin viscosity too high f) exotic geometry […]