Plastic mold,custom plastic injection molding – Page 14

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016

Electroforming,Cavity Corrosion and Erosion,Gassing and Burning

Electroforming

This is a very similar process to (hut not the same as) electroplating. Whereas with plating a deposit of about 25 [im is the norm, electroforming can he millimetres thick.

Nickel or cobalt—nickel is deposited onto a former, which is made from an inert material, often acrylic. Other former materials may be used but if they are not electrically conductive they have to be made conductive by coating with chemically reduced silver.

The process consists of depositing a layer of cobalt—nickel up to 5 mm deep onto the former. Next a further layer of copper is deposited to increase the cavity wall thickness. At the end of the procedure the former is withdrawn and the composite cavity is inserted into a steel chase for support.

The advantage of this process is that a component accuracy of 1 micron can be achieved and there is no shrinkage involved, unlike in casting. The great disadvantage of this process is the time scale involved, which can he up to 10—12 weeks.

Cavity Corrosion and Erosion

When abrasive or corrosive materials such as glass-filled Nylon or PVC are being used, there is a danger that erosion or corrosion of the cavity will occur. These problems can severely damage the tool, which may then need expensive repairs.

The answer for both problems is to hard chromium-plate or nickel-plate the cavities. This gives a good level of protection to the cavity against both problems. When the plating begins to wear away it may he stripped off and the surfaces re-plated.

It should be remembered that，when using corrosive or abrasive materials, not only the cavity should be protected but also the runner and sprue bush as well.

Gassing and Burning

20160317102847 When the melt enters the cavity, it has to displace the air in front of it. Often this presents no problem, as the air will escape through the split line or ejector pins or down the sides of core pins.

There are some situations, however，where the air cannot escape easily. This often occurs with blind cavities or when high injection speeds are used. In these cases the incoming melt will compress the air in front of it, causing the material to burn. The problem is worse when large volumes of air have to be displaced when using high injection speeds.

To overcome this, vents have to be included to provide an easier path for the air to escape, as shown above. These vent channels have to be very shallow, usually 0.015 to 0.025 mm to avoid the possibility of flashing. The land length of the channels has to be kept short, to allow the air to expand and cool as quickly as possible.

For more minor gassing and burning problems, venting can be provided by grinding very small flats on the sides of ejector pins. Alternatively, special venting pins can be located at trouble spots.

Maximum Metal Conditions

It is good engineering practice to make sure that mould tool cavities can be adjusted if necessary after the first sampling trials. Critical snap-fit features or features that have to mate with other parts are examples of where such adjustment may be necessary. Failure to ensure this can result in very expensive changes or replacements in the tool.

It makes sense to dimension the tool cavities and cores so that small amounts can be machined away from them if the moulding dimensions are incorrect. In fact, it is better to systematically make sure that critical sizes are slightly out of tolerance from the start, so that they be can adjusted after moulding trials, thus eliminating the possibility of remakes being necessary. This method is called using maximum metal conditions (MMC).

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016

EDM,Wire Electrodischarge Machining and Cold Hobbing

Standard Electrodischarge Machining (EDM)

This method is often called spark erosion and is widely used in the manufacture of cavities, cores and punches. EDM allows the generation of complex cavity and punch forms to be achieved with relative ease compared with other methods.

To generate a female form, an electrode first has to be made. This would be the opposite form to the shape required. For example, to machine a cavity, the electrode form would have to be male as shown

The Mould Design Guide-modificated-68

The process consists of immersing the work piece in a dielectric fluid、usually a form of refined paraffin or similar hydrocarbon. The electrode is lowered over the work piece until it is nearly touching it. A series of high-energy impulses are passed to the electrode and a high electrical potential is built up on it. This energy cannot pass to the work piece because the dielectric fluid electrically initially insulates the two parts from each other. However, when the electrode advances to within a very small distance from the work piece, the dielectric is broken down and sparks pass from the electrode to the work piece. Each impulse melts or evaporates a small portion of the work piece with temperatures reaching I00-500°C.

The Mould Design Guide-modificated-69

This distance is known as the spark gap and varies between 0.005 mm and 0.5 mm for most purposes- Lower energy levels permit smaller spark gaps with finer finishes, while larger gaps allow faster material removal but with a coarser finish.

Electrodes are made from materials that have the necessary electrical, mechanical and thermal properties. The most common materials used are copper and graphite. Unfortunately, these electrode materials wear away at the same time as the work piece is eroded; hence, alloyed electrodes such as copper—tungsten arc often used to minimise electrode wear. The copper provides the electrical conductivity and the tungsten provides resistance to wear.

In practice, a cavity would be 4rough sparked’ first to get rid of as much of the material as fast as possible. Then finishing electrodes would be used to machine out the cavity to the final size and finish. Very intricate forms may be machined by means of this process. Cams, spur gears, helical gears, worms and other complex geometric forms are typical examples.

For purely functional, nonappearance finishes, sparked finishes may be left as they are, but otherwise polishing may be necessary. EDM is also used to impart a variety of finishes to the cavity surface. Leather grain, stipple and fine matt finishes are examples. Specialised suppliers make electrodes for these finishes.

Wire Electrodischarge Machining

This method is an adaptation of the standard process. The principle is shown

The Mould Design Guide-modificated-71

While standard EDM is used for sparking ‘blind forms,wire EDM is used for eroding completely through the work piece. Wire EDM is also used for machining complex forms with the electrode path being controlled via a computer through precision stepper motors.

This method may be used to advantage where ‘blind’ corners are unsuitable and particularly where blind cavities may give rise to air entrapment and burning.Wire electrodes are usually made from copper, molybdenum, brass and special alloy steels with diameters varying from 0.02 to 0.5 mm. Owing to the fragile nature of the wire, demineralised water is used as a dielectric. This permits a larger spark gap, making removal of debris easier and minimising the risk of arcing leading to wire breakage.

Cold Hobbing

This technique was used before the introduction of EDM. It consists of forcing a hardened, polished punch into an annealed blank work piece. The hobbing force is continuously increased until the required depth of form has been achieved.

The Mould Design Guide-modificated-73

During penetration of the hob, the work piece may become work hardened and need reannealing several times until the full form depth is achieved. To assist the hobbing process and to avoid the hob and work piece welding together, extra-high-pressure lubricants are used. Following hobbing，material is forced up on the top surface of the work piece and this has to be machined away. The work piece is then hardened, tempered and polished.

This procedure is regaining its previous popularity where large numbers of simple forms are required- For shallow, simple forms, the technique is faster than EDM.

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016

mold building machine

Drilling Machines

Drilling Machines

Drilling is considered by many to be the fastest and most economical metal-cutting or machining process. A small drill press which will take /2-in. diameter drills is a popular and inexpensive machine for drilling, reaming, lapping, tapping, spot-facing, or counter-boring small holes. Holes as large as 3 in. in diameter are drilled on larger machines. The radial drill press is a very useful heavy-duty machine which has a drill head mounted on a movable arm that travels to the position desired for drilling operations. Because of this maneuverability, the work may be clamped on a stationary table while holes are drilled at various points. Mold plates often require many parallel holes for the circulation of heating or cooling media.

For deep hole drilling, a gun drill is normally used to assure a straight and true hole. A straight hole becomes essential when a drilled hole may be only ^1/3 to Vs in. away from a mold pocket 20 in. or more from the edge of the plate where the drilled hole started. A gun drill (sometimes called spade drill) has cutting edges at the tip, and relieved spiral flutes. A small hole for cooling and flushing exists through each Lip of the drill. Special gun drilling machines have several drilling heads, adjustable for spacing, and operate very much in the same manner as a horizontal boring mill.

Lathes

Lathes

The lathe is the most common piece of tool room equipment. standard tool room lathes range from the small bench models to large engine lathes. Lathes are used for cutting round shapes and internal and external threads, and for boring, grinding, polishing, etc.. The small bench lathe is a high-speed tool used largely for producing the small round pins used in mold making. Some tool shops have high speed polishing lathes, but the average shop uses a high-speed bench lathe for this work.

Copying or tracing lathes can be used for cutting complex profiles in a cavity or on a core. They have tracing heads which will follow the profile of a template or pattern fixed firmly to the lathe bed. By electric or hydraulic means, the tracing stylus controls the motion of the lathe tool which then duplicates the geometry of the pattern on the work piece. Equipment of this type can save many hours of calculation in design or fabrication in the shop. It greatly reduces the possibility of error or variation from part to part on a number of duplicate mold parts.

Some shops now have tape operated lathes which have ductility of the mold maker even further. A tape operate program punched into a paper tape. Once a work piece is on e chucking device, the tape automatically machines the piece in ^co the punched program. Obviously, a machine running automatic can produce a finished piece much more quickly than an operator who as to con continually adjust and set the machine. Some molds may require 1 ^or cavities and forces of a cylindrical nature, and this dictates a tape control a machine for cost savings, as well as shortened delivery time.

Jig Borer

Jig Borer

A jig borer is a combination of drill press and vertical mill, and is capable of very precise work. The movable work table has adjusting feeds which permit the locating and spacing of holes with extreme accuracy. Dial indicators may be used for measuring distances to 0.0001 in. Holes may be located and drilled accurately and reamed or bored to size in this machine. The advantage gained by the use of a jig borer derives from its ease in locating any number of holes with extreme accuracy. Odd sizes of holes may be bored to the correct size easily in this machine. Jig borers are especially helpful for layout work which demands precision.