The quality requirement in the plastic molding industry has demanded continued evolution as the sophistication of the molding process and the increased complexity of applications has grown. Our experience has shown that a plastic parts application and it's success in achieving a 'zero defects' status is dependent upon early involvement in the engineering and design phase of a customer's program. Early involvement is mandatory if we are to insure that customers' program objectives in design, engineering, material and tooling criteria can be realistically met. We provide feedback regarding the compatibility of processes, manufacturing techniques and quality realities and are committed to achieving and maintaining a position as our customer's number one plastic parts supplier by exceeding customer expectations and providing total satisfaction.

Injection Molding

Injection molding is a manufacturing process where plastic is forced into a mold cavity under pressure. A mold cavity is essentially a negative of the part being produced. The cavity is filled with plastic, and the plastic changes phase to a solid, resulting in a positive. Typically injection pressures range from 5000 to 20,000 psi. Because of the high pressures involved, the mold must be clamped shut during injection and cooling. Clamping forces are measured in tons.

 

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 Blow Molding

Blowing molding is the primary method to form hollow plastic objects such as soda bottles. The process includes clamping the ends of a softened tube of polymers which can be either extruded or reheated, inflating the polymer against the mold walls with a blow pin, and cooling the product by conduction or evaporation of volatile fluids in the container.

There are three general types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, and stretch blow molding. Extrusion blow molding is usually used to make items of weight greater than 12 oz. such as containers for food, laundry, or waste. Injection blow molding is used to achieve very accurate wall thickness, high-quality neck finish, and to process polymers that cannot be extruded. Usual applications include pharmaceutical, cosmetic, single serving liquor bottles that weighs less than 12 oz. Stretch blow molding is only used for difficult to blow crystalline and crystallizable polymers such as polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate.

 

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Molds & Tooling

Molds are built to high levels of precision and must be robust enough to withstand the high pressures of the process. Molds are usually constructed of hardened tool steel, but may be constructed of aluminum or other soft materials when tooling life is not an issue. Typically, a hardened steel mold will withstand 500,000 to 2,000,000 molding cycles, without appreciable wear, depending upon the material and processing conditions. Aluminum and other soft molds will only withstand 1,000 to 10,000 molding cycles. Soft tooling may have a longer life on purely structural parts where injection pressures are low and materials flow easily.

 

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