Did you know? Regular preventative maintenance of injection molding tools like mold cavities is important to effectively fulfill plastic injection molding demands. Hence, manufacturing plastic products using the mold cavity isn’t the end of your tasks as a machine operator. Instead, once you complete production work, maintaining the mold cavity is just as crucial as the manufacturing process. Besides, poorly maintained molds may produce parts that do not meet standards, resulting in increased downtime, waste of raw materials, and a negative impact on the bottom line.   Mold Cavity Maintenance Checklist: Below are the eight key practices to consider when upkeep molding cavities that you use for plastic injection manufacturing tasks:   Frequently Analyze Mold Cavity Condition: It is imperative to comprehensively inspect the injection molds before beginning a fresh manufacturing cycle. It is important to thoroughly inspect the surfaces of the injection molding die to ensur...

Manufacturers’ task is to produce products that serve a wide range of functional and aesthetic purposes, often turning to multi-material injection molding solutions-more specifically, insert injection molding and overmolding. Because these two processes have some similarities, they are generally considered interchangeable, but there are also some key differences. Understanding the basic differences between insert molding and overmolding will allow you to choose the most appropriate type of multi-material molding for your application.     1. Insert Injection Molding Insert injection molding is a process that requires an insert, usually metal, to be pre-placed in the tool to inject the plastic flow.   Plastic packaging inserts can create a molded plastic sheet, which is generally stronger than a plastic sheet created using secondary assembly.   Insert injection molding can be done by manual insert loading-for very small batch applications or extremely complex pa...

CNC turning involves the use of fixed cutting tools to eliminate material from a workpiece, which is held in place by a revolving chuck. This process is particularly suited to creating parts with symmetry about their central axis, and generally results in quicker and more cost-effective production than milling.   CNC turning, or lathing, is a common technique for producing cylindrical components. However, contemporary multi-axis CNC turning centers, fitted with CNC milling tools, can now fabricate non-cylindrical parts as well. By combining the efficiency of CNC turning with the versatility of CNC milling, these systems can generate an extensive variety of rotational symmetric geometries   How do CNC Turning Machines work? 1. Producing a CAD model Design software, such as Solidworks and Autodesk Fusion 360, is used by engineers and machinists to produce a CAD model of their specific components.   2. Convert CAD model for CNC machine The CAD model is then imported into th...

How the Hot Runner Systems Works The cold runner of a plastic injection mold refers to the section between the mold inlet and the gate. The molten plastic maintains its fluidity inside the runner by virtue of the injection pressure and its own heat. However, as a part of the molding material, the runner is not a product. As a result, when designing a mold, we need to consider not only the filling effects, but also the material-saving effect produced by shortening or downsizing the runner; but in actuality, it is not easy for us to have the best of both worlds. Types & Application of Hot Runners When applying the hot runner technology, the proper selection of gate type is of critical importance, because gate type directly determines the selection of hot runner components as well as manufacturing and application of molds. Therefore, the hot runner system can be classified into 3 types based on the gate type, i.e. (1) hot tip hot runner system, (2) sprue gating hot runner system and (...

The Runner Design Concept The runner refers to the melt flow passageway between the end of the main runner and the gate, which is used to change melt flow direction and allocate it to each cavity in a stable and balanced way. The basic design principle of the branch runner is little pressure/heat loss, with the minimum quantity of plastic retained in the runner. Sectional Shapes of the Branch Runner:   –Circular, with the minimum specific surface area (runner surface area/runner volume), but during production, both sides of the mold plate need to be aligned. –The commonly applied forms, trapezoid and U-shape are easy to process. –Semicircle. –Rectangle, larger specific surface area and high resistance to flow, thus seldom applied.   The Principle of the Runner Design The runner is usually designed on either half of the plastic injection mold. When considering the layout of the cavity and the branch runner, it is better to ensure that when projected on ...

What Is DFM? Otherwise known as Design for Manufacturing. DFM is a process used to optimise the design of a product or part for the most efficient and cost-effective way of manufacturing. DFM is essential for ensuring that designs will function as expected and can be produced accurately and efficiently, reducing production time and cost.   PPS ’s DFM Service At PPS we offer a free DFM consultation service to help us better understand your project requirements.    5 Key Principles Of DFM The DFM process covers 5 key principles; Process, design, material, environment, compliance, and testing.   1. Manufacturing Process For DFM to be most effective you must be sure you are using the right manufacturing process for your project.   For Example… if you need to manufacture a high volume of plastic parts, it’s most likely that injection moulding will be your best option. For detailed metal parts, CNC machining is probably the most appropriate process...