Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - (Page 7)
Molder Georg Kaufmann's Varysoft instrument panel for Hyundai-Kia
may have revolutionized automotive molding by combining injection
with vacuum forming and RTM in one Engel machine.
combining thermoplastic injection molding with a seemingly unlimited number of other processes and materials in
one machine-and sometimes even in one mold. The result
is completely finished cosmetic parts that are lighter in
weight and a lot less expensive.
"Multi-" History
Multi-process molding started with multi-component molding, which has been done for decades to inject different
polymers and colors through different nozzles into one cavity, often with a rotating mold or platen. The quintessential
multi-shot part is the toothbrush, molded in up to seven shots
of different colors and polymers, including rigid polymers and
soft-touch elastomers, with highly automated rotating cube
molds.
common multi-shot automotive parts include tail lights,
molded for over 20 years on rotating molds with three and
four shots of different colored PMMA, and fixed automotive
windows, molded for at least ten years with two and three
shots of clear and colored Pc and integral channels. These
parts are a lot bigger than toothbrushes, but the idea is the
same. They're all thermoplastic injection molding.
not so with the latest "multi-process" injection molding
technologies, demonstrated at last year's K show in germany
and now being commercialized. These parts are really composites more than thermoplastics. They include thermosets,
fibers, and foam. More important, they are made by combinations of injection molding with a wide range of other
processes including compression, microfoaming, reaction
injection molding (RIM), resin transfer molding (RTM), compounding, continuous fiber reinforcement, vacuum forming,
PU foam, molded foam beads, and even in situ thermoplastic polymerization.
Individually these technologies aren't new. They're often
serially combined for low-volume parts. But putting them all
together into one automated, high-volume machine is new.
How does any machine builder simulate such complex
machine processes and parts? The short answer is they can't.
These machines are often put together by several parties, each
an expert in one of the processes, based on know-how. But
customers want the processes anyway. Because however
dauntingly complex multi-process machines are, they cut
cost, cycle time, labor, weight, and variability dramatically.
Early Hybrid Molding
Probably the first multi-process injection molding was direct
long-fiber injection molding of automotive front end carriers,
developed in-house by French automotive molder Faurecia,
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Plastics Engineering - May 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics Engineering - May 2014
Contents
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover1
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover2
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Contents
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 2
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 3
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 4
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 5
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 6
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 7
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 8
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 9
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 10
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 11
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 12
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Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 14
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 15
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Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 18
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 19
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Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover3
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover4
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