Understanding the Plastic Injection Molding Process and its Advantages

Plastic injection molding is a simple process that involves metals. It has come through a finer process of production today. The basic principles of this process have not changed, but the materials and methods have. Of course, you have seen how the finished product looks like. You have seen them more times than you may be aware as car emblems, appliance and industrial nameplates, recreational product nameplates, point-of-purchase, plaques, signs, and custom plastic nameplates.

Plastic Injection Molding Process

The process begins with a plastic pellet made of a compound of organic and inorganic polymers, plus additives to aid in the melting process. This small pellet is tossed into a hopper with thousands of other pellets. This begins the journey from pellet to product. The next step is preparing the plastic.

The pellets are released onto the threads of a giant rotating screw and as they travel along the screw, they are heated to melting temperatures, somewhere around 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The higher the quality of plastic the higher the temperature it requires to melt. The pellets are rolled along the screw because the process also requires friction and force.

When all three requirements are met, friction, force, and heat, the pellets begin to liquefy and the next step of filling begins. The screw continues to guide the liquid plastic along its threads to a valve. The valve forces the plastic under high pressure into a custom designed mold - made of heat resistant metals - until every cavity is filled. When this is achieved, the mold gets to the holding phase.

Filling and holding phases are crucial steps in this process. Their execution will determine the quality of the finished product. The metals used for the mold ensure that the very last piece made carries the same qualities just as the first.

Then, the pressure on the mold is maintained while the molten plastic cools to a solid state. While the part is cooling, the screw returns to its original position, collecting more pellets from the hopper. The product is then ejected from the mold and moves to its secondary processes such as decoration, sub-assembly, or shipment. The mold closes and the process commences all over again.

Its Advantages

When you are looking for plastic injection mold in China, you will see that this process has grown rapidly and brought in more momentum within a short time. It comes with a few advantages; therefore, when looking for plastic injection mold in China, look at the following pros:

• The plastic mold allows complex and intricate shapes to be manufactured. Shapes that are difficult or too costly to manufacture with different processes.
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allows high volumes of custom plastic signs and plastic nameplates to be manufactured with the same quality.

• The plastic nameplates can be decorated in a variety of ways such as textures in the mold, metallic foil, ink, UV protection, and more.
• The process allows injection mold manufacturers to produce custom plastic nameplates and components, which may be too expensive to produce as intricately as it is required, by the use of traditional methods.
• It saves you money and time by allowing high numbers of pieces of the component to be produced at the same time, with every copy identical to the one produced before it.
• This process reduces the cost of labor by reducing the need for more manpower.
• There is virtually no wasted material. Any unused or leftover plastic can be recycled in the process.

If you are looking for the best injection molding companies, the author of this article recommends HLH Prototypes.

If you are looking for Precision CNC Milling Machine in China, then the author of this article recommends HLH Prototypes.