4 Stages of Injection Moulding
When you are seeking prototypes injection moulding in China, you are recommended to read this article.
To prove your theory or new product idea you need to have a physical samples. Samples that can show you the form, fit and function of your idea and how your new part/product interacts in a real world situation. Prototype samples are the most cost effective way to prove your theory. Prototype injection moulding is the next step forward in the rapid prototyping industry.
Prototype injection moulding is the same process as injection moulding with one big difference, tool life. Tooling for full production runs is very robust, offering 100,000 parts per tool or 1,000,000 parts per tool, as examples of quantity. Prototype Tooling, or rapid tooling, or ProtoTool as it can be known offers a much low tool life, from a few hundred parts to a few thousand. The benefit is that these ProtoTools can be made quickly and relatively inexpensively by using CNC technology to create a tool from Aluminimum. These proof of concept tools allow you to fully realize your design quickly and flesh out any design issues before the more expensive full production tooling phase of your project is committed to. How inject moulding works:
#1: The Filling Stage
Material is fed into a hopper where it is heated to melting point so it can flow into the mould to begin forming the part.
#2: The Cooling Stage
The part is then quickly cooled so it may harden into the desired shape defined by the mould. Cycle times very but often 15 to 30 seconds are common cycle times. Depending on the part size a mould will often be able to produce several parts for each cycle time.
#3: The Mould Opening Stage
This is the stage of injection moulding. Where you get to find out if your cycle time, temperature and mould are all working well together. If they are then you will get quality parts that can be easily ejected from the mould.
#4: The Ejection Stage
The last one is simply the ejection phase. The model will be taken gently out of the mould it is in, and you can choose to have it come out on a plate or directly on your hands. Being the first person to see your product, even if it is just a sample for now, will inspire you to create more of it.
The entire process is easy, but you still have to find a manufacturer you can trust. There are many companies that provide prototype injection moulding in China
- you can start from there if you would love to see your 3D model sooner.
If you want to know about the Rapid Tooling Process, then the author of this article recommends HLH Prototypes.