Testing

Mitutoyo tester

 

We take great pride in our work, and follow every step to ensure that our molds are built to fit your exact requirements. We use a two-tiered quality control system: first, the machine operator checks all specified dimensions during the process, then the lead man re-checks those dimensions at the completion of the process, using state-of-the-art computerized optical equipment. We “build in quality”.

When running your mold in our facility, we video the process extensively with our High Definition Video camera to show the mold operation is continual and without issues. We provide you the machine setup parameters used during the process. Once the parts have cooled and become stable, we perform our PPAP to assure “Part to Print” has been accomplished with each cavity. It is only then that we feel that we have accomplished our mission to supply you a robust mold to produce your Part to Print!

Once the mold arrives at your facility, we ask that you inspect it and if there are issues, to please contact us and we will find the best way to approach the issue.. we just do not leave you out on a limb… we support you! The good part is that we really do not have issues! Can’t recollect when our last issue was as a result of our Quality Audit System that has been tried and proven over many years.

 

2D Measure Machine

Quality

Quality is expected and something we consider our responsibility to provide. We know what Repairs and delays from repairs can cost you. This is where our project Management portal Excels. You have an engineer assigned to you. Your drawings are reviewed and any questions or potential Issues are communicated through our portal to you and your engineering team. Once all issues are Discussed and resolved the drawings are signed off by you and we begin the manufacturing process.

Every part of our manufacturing goes through the same process. You’re the boss and we want to make sure we deliver what you are expecting. We show you pictures, videos, and at your request we let you Dictate what you want to see. We provide samples and testing to insure our quality won’t disappoint you. At Total Solution Plastic we give you quality at a cost effective price.

TS 16949 Approved
ISO 9001:2000 Certified

Steel Assay Report sent with every Mold

INTRODUCTION to MOLD CLASSIFICATIONS – Injection Mold

The following classifications are guidelines to be used in obtaining quotations and placing orders for uniform types of molds. It is our desire through these classifications to help eliminate confusion in the injection mold quote system and increase customer satisfaction. It is strongly recommended that injection mold drawings be obtained before construction is started on any injection mold. Even though parts may seem simple enough not to warrant a mold design, a drawing showing sizes and steel types will pay for itself in event of injection mold damage.

Injection Mold and Other Mold Types

These classifications are for injection mold specifications only and in no way guarantee workmanship. It is very important that purchasers deal with vendors whose workmanship standards and reliability are well proven. Mold life, because of variations in part design and mold conditions, cannot be guaranteed. This guide will attempt to give approximate cycles for each type of injection mold excluding wear caused by material abrasion, poor mold maintenance and improper molding technique. Maintenance is not the responsibility of the mold maker. Normal maintenance such as replacement of broken springs, broken ejector pins, worn rings, or the rework of nicks and scratches should be borne by the molder.

Injection Mold Rework Costs

Mold rework costs should be closely considered when deciding which classification of mold is required. This document does not constitute a warranty or guarantee by the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., or its members for the classifications or specifications set forth herein.

CLASSIFICATION OF INJECTION MOLDS UP TO 400 TONS

The following contains a brief synopsis of the various mold classifications and the detailed descriptions of each mold class. Again, it is our recommendation that a MOLD DATA SHEET (an example of which is in the back of the SPI manual) be included with each request for quotation.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
1. Customer to approve mold design prior to start of construction.

2. All molds, with the exception of prototype, to have adequate channels for temperature control.

3. Wherever feasible, all details should be marked with steel type and Rockwell hardness approximately .005 deep.

4. Customer name, part number, and mold number should be steel stamped on mold.

5. All molds should have eyebolt holes on the top side. There should be one above and one below the parting line to facilitate mold removal, if required, in halves.

CLASS 101 MOLD
Cycles: One million or more

Description: Built for extremely high production. This is the highest priced mold and is made with only the highest quality materials.

Detailed mold design required.

Mold base to be minimum hardness of 28 R/C.

Molding surfaces (cavities and cores) must be hardened to a minimum of 48 R/C range. All other details, such as sub-inserts, slides, heel blocks, gibs, wedge blocks, lifters, etc. should also be of hardened tool steels.

Ejection should be guided.

Slides must have wear plates.

Temperature control provisions to be in cavities, cores and slide cores wherever possible.

Over the life of a mold, corrosion in the cooling channels decreases cooling efficiency thus degrading part quality and increasing cycle time. It is therefore recommended that plates or inserts containing cooling channels be of a corrosive resistant material or treated to prevent corrosion.

Parting line locks are required on all molds.

CLASS 102 MOLD

Cycles: Not exceeding one million

Description: Medium to high production mold, good for abrasive materials and/or parts requiring close tolerances. This is a high quality, fairly high priced mold.

Detailed mold design required.

Mold base to be minimum hardness of 28 R/C.

Molding surfaces should be hardened to a 48 R/C range. All other functional details should be made and heat treated.

Temperature control provisions to be directly in the cavities, cores, and slide cores wherever possible.

Parting line locks are recommended for all molds.

The following items may or may not be required depending on the ultimate production quantities anticipated. It is recommended that those items desired be made a firm requirement for quoting purposes:
a. Guided Ejection

b. Slide Wear Plates

c. Corrosive Resistant Temperature Control Channels

d. Plated Cavities

CLASS 103 MOLD

*Cycles: Under 500,000

Description: Medium production mold. This is a very popular mold for low to medium production needs. Most common price range.

Detailed mold design recommended.

Mold base must be minimum hardness of 8 R/C.

Cavity and cores must be 28 R/C or higher.

All other extras are optional.

CLASS 104 MOLD

*Cycles: Under 100,000

Description: Low production mold. Used only for limited production preferably with non-abrasive materials. Low to moderate price range.

Mold design recommended.

Mold base can be of mild steel or aluminum.

Cavities can be of aluminum, mild steel or any other agreed upon metal.

CLASS 105 MOLD

Cycles: Not exceeding 500

Description: Prototype only. This mold will be constructed in the least expensive manner possible to produce a very limited quantity of prototype parts.

May be constructed from cast metal or epoxy or any other material offering sufficient strength to produce minimum prototype pieces.

The process of resin selection is not easy. This is a broad review of some of the most common resins available.

http://www.geplastics.com
http://www2.dupont.com
http://www.glscorporation.com
http://www.polyone.com
Injection Mold Home

Selecting the right Injection Mold Steels

Selecting the right steels for the injection mold base and molding surfaces has an impact on cost, cycle time and life of the injection mold.
Depending on your requirements we customize the solution and certify the steels used in manufacturing and the heat treating process.

We will comply with any customer request for any Worldwide Steel sourced. Our Primary supplier Is LKM for quality steel.

Injection Mold Makers Concerns

Machinability – Reduces machining time and cost.
Polishability – Parts that require a mirror-like finish.
Heat-Treating Dimensional Stability – For dimensional accuracy.
Weldability – For either part design and engineering changes or future repairs.
Nitriding Ability – Nitriding gives a very hard surface layer to the steel and very good resistance to abrasion or corrosion. However, the nitriding layer can be brittle and crack.

Injection Mold Steels

Wear Resistance – Molding surfaces will wear if the plastic material is abrasive, filled with glass or minerals.
Compressive Strength – Needed to withstand mold clamping forces to minimize damage to shut off areas.
Heat Treated – Needed when molds operate at high temperatures.
Corrosion Resistance – Very important in two major aspects – first when corrosive plastics or additives are used; and second, when molds operate in high-humidity areas or regions where the water is particularly corrosive.
Thermal Conductivity – Can have an impact on the cycle time of high-production molds and although it’s not often a major factor in selecting mold steels, it is a reason for choosing beryllium copper instead of steel in some cases.

Pre-hardened steel molds are less wear resistant and are used for lower volume requirements or larger components. The steel hardness is in the range 38-45 on the Rockwell-C scale. Hardened steel molds are heat treated after machining. These are by far the superior in terms of wear resistance and lifespan. Typical hardness ranges between 50 and 60 Rockwell-C (HRC).

Most of the steel that Total Solution Plastic uses in our molds is purchased from LKM (Lung Kee Metal), which is a very fine and reputable company traded on the NY Stock Exchange. Their quality has been compared to DME here in the USA. We also purchase from Uddeholm …of course the ultimate decision is made by our customer.

Design Guide for Injection Mold

A mold consists of two primary components:
the injection mold (A plate)
and the ejector mold (B plate)

What is a straight pull injection mold?

A part that can be made with a straight pull mold has all its features designed so that when the two halves of the mold pull straight away from each other. Undercuts on the part require mold pieces to pull out sideways, perpendicular to the direction of pull. These are called side actions.

Rib Design
Avoid deep & thin ribs if possible. Deep ribs require draft and clearance in order to allow the milling tool access. The max tool lengths average between 8-12 times the tool diameters. Also worth noting is that deep, thin ribs tend to increase the mold milling time and make hand polishing difficult and time consuming.

Draft
Include sufficient draft. Draft facilitates the removal of the part from the mold. The guidelines associated with the number of degree of draft required will vary with geometry and other part characteristics (e.g. surface texture requirements), but in general the more the better.

 

Injection Mold Design Center

 

Supported CAD Formats
• IGES (.iges) The Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) (pronounced eye-jess) defines a neutral data format that allows the digital exchange of information among Computer-aided design (CAD) systems.
• Sterolithography (.stl)
STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems.
• Autocad (.dwg) is a CAD (Computer Aided Design or Computer Aided Drafting) software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting, developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc.
• Catia (.stp) is a multi-platform CAD/CAM/CAE commercial software suite developed by the French
company Dassault Systemes and marketed worldwide by IBM.
• PRO/E (.drw) Or Pro/ENGINEER is a parametric, integrated 3D CAD/CAM/CAE solution created by Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC).

Injection Mold Home

The key difference is how the molding compound is introduced into the mold, which affects flow patterns and glass integrity.

4000 RPM TOKUMI Machining Center

 

• Compression Mold
• Injection Mold
• Injection-compression Mold
• Thixo Mold

 

Slow feeding NC wire cut machine (Sodick AQ 550L)

 

Different methods, what you can expect and what the process will accomplish.

 

 

A major step in product development. The information gained from the prototype part is used to refine the product to make it more functional, more useful, more user friendly or just more appealing to the end user. This may take many forms from material selection, surface finishes, geometry changes or changing the design concept.

The selection of the prototyping method is dictated by what needs to be learned from the prototype. It is unlikely the first edition of prototype parts will be satisfactory for marketing purposes. If that were not the case, there would be no sense in going to the expense of prototyping. Modifications to the design or materials should be expected and used to learn from.

Stereolithography (SLA)
A rapid prototyping process that uses a vat of liquid UV-curable photopolymer resin and a UV laser to build parts one layer at a time. SLA rapid prototyping is a great process for concept models, master patterns and tradeshow models.

 

 

Machined Plastic Prototypes (MPP)
A subtractive rapid prototyping process for creating plastic prototypes from production plastics. The material is removed from a solid block plastic using CNC technology. MPP parts are ideal for functional prototypes and end-use applications.

PolyJet
A rapid prototyping process that jets photopolymer materials in ultra-thin layers (16µ) onto a build tray layer by layer until the part is completed. Each photopolymer layer is cured by UV light immediately after it is jetted. PolyJet rapid prototyping is a great process for concept models, master patterns and tradeshow models.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
A rapid prototyping process that uses a high power laser to fuse small particles of powder to build parts one layer at a time. SLS rapid prototyping is a great process for functional testing and for low volume manufacturing.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
A rapid prototyping process that uses a plastic filament of material supplied to an extrusion nozzle. The nozzle is heated to melt the material and can be moved in both horizontal and vertical directions. FDM rapid prototyping is a great process for functional testing and for low volume manufacturing.

Cast Urethane
The process of using silicone molds to create urethane molded parts. Silicone is cast around a master pattern (typically made from stereolithography rapid prototyping). After curing, the mold is then used to form a two-part polyurethane material in the shape of the master. Cast Urethane Molding is a great process for pre-production runs. and low volume manufacturing.

The above information is of a general nature and is intended for a basic understanding of one of the processes we use in the product development stage to help bring our customers products to market. There are exceptions to every process or method depending on the individual application.

RESIN PROPERTIES
Your selection of material will determine the performance of the part manufactured using injection molds. It is also important to how the mold will fill. To determine the properties of the most common resins used.
Read More

INJECTION MOLDS & PROCESSES
What are the differences between compression, injection, injection-compression, thixomolding and transfer molding?

All of these processes require matched metal dies designed to be clamped under pressure. The key difference is how the molding compound is introduced into the mold.
Read More

MOLD STEELS
In an age that demands high productivity in manufacturing there is no substitute for high quality injection molds in your molding processes.

Most of the steel that Total Solution Plastic uses in our injection molds is purchased is purchased from LKM (Lung Kee Metal), which is a very fine and reputable company traded on the NY Stock Exchange. Their quality has been compared to DME here in the USA. We also purchase from Moldmax and Uddeholm to mention a few…of course the ultimate decision is made by our customer.

MOLD DESIGN GUIDE
Read More

PROTOTYPING
Read More

INJECTION CLASSIFICATIONS
Read More

Glossary of Terms

Google Sketchup will help you model or design you product

IDES provides a free search engine for plastic material datasheets called Prospector

Free online dictionary