Plastics are everywhere, from toys children play with computer components to important medical devices. But have you ever wondered how millions of tiny plastic parts are made? Well, there are dozens of different processes and machinery available to create plastic pieces, but it all begins with a custom plastic manufacturer. Over the last few decades, the plastic industry has continued to grow and evolve to allow for more customizability and stronger plastics. At Lee Plastics we provide injection molding services to create our plastic components. There are many steps in the injection molding process, but regardless of the process you use, it all begins with prototyping.
Prototyping New Plastic Parts
The first key step to any plastic part is designing and prototyping. This can be done with any plastic manufacturing process. Some companies will even 3D print their prototypes before using injection molding or another process for mass production. One reason for this is creating a plastic mold can be very expensive, so multiple rounds of prototyping can cost a lot of money. However, with the advent of digital technologies like mold flow analysis, entire rounds of the prototyping process can be skipped by using digital tools to predict and recommend necessary structural improvements.
What Is Injection Molding
Injection molding involves injecting molten thermoplastic resin into molds made of metal. The plastic then cools and separates from the mold creating the part. Molds can be used hundreds of times to create large amounts of plastic components. The benefit of this system is that it is easy and relatively inexpensive to create large quantities of identical parts. Molds also eliminate the risk of irregularities. In order to use injection molding, a manufacturer has to follow the following steps.
- Mold Design: Molds are designed based on the shape of the plastic component. Molds are designed to optimize space so they are produced at the lowest price point. In order to do this, molds will be designed digitally before being developed.
- Plastic Extrusion: Small plastic pellets are melted and pulled through a heated area using a screwlike device.
- Molding: The liquid plastic is then brought into the mold. A plastic mold may have intricate shaping based on the shape of the plastic piece. Some molds require inserts to be placed robotically or by hand to shape the plastic.
- Cooling: The plastic cools over time and once solid it is ejected from the mold either by using compressed air or a mechanical device.
- Processing: If any irregularities occur pieces are cleaned of any flash or other protrusions. Otherwise, the pieces are removed if the protrusions cannot be easily fixed.
From start to finish this process takes 2 to 4 months to develop molds, but once developed, pieces can be easily created in a matter of a few hours.
Work With Lee Plastics
Lee Plastics is a New England leader in Injection Molding. Our team can mass produce any needed plastic components and provides a variety of value-adding services. Contact us to learn more.