plastic mould and custom injection moulding tips

Heating   The correct heating of hot runner manifold systems is very important and is crucial to the success of the tool in production. There must be good heat transfer between the heater and the surface being heated or the heater will fail prematurely. Heater channels in the manifold should be smooth in order to achieve this and must not be left rough machined. There are six types of heating systems that are commonly used in hot runner tooling: Band heaters Coil heaters Cartridge heaters Tubular heaters Integral heaters Hybrid heater/heat pipe systems Band Heaters This is the most common method of heating external cylindrical surfaces such as barrels, nozzles and tubular manifolds. Band heaters give good uniform heating right across their width and are available in a wide range of wattages and sizes. Mica and ceramic insulation are usually used. Mains voltage operation is most common, although low-voltage systems are available at higher cost. Sizes up to 100 mm diam

opportunities for the production design engineer Production design work in both the areas of product and process design will provide a rewarding lifetime job. The engineer knows that his work will make possible better products for more people at less cost. He will have rewarding personal contacts with the shop, sales, and service forces, and with his fellow engineers, research workers, designers, shop supervisors, and managers. The field of production design has come to offer some of the best opportunities afforded in industry. It may involve just a routine operation wherein apparatus is designed or modified to suit customer requirements, or it may be a comprehensive program including —in addition to design —sales analysis, research, invention, experimentation, and field tests which result in the development of a product. It may include the development of special equipment for the manufacturer of a product; the training of operators, construction and service men, and salesmen; and co-

systematic procedure design for plastic molding The road taken by the creative thinker in developing new injection molded parts  is long, expensive, and difficult, beset with many detours and byways. A systematic procedure for the development of a product will reduce the time and effort of the engineer, who promotes the development from its early stages to completion. He sees it through design; selection of materials; setting up of operations and processes; selection of equipment; design of tools ; formulation of specifications, operation sheets, and sales data; use of standards; adoption of ideas; obtaining of patents; and many other functions. All of these items are governed by economic or cost requirements and are developed by a systematic procedure. The systematic procedure that will give results through creative thinking begins with the establishment of the problem area. Being able to accurately and completely define the problem area is a long step toward problem solution. Certain