Plastic Injection Mold Design Basics
Get a practical and comprehensive look at injection mold design and learn to contribute to the overall success of projects. Receive a unique blend of detailed mold design concepts set forth in the context of the whole design process.
This course can be applied to the Plastics Technology Certificate.
Who Should Attend
Anyone responsible for procuring, evaluating, building or designing injection mold tools, including tooling engineers, buyers, toolmakers, mold designers, product designers, managers and molders.
Benefits and Learning Outcomes
- Understand mold design concepts
- Avoid costly mistakes
- Specify and evaluate your purchases of molds
Course Outline/Topics
Introduction and Overview
The Anatomy of a Mold
Mold Types
- Stripper plate molds
- Unscrewing molds
- Quick change molds
- Hot runner molds
- Shuttle molds
Basic Mold Construction
- Use and placement of bolts and dowels
- Major suppliers and differences between them
- How to specify and order mold bases and components
Common Components and their Function
- Leader pins, return pins, support pillars, rest buttons, etc.
The Molding Press
- How the mold interfaces with the press
- Horizontal and vertical clamp
- Shuttle and rotary presses
Plastic Resin Fundamentals
- Amorphous and semi-crystalline
- Basic properties and how they affect the mold design
Shrink
- How to use shrink to your advantage
- Factors that affect shrink and warp
Plastic Product Design Fundamentals
- Common errors
- What the mold designer needs to look for in a product design
Sprue, Runner and Gate
- Common gate design errors
- Runner sizing guidelines
- Runner pullers
Ejection
- Determining ejector place
- Pin orientation methods
- Knock-out patterns
- Return pins and springs
Basic Mold Inserting
- Solid vs. split construction
- Criteria for inserting
Slides and Lifters
- A thorough look at how to mold undercuts
- Typical slide and lifter construction
- Mechanical vs. hydraulic
Cavity Layout
- How to efficiently “place“ the cavities in the mold and choose the best parting line
- How it affects runners, ejection and gates
Cooling
- The economic effect of cooling design
- General rules for waterline placement
- Thermal conductivity of various tool steels
Venting
- Venting of runners
- How venting affects the molded part
- Why this should NOT be overlooked
Mold Steel
- What to look for in a mold steel
- A discussion of steel hardness
- Alternate materials used in molds
Plating and Polishing
- A selection chart for mold coatings
- When and why to use plating
Dates and locations to be announced.
