About Plastic Injection Molding
Plastic injection molding is used to manufacture a wide variety of products. The process involves melting down material, injecting the molten plastic into a premade mold, letting the plastic cool and harden, then removing the solid plastic material from the mold. It is an exceptionally fast way to manufacture, typically taking less than a few seconds to inject the molten plastic into the machine and 10 to 60 seconds or more until the material is solidified into the desired shape.
When to use Plastic Injection Molding
Due to its speed, precision, and versatility, plastic injection molding is the production method of choice for a range of parts and components. You can use this method to create highly complex parts, and it does not generally produce as much waste material as CNC machining. Injection molding is also an easily repeatable process, allowing you to produce thousands of products per day.
Plastic injection molding is ideal for large production runs of smaller parts that weigh a maximum of a few pounds. Although you can manufacture larger products using this process, its primary benefits, fast repeatability and economical cost, may diminish as the size increases due to longer heating and cooling time and the need for larger molds and injection machines.
If you need to mass produce thousands or millions of virtually identical smaller parts, plastic injection molding may be your best option.
Plastic Injection Molding Machines
The machines used for injection molding consist of four basic parts or sections:
- Injection unit
- Clamping unit
- Control
- Base
Aztec Plastic Company
Chicago, Illinois 60612