How are cell phone cases made through plastic injection molding?
- It starts with the mold base
- It is carefully shaped through a CNC machine
- It gets smoothed and polished
Nowadays, everyone wants or owns a smartphone. This little piece of technology, which comes in handy for all your communication needs, has truly become a staple for people.
Smartphones can be expensive so you have to protect it from damage. Good thing there are cellphone cases manufactured by different plastic injection molding companies that are available in the market.
You can choose from a wide selection of cell phone cases that comes in different colors and designs which you can mix and match depending on your mood. Some cell phone cases are even used for different functions.
A few people use it as a fashion accessory with extra functions for their phone, others buy cases that enhance their battery life—but the main function why most of them buy phone cases is because they want to protect their device from outside forces.
Plastic cell phone cases are some of the most popular ones because they can have many wild patterns and features like rhinestones and jewels. A number of them even have cool features like a kickstand. These cases are great for protecting your phone; they are easy to grip and are also affordable (most of the time). Some are even dustproof and waterproof.
The most popular plastic material used to create phone cases is polycarbonate. It is an extremely hard plastic that is often utilized in bulletproof windows. Another popular plastic item is polypropylene—it makes for a really strong protective case for your phone.
However, the most versatile type of plastic is polyurethane because it can be hard or soft; it can also be shaped into different mold types using plastic injection molding. It is also notable that they are easy to recycle, which is the reason why there are cell phone cases made with recycled products.
Source: hackaday.com
It Starts with a Mold Base
A mold base is used for the parts containing the cavity for plastic injection molding, its function is the role of directly installing the mold to the plastic injection molding machine.
It is used for assisting plastic and molding, it is also used for the manufacturing of household mold, communication mold, and other kinds of mold. Plastic injection molding as a manufacturing process produces parts by injecting material into a mold.
Cell phone cases are carefully designed and facilitated by a molding process. The injection molding process utilizes a ram or screw-type plunger to force molten plastic material into a mold cavity found in the mold base.
This solidifies the shape of the cell phone case that is formed to the contour of the mold. This is done by a high-pressure injection of the plastic into the mold which shapes the polymer into that designed shape.
Injection molding is a manufacturing process done by plastic mold makers, for producing parts by injecting material into a mold.
Injection molding can be performed with a host of materials including metals, glasses, elastomers, confections, and most commonly thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers.
Parts to be subjected through injection molding must be very carefully designed to facilitate the molding process.
Materials such as polycarbonate, polypropylene, and polyurethane are made for the custom-designed product using injection molds.
Hard plastic cases are typically made of polycarbonate or polypropylene. They are made with a custom-designed product called an injection mold.
It is Carefully Shaped through a CNC Machine
The industry of plastic injection molding handles various manufacturing processes with computers and machines. The Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining is the process in the production when machines are needed in order to produce and handle specific tasks.
From the mold base, a mold maker uses a CNC machine to slowly and carefully shape the mold into the appropriate design.
It transforms stock pieces of material, such as a block of plastic, and will arrive at a finished product which is the phone case. CNC relies on digital instructions and it interprets the design as directives for cutting prototype parts.
This greatly improves the manufacturing process of the cases because the tool rapidly advances productivity due to the automation of the highly technical and labor-intensive processes.
It Gets Smoothed and Polished
After the hot plastic is injected into the mold base, formed its correct shape, hardened, and cooled, the design will now be smoothed and polished.
Once the case is formed using injection molding, it is then removed from the mold. The sharp edges it has will be smoothed out and trimmed to make the final shape.
Lastly, the design is finalized by adding the finishing touches like the paint and packaging; the cell phone case is ready to be released to the distributor.
Key Takeaway
Plastic injection molding is a very useful process that most of us benefit from. Many people are reaping the benefits of manufacturing with injection molding. Protective, stylish, and functional cell phone cases are only some of their examples.
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