Injection Mold Tooling

In this article we are going to cover a selection of injection mold tooling that we here at Shineyuu use, an injection molding company. The aim is to provide you with a better understanding of how exactly injection mold works and to give you a better understanding of the injection moulding process step by step. We can do this by learning the ins and outs of the tools and machinery at our disposal. Let’s take a look at some of the plastic moulding tooling and machinery below:

The Injection Mold

First let us start with an injection mold. An injection mold is a custom machined tool which is used during plastic injection molding. Manufacturers then custom build these molds for customers to create their plastic product.

While there are several varieties, the most common variation of an injection molding tool is a two-plate mold. A tool that molds to any shape. As the name implies, this plastic tooling consists of two parts, the injection mold and the ejector mold. The injection mold plate is the entry point where the molten plastic is poured. This entry point is known as the sprue bushing on an injection mold. The melted plastic flows down this sprue, through runners, then on to the cavity, or shape of the mold itself. This shape in the mold is what will ultimately decide how the product will look upon completion, when the plastic hardens. Injection molds can have a single cavity, or can be a multi cavity mold. 

An important part of design for injection molding is creating the 2-plate mold. This mold seen below, includes both an injection mold and an ejector mold and is one of the most important tools for molding. This particular mold was produced in our Shineyuu manufacturing plant.

The Ejector Mold

Another important component of mold design is the second plate, the ejector mold. This tooling component is the exit point, where the plastic product is – as the name implies – ejected out of the injection mold. When a plastic product is complete the clamping unit slides the ejector mold away from the injection mold tooling. Then, small circular pins called ejector pins push the completed plastic product off the injection mold. When it comes to injection molding tool design, ejector mold walls are usually angled, known as a draft angle. This is because without one the product would have trouble ejecting from the mold. This would cause damage to both the mold and the plastic part. With draft angles, air can rush in and break any vacuum seal.

Plastic produced by injection molding is one of the most highly desired, profitable and useful ways to make products. By using proper tooling, choice mold components and correct injection molding tooling design, you can make any plastic product you can dream of! Below is just some of the design molded plastics we have made right here at Shineyuu.

Injection Molding Machine

A key part of the injection mold tooling process is using an injection molding machine. These machines are also known as presses. They consist of a material hopper, an injection ram or a plunger which is screw-like and a heating unit. A molding plate, either single cavity or multi cavity molds are clamped to the molding machine. Then plastic is injected into the mold, via the sprue as mentioned previously. Depending on the tooling plastic used when making these tooling molds, it may require more pressure to fill the mold. This is because some plastic is stiffer than others. This requires a higher clamping force from the injection mold machine, meaning how strong the machine needs to hold the cavity injection molding in place. Check out Custom Injection Molding and Injection Mold Design for more information on all things injection molding.

Here we can see an injection moulding tool design done right here at Shineyuu. The used mold for this moulding tool will result in a perfect plastic product!

Conclusion

Today we learned about some of the tooling molds and machines used during the injection molding process. This includes why exactly we use these injection mold tools, along with a variety of purposes these tooling and molding machines are used for. This is to help you understand injection mould tool design and if injection mold is something you should consider for your next project in the future.

We here at Shineyuu know all about plastic molding tools and plate molding. In fact, we know a lot about all kinds of molding tools, since we are an injection molding company!  If you are thinking about if your next project should include a thorough injection mold tooling design, wish to work with a company who knows about mold close up and personal, or are not sure which molding tool is best to use simply contact us and request a quote, or indeed you can ask us any questions and we will be more than happy to assist you in any way we can!

If you enjoyed the article make sure you take a look at some of our other posts on many other materials and topics, such as What is Thermoplastic Rubber, Picking Polystyrene and All About Acrylic for more great information.