Plastics Injection Mould Design

Course Overview

An awareness of the technicalities of mould design will improve communications between product designers and mould designers and reduce costly errors and delays.

Course Content:

• Methods of Mould Manufacture - Machine tools, die sinking, spark erosion, hobbing, castings etc.
• General Mould Construction - Terminology, mould cavities and cores, bolsters, use of inserts, parting line, line of draw, draft angle. Prototype moulds.
• The Two Plate Mould - Runner and gate design, ejector systems, venting mould shrinkage, methods of location and aligning each half, mould venting.
• Multiplate Moulds -Three plate tools, stack moulds.
• Undercut Moulds - Internal and external undercuts, splits, side cores/cavities, hydraulics,internal threads, etc.
• Runnerless Moulds - Basic types, advantages and limitations.
• Mould Materials and Heat Treatment - Low carbon, pretoughened, fully hardening and stainless steels. Non ferrous materials, case hardening, nitriding etc. Materials for prototype moulds.
• Mould Cooling - Methods of cooling various core/cavity shapes.
• Mould Finishes - Polishing, texturing, etc.
• Standard Mould Parts - Why used, some applications, examples and suppliers.

Course Objectives:

The objectives of this course are to improve communication with mould designers and tool makers enabling plastic product manufacturers to know the right questions to ask and understanding the answers, avoid mistakes and shorten lead times