Mold construction is critical to the success of in-mold decoration.
To successfully construct a mold for efficient in-mold decoration, you need to have a detailed and accurate mold design.
Having a proper mold design helps you to eliminate errors during construction and increases the precision of the mold. It helps to construct the mold quickly, thus increasing productivity.
Most important, constructing accurate mold will help you to produce quality in-mold decorated parts.
During mold design, you need to have a holistic view of all the in-mold decoration process. The requirements of the plastic part you want to mold and decorate should be considered and factored into your design.
Depending on the specifications of your intended plastic part, you need to use the right dimensions for your mold design and construction. Specifications like tolerance, thickness, size, weight, etc. should be carefully outlined in your design. The position of all mold parts should be precisely illustrated in your mold design.
Most important, the position of the mold gate should be rightly incorporated in the design. This is because the position of the gate affects the flow of the molten plastic into the mold cavity. The gate position also affects the way the liquid plastic flows over the film and bonds to it. The right positioning of the gate also ensures structural stability.
During design, you also need to consider how the film will be fixed and held in place before and during the plastic resin injection.
There should be an efficient cooling system to cool the plastic part and plastic film. The cooling system should be designed to cover a large surface area in the mold in order to cool the plastic part effectively.
During mold construction, you need to make sure that the backside of the film carrier rests against a flat wall. In order to lower the risk of wrinkles, do not bend the plastic film too much. You can bend it slightly. The mold should be constructed to make the molded part stay on the side of the gate. Usually, the ejector tips are slightly bent to enable the parts to stick to them.