
The image above shows a flow path extraction which displays the result of Polyshot Plate Fusion Technology used at its finest.
This application, is a 16 + 16, 2 shot hot runner system, in which both materials are in the same hot runner manifold. This can be accomplished because both of the materials (Polypropylene and TPU) process at about the same melt temperature. This allowed Polyshot to engineer a melt delivery solution where each separate flow path was machined and laminated into a multi-layered, single manifold. Polyshot then took the entire stack of 3 plates and fused them back into a one piece hot runner system.
The benefits of using plate fusion on this application were as follows:
- Elimination of a rotating "B" platen or a robotic transfer. This reduced the cycle time and eliminated quality issues that arise during conventional 2 shot molding.
- Reduced mold footprint. Plate fusion of the single manifold assembly, allowed the mold base to be half the size as it would have been with conventional drilled technology.
In this case, the mold builder was able to design the mold with internal actions (for the second shot) that eliminated all mold rotation and part transfers.
With typical drilled manifold technology it would have been impossible to achieve the results gained with the use of Plate Fusion. There would have had to be (2) manifolds stacked on top of each other with nozzles penetrating through the bottom manifold, The center to center spacing would also have to be increased resulting in a larger and thicker, hot half assembly.
The result would have been a non-balance system with longer flows and sharp corners where the material changes directions. Additionally, the drilled manifold assembly would have been much thicker and used much more energy to operate.
For additional information on Polyshot Plate Fusion Technology please click here.
For further information on the advantages of a Polyshot engineered solution to your application, please contact us at sales@polyshot.com
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