Product category:
Injection moulding
News Release from: Krauss-Maffei (UK) | Subject: LFI and in-mold graining - injection moulding
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 May 2007
LFI and in-mold graining lowers
component costs
An in-line injection moulding process, that combines LFI and in-mold graining, produces glassfibre-reinforced PUR parts with high-quality grained surfaces using one and the same mould.
Plastics injection moulding machine builder, Krauss-Maffei, Munich, Germany, has teamed up with IMG mould experts Galvanoform to perfect an inline process that combines the long fibre injection (LFI) process with in-mold graining (IMG) The new technology makes it possible to produce glassfibre-reinforced PUR parts with high-quality grained surfaces using one and the same mould
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 11 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Typical applications are door trim sections, glovebox lids and instrument panel surrounds for the automotive sector.
In-mold graining (IMG) uses special moulds to create optically attractive structures in the surface of film skins during the thermoforming process.
The heated film is positioned in the mould, where it is held in place by a frame, negatively thermoformed and the downside grained.
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The fixing frame is retracted and the LFI mixing head sprays the PUR matrix with its embedded long glass fibres onto the shaped and grained skin.
The mould is closed while the PUR cures, then opened for removal of the finished part.
Combining the two processes in one mould has a number of advantages.
For a start, it eliminates the quality defect of distorted and imperfect graining.
This is a problem that can occur when thermoforming takes place subsequent to embossing and causes warping and stretching of the surface pattern.
The problem does not arise with IMG, because graining takes place after thermoforming.
The result is consistently high surface quality.
In addition, combining LFI and IMG saves costs in producing this type of high-strength part with premium grained surfaces.
For one thing, the embossing stage is no longer a separate process; for another, it becomes possible to produce different surface grainings using different moulds but just one type of film.
In addition, the glassfibre roving used in the LFI process has obvious cost advantages over glass mat.
Fibre length and load can be varied to match part specifications while the glass filaments and the PUR mix are being poured simultaneously into the open mould.
The special moulds used in this IMG process ensure that even very fine graining is immaculately reproduced on the surface of the finished part.
The first stage in creating the surface structure is a patented galvanizing process which reproduces a leather graining in a porous nickel-electro shell only a few millimetres thick.
This shell is then integrated in a complete mould with temperature control and a vacuum system.
The micropores in the technical porous nickel (TPN) have a diameter of less than 0.15mm.
The number of pores can be matched to the geometry of the part being produced.
* About Krauss-Maffei - worldwide Krauss-Maffei is a premium partner for plastics processing industries.
Krauss-Maffei machines and systems are used wherever plastics are converted into products.
Our know-how covers every aspect - from the product idea to the customer-specific system solution.
Krauss-Maffei is the only company in the market with expertise in the three major machine technologies for plastics processing: injection moulding technology, extrusion technology and reaction process machinery.
We integrate the three technologies to generate synergies in processes and machinery for plastics.
As an international company, Krauss-Maffei has a presence in all important global markets and in the major plastics processing industries.
Our sales and service network currently comprises 30 subsidiaries and 40 agencies.
Krauss-Maffei employs around 2,500 people worldwide.
In the 2005/2006 business year (closing date September 30, 2006) consolidated sales for the Krauss-Maffei Group totalled EUR 560.3 million.
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