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Form-flexible tools for injection molding: approach for the economic application of injection molding for small lot sizes

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Abstract

Presently the trend to customized products tends to result in complex geometries, a high number of variants causes the mold and die section to investigate new technologies. Economic solutions for injection molding are limited by the smaller number of products being produced with a single tool. Based on this understanding, form-flexible tools for injection molding are developed to allow different geometries being generated with a single tool. Such a form-flexible tool is based on the principle of a pin-cushion. This cushion is made of a large number of square pins which are arranged in such a way as to allow relative movement to each other. The arrangement of pins enables generating any kind of cavity, which provides the mold for casting the individual plastic part. Having performed successfully as a mold, the pins can be re-arranged and adjusted automatically to produce other parts with different geometries.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb), Boltzmannstr. 15, Garching, Germany

    Michael F. Zäh

  2. iwb Application Center Augsburg, Beim Glaspalast 5, Augsburg, Germany

    Florian Hagemann & Stefan Teufelhart

Authors
  1. Michael F. Zäh
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  2. Florian Hagemann
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  3. Stefan Teufelhart
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Correspondence to Florian Hagemann.

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Zäh, M.F., Hagemann, F. & Teufelhart, S. Form-flexible tools for injection molding: approach for the economic application of injection molding for small lot sizes. Prod. Eng. Res. Devel. 3, 281–285 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11740-009-0169-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11740-009-0169-x

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