November Tip: Don't undercut your part design effort.
Protomold is continuously working to expand the size and geometric capabilities of our rapid injection molding process. However, it is still important to avoid undercuts in your part design because our rapid turnaround is still limited to straight pull molds.
The good news is that there are a number of design techniques that can be used to convert an undercut on your part into a geometry that can be produced using a straight-pull mold.
As one example, consider a part design where a through-hole is required. In the figure to the left we show how the part can be redesigned to achieve the same function by converting the through-hole into a set of three opposing features, each of which can be formed within the opposing halves of a straight-pull mold through the use of telescoping shutoffs.
As another example, consider the undercut that seems to be required for a typical latch mechanism. The figure to the right illustrates how the latch design can be changed to eliminate an undercut once again through the use of telescoping shutoff surfaces. Note also the addition of draft to the part geometry that will enable the mold to open and close with minimal sliding surface friction.
Of course, the simplest approach may be to just modify the part after it has been injection molded. The example to the left illustrates how the through-hole noted above can be added through a secondary operation such as drilling.
See the Protomold Design Guide for other helpful design information.
November Designer Survey: How much would support for undercuts help?
As many of you know, Protomold is actively developing the capability to support molds with simple side actions. At that point we will have the ability to produce parts with some types of undercuts. We'd like to know what this will mean to you.
Please let us know what you think. We'll include the results in next month's Rapid Injection Molding Design Tips.
Suggestions for future survey questions related to the field of Rapid Injection Molding are welcome - just email them to us at marketing@protomold.com.
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October Designer Survey Results:
We asked two questions: "What 3D CAD software do you currently use?" and second, "Which 3D CAD software would you prefer to use?"
The results of this survey are illustrated in the following pie charts. It looks like the majority of our customers currently use either SolidWorks or Pro/E. And if everyone could choose their future 3D CAD software these would still remain the favorites, although SolidWorks might gain a larger piece of the pie.
