Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Process Of Making Thermoformed Plastic Packaging

By Jerri Perry


Generally, custom thermoforming companies are designed for manufacturing high standard thermoforming items. Some of the common products include; plastic panels, thermoformed plastic enclosures, custom radomes, and thermoformed medical devices. As such, the thermoforming companies focus on matching the specific thermoforming needs of the clients. Thermoformed plastic packaging is also therefore best made by such companies.

Normally, the companies use in-door tools and machinery to meet the different requirements of thermoforming business. This may include temperature-controlled aluminum molds, fixtures and trim jigs that are custom designed to handle different projects. Virtually, all custom thermoforming companies use the same process of manufacturing thermoformed products.

The first procedure in thermoforming involves collecting all the needed sheets. There are a number of machines that can be used to thermoform different types of sheets. The latter are normally mounted on a clamp and then heated in an oven. The heating process takes a specified period of time before the sheet is removed for forming. Once heated, the hot sheet can be placed above or under the forming tool. This is done moving the tool up to the sheet.

In the next step, a seal is made around the sheet and a combination of vacuum and pressure is used to force the sheet to form the shape of the mold. After the sheet has been molded, it is held in place until the cooling process is over. The next step involves removing the sheet from the clamping and preparing it for trimming. The trimming can be done in a number of ways such as drilling, saw cutting, hand routing, and 3 or 5-axis machinery.

After the completion of the thermoforming process, the finished part of the sheet is cleaned and packed in polybags for distribution. Most of these companies also engage in other thermoforming services. Some of these are; heavy gauge thermoforming, thermoforming mold making, twin sheet thermoforming, pressure forming and vacuum forming. The vacuum forming process is best suited for manufacture of medical products.

Pressure forming is still regarded as another version of vacuum forming. It uses the traditional techniques of molding to close the appearance gaps. Whilst it is mainly used the thin-gage plastic packaging industries, pressure forming is mainly viewed as an ancient mode of thermoforming. In a twin sheet thermoforming, however, two sheets are formed at the same time through heating. They are usually preformed into different molds before being quickly pressed together.

During the molding process a pin is attached to one of the sheets and air is blown to enable them form through pressure. The pressure and heat are then used to form the sheets as one unit. Most products made through this process normally look like those made from rational molding or blow molding.

The heavy gauge thermoforming is used to manufacture industrial, electronics and medical devices. It is majorly used for the manufacturing of sturdy rigid enclosures for various equipments like computers, radomes, electronic enclosures, medical devices, outdoor equipment, and exercise equipment. Heavy gauge thermoforming uses thick plastic sheets to manufacture products of different thickness. For thermoformed plastic packaging, there are a number of similar processes involved, but the most important thing is to go for those companies that can be able to customize products according to the needs of their clients.




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