To those less familiar, plastic Injection molding may be defined as a manufacturing process for creating products from plastic materials. The plastic is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it loses the heat and solidifies to the configuration of the mold cavity.
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The emergence of injection molding in plastic industry
1. The Emergence of Injection Molding in Plastic Industry
To those less familiar, plastic Injection molding may be defined as a manufacturing process for creating
products from plastic materials. The plastic is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold
cavity where it loses the heat and solidifies to the configuration of the mold cavity.
Plastic injection molding industry has had a fascinating history. Plastic material was invented in Britain
in 1861 by Alexander Parkes and he called the material as Parkesine. People found Parkesine to be
extremely useful that it could be heated, molded, and made to retain its shape when cooled. In 1868,
American inventor John Wesley Hyatt developed a plastic material he called Celluloid that was an
improvement over Parkesine’ as it could be processed into finished form.
Together with his brother Isaiah, Hyatt patented the first injection molding machine in 1872. This
machine was however far too simplistic compared to the plastic injection molding machines widely used
today. The present day plastic injection molding machines consist of a material hopper, an injection ram
or screw-type plunger, and a heating unit. Also, some advanced plastic injection molding machines have
built-in sampling and approval process for stringent quality control.
The plastic injection molding industry began to boom in the 1940s as the World War created a demand
for inexpensive, mass-produced products. Six years hence, American inventor James Watson Hendry
constructed the first screw injection machine, which provided greater control over the speed of
injection and the quality of articles produced.
During the ensuing decades, the plastic injection molding industry has evolved and started producing a
wide range of plastic goods ranging from combs and buttons to an array of technological products for
several industries including automotive, medical, and aerospace, consumer products, toys etc. Though
there are several different methods used in the manufacture of plastic goods, plastic injection molding is
the most popular.
Plastic is durable, lightweight and unlike metals, plastic is resistant to corrosion and wear and tear.
Some striking advantages of plastic injection molding are high production capability, repeatable high
tolerances, low labor costs, minimum scrap losses, and hardly any need to finish parts after molding.
Injection molding is the most common method of plastic part manufacturing. It is ideal for mass
producing of the same product. The demands for plastic products are growing at a rapid pace and, today
we need plastic injection machines in almost all industrial sectors.
Earlier, the plastic injection molding machines were manually and automatically operated but now the
machines can be operated in a computerized way. While the earlier versions are known just as plastic
injection machines, the latter is called as CNC plastic machine. CNC plastic machine has succeeded in
solving some of the problems associated with conventional plastic injection molding processes. For
more information about our injection molding services, visit plastic injection molding.