The Chinese name of IMD: Injection molding surface decoration technology is IMD (In-Mole Decoratiom). IMD is the current international popular surface decoration technology. It is mainly used in surface decoration and functional panels of home appliances. It is commonly used in mobile phone window lenses and shells, washing machines. Control panels, refrigerator control panels, air conditioning control panels, car dashboards, rice cooker control panels in various fields of panels, signs and other appearance parts.
IMD is divided into IML and IMR. The biggest difference between these two processes is whether there is a transparent protective film on the surface of the product.
The Chinese name of IML: In-mold insert injection molding. Its very remarkable features are: the surface is a hardened transparent film, the middle is a printed pattern layer, and the back is a plastic layer. Because the ink is sandwiched in the middle, the product can prevent the surface from being damaged. Scratch and abrasion resistance, and can keep the color bright and not easy to fade for a long time.
Chinese name of IMR: in-mold transfer
In this process, the pattern is printed on the film, and the film is attached to the mold cavity by a film feeder for injection molding. After injection molding, the patterned ink layer is separated from the film, and the ink layer remains on the plastic part to obtain a decorative pattern on the surface. There is no transparent protective film on the surface of the final product, and the film is only a carrier in the production process. But the advantage of IMR is the high degree of automation in production and the low cost of mass production. Disadvantages of IMR: The printed pattern layer is on the surface of the product with a thickness of only a few microns. After the product is used for a period of time, the printed pattern layer is easily worn off, and it is also easy to fade, resulting in an unsightly surface. In addition, the new product development cycle is long, the development cost is high, and the pattern color cannot be flexibly changed in small batches, which are also weaknesses that the IMR process cannot overcome.
First of all, it is necessary to explain the concept:
IMD includes IML, IMF, IMR
IML: IN MOLDING LABEL (combination of printing rubber and plastic)
IMF: IN MOLDING FILM (same as IML)
IMR: IN MOLDING ROLLER (The focus is on the release layer on the rubber compound. PET FILM → printing release agent → printing ink → printing adhesive → inner plastic injection → ink and plastic bonding → after the mold is opened, the rubber material will automatically separate from the ink. Type. In Japan, it is called thermal transfer. This machine uses the ROLL TO ROLL method, and the alignment is operated by a CCD computer.)
At present, some people in China call IMR IMD, and IML is independent of IMD. The most fundamental difference lies in the difference between IML and IMR on the lens surface. The IML surface has PET or PC sheets, while the IMR surface has only ink.
IML's sheets are made of PET and can also be used with PC. This may be a bit different from the last post. It may be that the technical level of each company is different. I don't think I need to explain more about the material of PET and PC. Plastic particles generally use PMMA and ABS. IML and IMR have their own advantages. IMR is not very wear-resistant. Some of Nokia and Moto’s mobile phones use IMR technology, which will cause scratches if it takes a little longer. a certain area.
Drawing can be made into straight grain, random grain, thread, corrugation and spiral pattern according to decorative needs.
Straight grain drawing refers to processing straight lines on the surface of the aluminum plate by mechanical friction. It has the dual function of brushing off scratches on the surface of the aluminum plate and decorating the surface of the aluminum plate. There are two kinds of straight wire drawing: continuous wire grain and intermittent wire grain. The continuous silk pattern can be obtained by rubbing the surface of the aluminum plate continuously horizontally and straightly with a scouring pad or a stainless steel brush (such as manual grinding under the condition of a current device or using a planer to clamp a wire brush on the aluminum plate). By changing the diameter of the steel wire of the stainless steel brush, different thicknesses of lines can be obtained. Intermittent silk patterns are generally processed on a brushing machine or a wiping machine.
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Principle: Two sets of differential wheels rotating in the same direction are used, the upper group is a fast-rotating grinding roller, and the lower group is a slow-rotating rubber roller. The aluminum or aluminum alloy plate passes through the two sets of rollers and is brushed out fine Intermittent straight lines.
Random wire drawing is a kind of irregular and non-obvious matte silk pattern obtained by moving the aluminum plate back and forth, left and right, and rubbing under the high-speed copper wire brush. This kind of processing has higher requirements on the surface of the aluminum or aluminum alloy plate. The corrugation is generally produced on a brushing machine or a wiping machine. Using the axial movement of the upper set of grinding rollers, the surface of the aluminum or aluminum alloy plate is brushed to obtain a wave pattern.
Spin pattern, also known as optical rotation, is a kind of silk pattern obtained by rotating and polishing the surface of aluminum or aluminum alloy plate by using cylindrical felt or nylon wheel for grinding stone on a drilling machine, mixing polishing ointment with kerosene. It is mostly used for decorative finishing of circular signs and small decorative dials.
The thread is a small motor with a circular felt on the shaft, which is fixed on the table at an angle of about 60 degrees to the edge of the table. A strip of mylar with straight edges is attached to limit thread race. Using the rotation of the felt and the linear movement of the carriage, a thread pattern with the same width is rubbed on the surface of the aluminum plate.
Electroformed Features and Electroformed Products
Advantages of electroforming:
1. Capable of ultra-precision machining (good reproduction accuracy). The most important feature of electroforming is that it is highly "realistic". Electroforming can even replicate wires down to 0.5 microns. For example, a high-precision metal mesh (ultra-fine metal mesh) for TV cameras with 2,500 ultra-fine wires of 3.5 microns in a width of 1 inch is produced by electroforming. The fiber of the cigarette filter is also made of cellulose through an ultra-fine metal mesh, which cannot be achieved by other metal processing methods. The precision of electroforming replication is very high. The manufacturing method of high-precision metal mesh is to apply an insulating layer (protective layer) on the base plate as required by photo-plating technology, and then use it as a template for electroforming.
2. It can adjust the physical properties of the deposited metal. The hardness, toughness and tensile strength of the deposited metal can be adjusted by changing the electroplating conditions and the composition of the bath. It is also possible to use multi-layer electroplating, alloy electroplating, and composite electroplating methods to obtain physical properties that cannot be obtained by other processing methods.
3. Not limited by product size. As long as it can fit into the plating tank.
4. It is easy to make parts with complex shapes.
Disadvantages of electroforming:
1. The operation time is long. For example: depositing a 3mm thick nickel layer with a cathodic current density of 3A/dmm takes 25h20min. Even if it is a small and thin part to be plated with a thick layer, the cost is very high, but the plating process can be unattended.
2. Must be operated by experienced and skilled personnel. The electroforming device is simple, but in replicating a complex-shaped model, a master mold, conductive layer treatment, peeling treatment, etc. are required to be operated by experienced and skilled personnel.
3. Must have a large working area. Even small products need to have a plating tank, washing tank and other plane layouts, and the wastewater treatment device must have a considerable operating area.
4. In addition to electroplating operation skills, it is also necessary to have knowledge of machining and metal processing. Electroforming does not only use electroplating operations to produce products, but also performs mechanical operations such as substrate processing and grinding, so it is necessary to have knowledge and skills in these areas.
Electroformed products
1. Make a replica. Including original recordings and their stampers, impressions, roughness standard films, arts and crafts, architectural hardware, Buddhist furniture and other metal hardware.
2. Make the mold. Including plastic forming dies, stamping dies, nickel-cobalt-tungsten carbide electroforming dies, letters for printing, etc.
3. Manufacture of metal foil and metal mesh. Copper foil for printed circuit boards, various metal meshes, flat or rotating filters (for printing and dyeing, electrical and electronic parts), special blades, etc.
4. Others. Used in the manufacture of EDM electrodes, paint-resistant shielding plates, diamond files, drills, waveguides, spherical vacuum vessels for storing liquid hydrogen, turbine blades for the production of heat-resistant metals such as tungsten by molten salt electrolysis, and aluminum from non-aqueous solutions Solar panels, etc.
In the processing of stainless steel parts, special attention should be paid to the fact that it is formed first and then trimmed. The product should pay attention to the knife when trimming, and the direction should ensure that the matching edges of the hardware and the casing are neat.
If the stainless steel has holes, it can be made through holes or through holes. If there is one more process in the process of making holes, the cost will be increased, and the appearance effect will be better. If a through hole is made, the appearance will not be affected when the hole is smaller than 0.4. When the hole is larger than 0.4, the casing will be seen. In order to ensure this, the casing can be painted. The holes above 0.8 are also stamped, and the holes below 0.8 are generally formed by corrosion.
Hot melt adhesive properties:
1. The hardware and the shell should be pasted with hot melt adhesive and the space should be the same as that of the double-sided tape.
2. The hot melt temperature of the hot melt adhesive is between 100°C and 160°C
3. When stainless steel is not easily deformed, TEFA4965 adhesive can be used instead of hot melt adhesive, which is cheap and easy to operate.
