Plastic Products and Mold Design

When designing plastic parts for injection molding it is important to consider a few basic design rules. These will certainly help to get better plastic components out of the injection mold.

1. Draft angles.

When designing components for plastic injection molding, it is best to consider draft angles from the start. More specific, some people tend to put draft angles at the end, but then realize their design has to change drastically, in order to get it producible. In general, we strive to overall draft angles of 2 degrees.

2. Round corners.

Next, it is important to round corners. It does not only make your part look nicer. Rounded corners make the molten plastic flow better, in the mold.

3. Hollow out the part.

Now, it is time to hollow out the part. A basic rule for plastic injection, is to make a strong part, with as little as possible material.

4. Equal wall thickness.

Strive to obtain an equal wall thickness. The thickness, depends on the size and function of the part.

5. Add ribs.

Add ribs to give the part its final strength and stiffness. It is important to make the ribs only half, to three quarters of the thickness, of the adjacent walls. And here again, you must add draft angles to all vertical surfaces, in order to make the part come out of the mold easily.

Now we applied 5 design tips when designing parts for plastic injection, our part is perfectly producible.