Page 51 - Plastics News April 2024

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

rameters surrounding the end use of costs on high-volume parts. Although and how it will contribute to your
the plastic component and the envi- our approach to injection moulding quality assurance processes?
ronment in which it will be used. The remains consistent this advancement Pentagon operates under ISO9001 :
versatility of thermoplastic materials in recycled material options does en- 2015 standards spanning both mould
is advancing all the time which offers hance the polymer industries offer- tool manufacture and plastic injection
customers and their design engineers ings. moulding and quality is vital through-
a wealth of options. In terms of Pentagon's process out our manufacturing processes.
We are also using materials with car- Beyond the Mould, could you walk The recent investment in to the Del-
bon or steel fillers that make them us through the process of post- tron CNC Coordinate Measuring Ma-
semi-conductive. This can be useful in moulding and how you ensure chine advances our quality process to
environments where static electricity quality throughout? the next level for mould tool manu-
can be an issue, providing Antistatic & Processes beyond the mould are sec- facture. The compact machine brings
ESD protection, preventing electro- ondary operations to the injection high level measurement accuracy and
static discharges. Some conductive moulding of the part, usually carried repeatability directly to the shop floor
plastics are also used in Electromag- out for component features that are allowing the technicians to check
netic Shielding, reducing EM interfer- not compatible with the moulding their own work at every stage and to
ence. process but are necessary to the fin- produce extensive reports when re-
Pentagon’s breadth of processing ished product or to keep some of quired. Saving measurable amounts
knowledge delivers multiple benefits the initial cost out of the mould tool. of time on the existing manual pro-
to customers, sound material advice This includes things such as drilling cesses this state-of-the-art technology
within the design stage coupled with or insert fitting, milling, trimming and will predominantly be used for elec-
optimal mould tool design that is light assembly. Within the department trodes, cores, cavities, and other tool-
aligned with specific material behav- quality checks take place every 1-2 ing components it will deliver greater
iours and properties. Our optimised hours whereby sample components accuracy for quality checking. The
injection moulding processes allow for that are being worked on are taken investment will support the reduction
manufacturing efficiencies that lead to by the quality inspectors, checked, of tool manufacturing lead times and
repeatable quality products delivered and measured using equipment such reduce the additional resources for
with efficient lead times. as co-ordinate measuring, callipers, reworking or remaking items.

Have you encountered any recent ad- micrometres, pin/thread gauges, and The Deltron features fully sealed re-
vancements in plastic materials that custom-built product specific jigs or circulating bearings delivering four
have significantly impacted your ap- gauges. key benefits : no dirt ingress, no gear-
proach to injection moulding? The results are then recorded and box, no compressed air, and smooth

In line with the modern environment monitored; this enables the quality fast operation. This helps deliver ex-
ceptional accuracy, simplicity, and re-
and the hard focus on sustainability team to see if overtime any changes liability. The system will allow us to
within the polymer industry, the cur- have occurred and maintains consist- perform high accuracy measurement
rent crop of recycled materials that ent accuracy of post moulding opera- supported with bespoke generated
are available are much better than tions. The strict quality processes al- reports, run automatic measurement
the products of a few years ago. Ben- low us to capture, report and rectify programs, and allows offline program-
efiting from much greater consistency any quality concerns before they be- ming. Having the ability to import
allowing for a repeatable process in come an issue that may impact fulfil- DXF, STEP and IGES files will further
the moulding machine. This in turn ment of a customer order. aid the process and simplify the meas-
increases our confidence in offering Pentagon Plastics recently ac- uring of component parts.
them as an alternative to traditional quired a Deltron CNC Coordinate
virgin polymers. This is particularly at- Measuring Machine from Vision This will be a real asset to the shop
tractive to customers who want to be Engineering. Could you elabo- floor.
more environmentally sustainable or rate on the specific features and How do the properties of differ-
are simply looking for ways to reduce functionalities of this equipment ent thermoplastics affect the de-

PLASTICS NEWS 53
April 2024