Page 54 - Plastics News June 2023

TECHNOLOGY

Material selection is also critical. Cur- In-mold electronics a big tent are today. Getting a component/cir-
rently, polycarbonate is the material cuit produced, thus, will only require
One thing to bear in mind, added
of choice, according to Dyson. “You sending an electronic design file rath-
Dyson, is that in-mold electronics is
can use other materials, but that’s er than the expensive current process
not a monolithic technology. “It cov-
the main one. And the big materials of consulting with IME specialists.
ers a spectrum of approaches, from
suppliers will offer you special poly- Along with greater acceptance, this
manufacturers simply putting a circuit
carbonate sheets that have been op- will require clear design rules, materi-
on the back of the plastic sheet with
timized for this application.” als that conform to established stand-
no LEDs or resistors, to a company
ards, and, crucially, the development
A number of companies also are de- like Finland’s TactoTek, which is em-
of electronic design tools, according
veloping and selling the conductive bedding everything into one enclosed
to IDTechEx.
inks, encapsulants, and adhesives that part.
the technology requires. “Arguably, a The report authored by Dyson and
In the long term, however, the goal
lot of the innovation is in the materi- published by IDTechEx evaluates all
for in-mold electronics is to become
als rather than the processing steps, aspects of this emerging technology,
an established platform technology,
which are quite conventional, as I’ve including the technical processes, ma-
much like rigid printed circuit boards
noted,” said Dyson. terial requirements, and applications.
Wittmann Battenfeld hails its Airmould technology as sustainable and
resource saving
no moun an u flex on
any injection moulding machine. For
easier operation. The company also
claims that the Airmould 4.0 can be
fully integrated in the Unilog B8 or
B8X control system of Wittmann Bat-
tenfeld machines. Use on machines
from other brands, is also ensured via
the WITTMANN Group’s standard-
ized manual control terminal.
The company says that this use of this
ittman Battenfeld’s Airmould this technology – the company has
technology saves plastic material. This
Wprocess sees nitrogen injected brought the technology to the mar-
means that these material savings lead
into a mould cavity partly or com- ket as Airmould 4.0 – The company
to a reduction in part weight, which
fi to fo an in- claims that the system has been cre- o g benefi especia fo
ternal cavity structure. The company ated to meet the industry’s demand
automotive and mobility sectors by
claims that this way, light-weight for easy operation and compactness.
reducing, in turn, the required energy
components can be produced within Airmould 4.0 is an internal gas pres-
input. In addition, the company says
a short cycle time and simultaneously sure system which no longer requires
that since nitrogen gas is injected ex-
with high-quality surfaces, while sav- a large control cabinet, thus saving
clusively into the interior of the cav-
ing resources. All components re- customers valuable space on the pro- ity in internal gas pressure injection
quired for this process have been duction floor. The necessary pressure
moulding, there are no limitations
developed and are produced in-house control modules have also been fur-
whatsoever to the quality of the parts’
by Wittmann Battenfeld. ther downsized and thus become very surface finish compared to compact
compact. As a result, this means that
With the further development of injection moulding. On the contrary:
according to the company they can
with Airmould, the gas assumes the
54 PLASTICS NEWS June 2023