A Brief History of Injection Moulding

In the last post we discussed the origin of plastic products. Now, We will move a little deep into the manufacturing process. We came to know that for plastic production, plastic injection moulding was used.

1847 First condensation polymer (polyster) was produced by Jons Jacob Berzelius.

1861-62 Alexander Parkes invented first man-made commercial plastic Britain. He named it Parkesine. It was expensive to produce, brittle and flammable, but it could be heated, moulded and used to retain its shape once cooled.

1868-72 John Wesley Hyatt developed Celluloid, a plastic material made from a process that combined cellulose nitrate and camphor. It was an improved version of parkes invention. Hyatt also patented the first injection molding machine.

1909 Leo Hendrik Baekeland discovered Bakelite.

1930-37 Vinyl thermoplastics such as polystyrene, PVC and the polyolefins were developed.

1938 Dow invented Polystyrene plastic, which is still used widely today.

1939 A massive demand for cheap, mass-produced materials was generated during Second World War.

1941 Nylon was being used as a moulding material.

1945-1955 Gradually, Polyethylene and polystyrene started replacing are older materials such as metals, woods, leather and glass. Also, during this time, First extrusion screw injection machine was built by American inventor James Watson Hendry.

1955 General Electric entered the market with Polycarbonate.

1955-65 High-density polyethylenes and discovery of polypropylene were major developments of this period.

1956 Patent was issed to W. H. Willert for reciprocating screw plasticator machine.

1960s Polysulphones, the PPO-type materials, aromatic polyesters and polyamides introduced.

1970s First gas-assisted injection molding process was developed by James Watson Hendry, which permitted the production of complex, hollow articles that cooled quickly. This greatly improved design flexibility as well as the strength and finish of manufactured parts while reducing production time, cost, weight and waste.

1972-79 Plastic production overtakes steel production.

1990 Aluminum molds first used widely in injection molding.

Latest trends in Injection Moulding:

There are a number of significant developments in custom injection molding technology. These developments involve CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) including the prediction of the properties of molded parts, innovative experiments to analyze processing, new machineries (processing) and recycling plastics.

Where does Plastic Products come from?

We have been surrounded by plastics everywhere, in the form of brushes, mats, bottles, tiffin boxes, toys, switches, containers etc. But, seldom do we think about the origin of these products.

So, where does all the Plastic Products around you come from?

Its quite natural that they are being produced by a combination of machines, manpower and material. But, How does it becomes possible to produce so many different shapes, color and sizes?

Lets reveal the secret now.

The most common process of creating plastic is known as Plastic Injection Moulding. So, there are basically three components in this process.

Plastic

For manufactuting, A special form of raw material is used, called as thermoplastics or thrmosetting polymers. These are available in the form of pellets.Depending on the color of the final product, you can choose different colors of raw material.

Injection

The raw material is put into the heat chamber to be converted into a molten form. This melt is then injected into the mould.

Moulding

For Different products different moulds are made. Moulds can be made up from steel or aluminium.

So, This is the Basic Technology used in Plastics Production. You can visit some of the Plastic Injection Moulding Experts in your neighbourhood for getting more information related to the manufacturing process.

Longara Plastics Introduction Video

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