With in-mould labelling, cut imprinted plastic films, also known as labels, are placed to precisely fit into the injection mould by means of a handling unit. The labels are fixed in place through application of vacuum or static electricity charge, and then rear injected with plastic material. Heat and pressure are applied to melt the substrate film, which is precisely adjusted to the plastic material, with the melt introduced to form the final product in the filling and holding cycles. In many instances, this technology is used in combination with stacking moulds for increased output while maintaining reproducibility and quality at the same levels.

With the in-mould decoration technique, in most cases, a polyester film carries an image that is used to decorate the injection moulded part. At first, the film is fed between the two mould halves by means of a film feeder, is positioned and clamped by means of a clamping frame. Then, the closing movement of the mould initially fits the film to the shape of the cavity. Similar to the IML technique, due to the prevailing pressure and temperature, the plastic melt combines with the detaching paint layers to form a solid combination during the injection step. The finished decorated component can be removed once the melt has cooled and the mould has opened, whereby the decoration is automatically removed from the substrate film in the process. Now, the feeder positions the film for the next injection cycle. Currently, this IMD technique is used to decorate components made of a wide variety of plastic materials such as PP, ABS, PC, ABS/PC, ASA, SAN, PMMA or PBT.

Owing to their special properties, liquid silicone rubber (LSR = liquid silicone rubber) is suitable for a wide range of applications: from medical engineering to food industry, in electronics or in mechanical engineering as well as in sanitary engineering, in sports and leisure industry.

The gas nozzle on top of barrel is open and the supercritical CO2 or N2 supplied from the gasing system is injected into barrel.

Supercritical CO2 or N2 is resolved into and mixed with plastics melt, a single-phase melt is formed by the special design screw with mixing.

The single-phase melt is injected into mold cavity through shuttle off nozzle and a lot of bubble nucleuses are formed due to the temperature and pressure reduction from barrel to cavities which leads to unstable molecules.

The micro voids are formed as the bubble nucleuses in cavities grows and cools; the surface of molded parts is compact without micro voids inside due to fast cooling from the mold cooling system and no time for bubble nucleuses to grow.

High-grade multi-colour styling, complex mouldings with two or more components, decoration, printing, back injection of textiles and foils, injection moulding with assembling… Multi-component technology has undergone rapid development in recent years: ever new variants of the processes, plastics and material combinations have been added for ever new applications in automotive, medical and communication technologies, in the electronics, packaging and sports industries. New applications have emerged that were unthought-of only a few years ago. We in Sumitomo (SHI) Demag take the credit for having made important contributions: The Multi has proved its mettle in hundreds of manufacturing facilities: With innovative, user-specific solutions that combine a high standard of moulding quality with a high level of productivity.