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15-04-2021
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What is plastic overmoulding?
Enjoy the endless possibilities offered by injection moulding. Injection moulding is an umbrella term for various processes and techniques that can be used to produce a wide range of products, such as overmoulding. In this article, we’ll tell you more!
What is overmoulding?
Overmoulding involves uses several moulds to create a finished product. Each of the constituent parts is produced by means of traditional injection moulding processes, i.e. by melting plastic powder or granules and injecting it into a mould under high pressure, with the mould being shaped as the intended end product.
The parts are then manually or automatically transferred into another mould and another machine, where they are covered with another synthetic material.
Because parts are usually transferred from one mould to the next manually, the lead times are often slightly longer, as manual work simply takes longer than automated processes.
At Rompa Group, we mainly transfer products from one mould to the next manually, as this lets us monitor the quality of our products more carefully throughout the process, allowing us to guarantee optimal quality.
However, we have also automated several of our transfer processes to increase our production speeds and get more products to our customers in less time.
What is overmoulding used for?
The applications for overmoulding are practically limitless, and you’re likely to come across overmoulded products every day.
Overmoulding is used to make consumer products, but also has many industrial applications, including covers and housings, medical devices and instruments, and products for the (military) aerospace and automotive sectors.
How does this differ from traditional injection molding?
Generally speaking, overmoulding is quite similar to traditional injection moulding, though there are several key differences to point out. In overmoulding, plastic parts are produced with injection moulding. After the part has cooled, it is transferred to another mould, where it is coated with a different type of plastic.
This is different from insert moulding, which involves covering a product in moulded plastic. Insert moulding is a slightly faster process, because the two types of plastic are moulded simultaneously in the same machine. During this process, the molten plastic is injected into a mould and a piece of other material is inserted into the mould to create an encapsulated final product.
With traditional injection moulding, products are made in a single machine.
To find out more about the different types of injection moulding, check out our article about the various injection moulding techniques we employ at Rompa Group here.
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Overmoulding at Rompa
At Rompa Group, we use overmoulding to make various products, such as the tagging device shown here. To make this product, we first use traditional injection moulding for the red plastic component, before transferring it to a different machine and overmoulding the black grip rubber on the handle.
And this is but one of the myriad applications of overmoulding!
Want to know more? Get in touch!
This article explains the basics of overmoulding, but there’s so much more to it! If you’d like to know more about our overmoulding processes or would like more information about this topic, we’re happy to tell you everything we know! To speak to one of our specialists, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! We’re here to answer all your questions and advise you on your options!