Hardly any other industry demands such constant change and development as the automotive industry. Plastics are used in assemblies of body, chassis, engine and drive and, of course, in the vehicle interior. They are accompanied by high safety standards and a high degree of specification. The requirements in terms of strength, stiffness, durability and surface feel are constantly increasing, and are always on the edge of what is possible. There is a constant demand for innovation. The quality requirements for processes and products are very high, and at the same time economic and ecological factors must be taken into account. The automotive industry demands high delivery reliability and transparency of processes and project flows from suppliers.
Otto supplies injection moulds for automation lines with strip moulding using reel-to-reel technology. In strip moulding, a stamped strip is unwound from a reel into the injection mould. After the finishing process with plastic, the stamped strip is wound onto empty reels and can therefore already be delivered to the customer. However, it is also possible to integrate upstream and downstream cutting and bending tools. In this way, assemblies for fuel injection systems, for example, are produced.
Particularly in the case of visible components, the highest quality demands are placed on suppliers in the automotive sector. In automotive interiors, surfaces must look and feel convincing. Otto develops injection moulds for moulded parts such as these having visible surfaces. The injection moulds can either be polished to a high gloss, for vapour deposition or electroplating, or have an eroding or etching structure as the basis for the subsequent painting. This is how tachometer rings and decorative elements for the vehicle interior are produced, for example.
In the case of control elements, the optimum interaction of the individual components must also be ensured. In order to ensure this and to guarantee surfaces of the highest quality, 2K moulded parts are often used here. In the assembly shown below, the basic housing was manufactured as a 2K moulded part. The visible surfaces of the moulded parts were produced with a fine eroding surface and painted after the injection process. Finally, the symbols were made visible with the help of a laser.
Injection moulds are also used in the manufacture of connector parts, sensor housings, male connectors and connectors in general. The moulds for coating the contact elements can achieve different levels of complexity, from manual assembly by hand to integrated moulds in automation lines. The metal inserts are therefore inserted manually or automatically into the mould. In order to ensure the correct positioning of the inserts in the series process, the coordination between mould and insert must be very precise. The insert is coated in the mould, which ensures a firm bond between the insert and the moulded part.
Otto can offer and implement various processes for the production of injection moulds for the coating of inserts.
