Injection moulding is the most common method used in manufacturing plastic parts and components. It uses hot air to fuse together hot plastic polymers into the required shape and size, under pressure. The components are then cooled down in a cold room and the cooled parts are released back into the injection mould. This whole process produces thousands of identical products which are carefully fitted together to create the final product ready for assembly. Silicone moulding, such as the types from Meadex is one of the main applications for injection moulding.
Injection moulding of silicone is a simple process to create highly durable, flexible, pliable parts in high volumes. In general, there are three types of silicone rubber moulding process available in the market today – the ultrasonic rubber moulding process, the compression rubber moulding process and the hot roll moulding process. Each of these moulding processes is designed to meet specific production requirements. All of them have their own advantages over the other two. Hot roll moulding is also known as thermal moulding and is the most commonly used type of silicone rubber moulding process. This process uses hot air, mechanical pressure and heat to build up the liquid latex rubber and deposit it into the required shape and size within a relatively short time.
The compression process is also referred to as hot air transfer rubber moulding process and uses the same principles of hot air but combines it with higher levels of mechanical pressure to build up the material. This is perhaps the most effective way of combining all three to provide a consistent, high quality result in each case.