In the automotive industry, light weighting and functional surface improvement have been one of the most important directions for manufacturers. At CHINAPLAS 2018, Yizumi will focus on the needs of the automotive market. While pursuing weight reduction, Yizumi also conquered the difficulties in surface decoration process and combined the back injection, IMG and micro-foaming technology to launch FoamPro+DecoPro processes. Yizumi’s machine will demonstrate the production of high-end car engine cover with a well foamed surface and aluminum foil decoration through one-step molding at the booth.
The combined processes can be applied to the upgrading of decorative functional automotive parts, meeting the demand for decorative materials such as metal, leather, and veneer. It can reduce the part weight by 30%, shorten the cycle time by more than 15%, eliminate warpage and shrinkage, reduce costs and bring exquisite foil surface decoration.
30% lighter part weight, over 15% shorter cycle time
For lighter part weight, Yizumi launched the FoamPro foaming process for the first time last year. It won great attention from markets and received the “Development and Innovation Award of China Automobile and PartIndustry” as well. This year, FoamPro foaming process demonstrated itsadvantagein weight reduction—the use of U.S. Trexel’s This year at CHINA PLAS, FoamPro will further give play toMuCell’spotential in lightweighting, reducing part weight by 30% and shortening cycle time by more than 15% compared with traditional injection molding technology.
MuCell process that can save material, reduce weight, and improve the quality of products on the basis of ensuring the product performance. Today, MuCell has been rapidly adopted worldwide, mainly applied in automotive, consumer electronics, medical devices, packaging and consumer products.
Elimination of warpage and shrinkage
It is certain that micro-foam technology still faces many challenges in the surface quality. The innovative SmartClamp system on Yizumi two-platen injection molding machine can ensure better surface quality of foamed products. The SmartClamp System can accurately and independently control the pressure and position through four tie bars to realize automatic platen parallelism calibration, with repeatability of ±0.015mm/2ms. Through the Breathing Mold Technology,the cavity size will be simultaneously increasedduring the foaming process,whicheffectively eliminates the potential internal stress and trapped air.The part will be well foamed with uniform wall thickness, higherprecision and better surface quality.
At the same time, the FoamProsolution is equipped with the FLEXflow servo-driven valve-gated hot runner systemdeveloped byItaly’sHRSflow Company. The systemcan accurately adjust the needle valve speed, valve opening size and the opening and closing sequence. It can also solve some molding defects, such as weld marks, stress and warpage due to unbalanced runners.
One-step molding, low-cost substitute of slush/adhesive process
Nowadays, the covering of interior parts (such as automobile dashboards, door panels, etc.) or covered aluminum foil, veneer is becoming some indispensable processes. In recent years, Yizumi has increased investment in R&D, andcontinuously made breakthroughs in advanced automotive interior trim molding processes. For example, atCHINAPLAS 2016, Yizumidemonstrated in-mold leather covering for car seat component. This year, Yizumil launchedDecoPro decoration process based on FoamPro process for one-step molding of automobile engine covers and aluminum foil surfaces at one time.
Different from the traditional spray painting process, DecoPro uses In Mould Graining (IMG) technology that attaches the surface-treated aluminum foil to the patterned cavity blockin vacuum. A patterned surface will be produced through injection. The IMG process can be synchronous with molding, saving the equipment investment andoperating procedures compared with traditional two-step process and greatly reducing the production costs. The accurate control by theFLEXflow hot runner system can prevent damage of the aluminum foil during the molding process.
In addition, DecoPro also employs innovative back injection technology for one-shot molding process, allowing thermoplastic back injection molding on a non-textured TPU film. Thus, high quality decorative parts are produced through one-step molding without the use of adhesives. The technology is provided by GK Concept, Yizumi’stechnology partner in Germany, and has been patented.
Exquisite foil surface decoration
The FoamPro and DecoProcombination may surprise theaudience at this year’s CHINAPLAS. A thin layer of aluminum foil is applied to the surface of a molded automobile engine cover, not only adding metallic luster and touch to the product, but also reducing noise and temperature as the aluminum foil can reflect the infrared ray.
In addition to aluminium foil, DecoPro can also form decorative parts of different materials, such as leather (leather/PU/PVC), wood veneer or other metal foils, meet the appearance requirements of different decorative automotive interior trims.
DecoPro can be applied to engine covers, center consoles, door panels and other automotive decorative parts
Glory Chen, the Head of Yizumi New Materials and Processes Testing Centre, stated that the DecoPro process, as the second innovative process introduced by its department, was developed to meetthe needs of the iterative upgrade of the automotive industry. It aimed to provide customers with a more cost-effective moulding method. Yizumi will also combine and innovate in processes and technologies such as FoamPro and DecoPro to provide customers with cutting-edge and cost-effective moulding solutions. Customers who are interested in new technologies are also welcome to join this rank and make progress together.