How A Thermoformed Plastic Packaging Is Made

By Jerri Perry


The work of a custom thermoforming company is to manufacture high quality products from custom thermoforming. These may include; thermoformed medical devices, plastic panels, custom plastic radomes, and thermoformed plastic enclosures. They are majorly interested in meeting the thermoforming needs of the customers. Thermoformed plastic packaging products are also customized made by such companies and there are a number of steps involved.

Most custom thermoforming industries deploy the in-house thermoforming machinery and equipment to manufacture various products. Additionally, they also use temperature-controlled aluminum molding tools, trim jigs and fixtures to handle different custom projects. There are basic thermoforming procedures that are usually adopted by most thermoforming companies.

The initial step of thermoforming involves assembling flat plastic sheets. The companies usually use different sets of machinery to thermoform various types sheets. Mounted clamps of the sheets are then placed on an oven for heating. This takes a specified amount of time before the sheet is removed and then formed. The hot sheet is then placed over or under the tool used for thermoforming as the tool is moved closer to the sheet.

In the next stage, a seal is made around the cold sheet using pressure or vacuum in order to force it to assume different molding shapes. The next step involves holding the sheet in place until it is cool. Once the cooling process is over, the sheet is detached from the clamp and then trimmed. This may be carried with the aid of different tools. For instance, the sheets can be drilled, cut using a saw, routed, or trimmed using a 3 or 5-axis machine.

Once the thermoforming process is over, the finished part of the sheet if cleaned and packed in polybags. Most custom thermoforming companies can conduct more than one forming service. The common services provided by these companies include vacuum forming, pressure forming, twin sheet forming, thermoforming mold making, and heavy gauge thermoforming.Vacuum forming is majorly used for manufacture of medical products.

Pressure forming is still regarded as another version of vacuum forming. It uses the traditional techniques of molding to close the appearance gaps. Whilst it is mainly used the thin-gage plastic packaging industries, pressure forming is mainly viewed as an ancient mode of thermoforming. In a twin sheet thermoforming, however, two sheets are formed at the same time through heating. They are usually preformed into different molds before being quickly pressed together.

A pin is also pushed through one of the sheets and air is pushed through them for forming. This is carried out with the aid of heat to enable the sheets form a single unit. Usually, products made through this forming process resemble those made through blow molding or rotational molding.

The heavy gauge thermoforming is used to manufacture industrial, electronics and medical devices. It is majorly used for the manufacturing of sturdy rigid enclosures for various equipments like computers, radomes, electronic enclosures, medical devices, outdoor equipment, and exercise equipment. Heavy gauge thermoforming uses thick plastic sheets to manufacture products of different thickness. For thermoformed plastic packaging, there are a number of similar processes involved, but the most important thing is to go for those companies that can be able to customize products according to the needs of their clients.




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