Custom Thermoforming: A Viable Alternative to Accepted Technology
Custom thermoforming is the process of heating a thin plastic sheet to the point where it can be pressed, folded, and trimmed to form any conceivable shape or package. Due to the versatility of the thermoforming method, there is no end to its application. As such, it has become an integral part of the process for supplying product to industrial, pharmaceutical, medical and consumer markets worldwide.
As with other now-robust technologies, thermoforming used to be considered more of an art than a science- a process that needed watching every moment. Processors were true craftsman, in that they had to control every step of the procedure. Heating, forming and cooling cycles had to be controlled and adjusted to ensure even a minimal amount of repeatability. Otherwise, the quality of the produced parts would suffer.
With the quantum leaps in computer technology and program design came PC’s that could provide instantaneous feedback to the thermoform machine operator while controlling the temperature, vacuum and pressure levels so vital to production of high-quality thermoformed products. Heat, for example, which was previously difficult to control, is now distributed more uniformly and evenly.
And with increased control and higher rates of repeatability have come the opportunity to design more precise dies and molds. In a small lab setting, prototype parts are created by heating and stretching small sheets of plastic, which are then held in place with a vacuum.
Due to the increased versatility of the thermoform process, the word “custom” no longer means expensive, one-at-a-time, handcrafted parts. The word now refers to the ability to produce a virtually unlimited number of products in different configurations- and at rates many times faster than those reached with older technology.
Unlike rotational, blow or injection molding, thermoforming produces such thin-gauge product as clamshells, blister packs, inserts, boxes, trays, lids, disposable cups, food-related items, consumer displays and medical assemblies.
Custom, thicker-gauge products are another thermoform specialty: things such as plastic pallets truck bed liners and vehicle doors. The possibilities are only as limited as a design engineer’s imagination.
And as any good marketing department will tell you these days, the process of turning imagination into a viable product starts by listening to the voice of the customer.
Once the package style, transport standards, package targeting and price are finalized, the conceptual design process is initiated. Ideas about what the customer wants are drawn up and turned into 3D drawings, which are then converted to a file format from which prototypes will be built.
From there an aluminum or epoxy mold is created, and a limited run of sample parts is manufactured. Once parts pass the “form, fit and function” test, aluminum tooling is ordered and created, along with the needed number of cavities and cutting dies. Then it’s production time.
The rising popularity of thermoforming has given manufacturers a lot to think about, especially those who until now believed that injection-molding was the only way to go.
The comparatively shorter product development lead times and less expensive tooling involved with thermoforming have given forming companies new outlets for creative engineers and marketing staffs- a welcome option, given the perilous financial times we live in.
