MICRO MOULDING | ARTICLE Maintenance
The fragility and size of the mould are of great importance when it is necessary to perform mould maintenance during industrial usage — whether for lubrication, replacement of parts or cleaning. Naturally, the critical nature of maintenance operations is closely linked to the presence of movements, use of hot chambers and nozzles, gas ejection systems and, above all, the injection conditions imposed by the materials used.
The use of separating agents, fats, oils and other additives in the process may substantially modify the surface conditions of the cavity in a micro piece — compared to a normal sized cavity upon which the effect is negligible.
The purely physical handling of the micro moulds requires specialised training of personnel, including a detailed study of the risks for the mould.
The right environment in terms of order and cleanliness are vital as the typical dirtiness in a normal mould workshop could be extremely dangerous for certain parts of a micro mould. Micro mould cleaning processes are particularly critical as the traditional mechanical abrasion methods may directly irreparably damage the micro cavities or cause even worse non-visible damage which later leads to the mould working poorly or to defective pieces — which are impossible to explain at machine level.
The added value of micro injection, to a great extent, lies in the indirect environmental costs and the conditions in which it takes place
Other non-aggressive methods, which avoid mechanical contact and use non-harmful chemical agents are essential. Here, one must take into account that the same methods do not work for all micro moulds or injected materials. Therefore, experience and good evaluation (with a mould specialist, cleaning technology, lubrication and cleaning materials supplier, etc.) on a case by case basis is necessary to maintain the mould correctly.
Environment
In this article, directly or indirectly, it has been mentioned that any variation in heat, chemistry of the material, cleanliness of the same or accuracy of the machine may have a serious and critical effect on the micro piece created in the process.
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