INNOVATION | ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC
scale, moulding of ultra-high-performance materi- als, and numerous operational advantages. Initial target applications include polymer-based optics with improved properties, over-moulding of delicate electronics and circuitry, and highly filled engineering resins. Important for electronic applica- tions, the X2F approach of using very low pressures allows for over-moulding on top of delicate circuitry without crushing circuits or melting solder. Fitzpatrick has spent many years as an engineer in the plastics industry, including a period at Flextronics. In 2010, he set up Plasaver, to engineer and build various types of injection moulding equipment. A forerunner of X2F, Plasaver machines use a process that “allows us to more accurately set and control resin temperatures and this is done with the machine in a static state. [This] reduces the amount of force required to transfer the plastic into the injection mould and the clamp pressure required to hold the mould shut during injection. This leads to smaller machines moulding larger parts than one who is familiar with the conventional process would think possible. With an overall reduction of injection speed and forces, we are able to utilise sensor technologies to control and monitor the process in ways that conventional machines cannot. This approach makes the injection moulding process much more predictable and this leads to lower costs.” Mike Slowik is CEO at X2F. He says that whereas
regular injection moulding machines operate at 150-300 MPa, X2F machines melt polymer with minimal pressure and fill mould cavities with pressures under 70 MPa – sometimes well under. This allows for the use of “minimalist” mould tooling. Typical shot weights are currently 0.1-300g and X2F owns IP on technology to increase shot
Illustrative chart shows the lower pressures used by the X2F process compared with traditional injection moulding
Source: X2F
size to multi-kilogramme quantities. “We are getting good traction in the electronics
market,” Slowik says. He believes the technology has important advantages over other traditional encapsulation systems such as conformal coating and potting in terms of, among other things, speed, operator safety, and overall costs. Cycle times with X2F are normally under one minute. Additionally, X2F can easily process highly filled thermally conductive polymers. Furthermore, whereas alternative processes systems often work best with quite small parts – he cites USB drives – X2F can encapsulate complete computer boards. Also, while other LPM systems supplied by companies such as MoldMan Systems normally run with polyamide hot-melts, X2F can handle the full range of polymers aimed at E&E applications. “We are looking at applications that other LPM systems cannot handle, or are not so good at,” he says.
X2F has placed systems with customers in the
Above: Battery sensor circuit board before and after low pressure moulding process developed by Henkel. Electronic parts are protected against moisture, chemical exposure and high temperatures
48 INJECTION WORLD | October 2021
medical, industrial, automotive, and consumer electronics industries. Says Slowik: “We will design, prototype, pilot and produce parts in production quantities for customers or provide them our systems for production in their facilities.” The company’s principal offering is the small- footprint E30V machine, with a vertical clamp system, which can be integrated into existing manufacturing cells with minimal changes to layout. “At 850 pounds [385kg], you can roll it off a pickup truck, plug it into a wall, and start making parts,” says Slowik. It can be set up rather like a small vertical injection moulding system, with a turntable holding multiple lower mould halves. X2F technology is a rival to one developed
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: HENKEL
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