- PU moulding challenge for revolutionary personal evaporator
- Flexible MRIM™ tooling for complex design and low annual volumes
- Collaborative work for a stylish and practical product
From art and air conditioning through to medicine, evaporators serve an essential function in many industries; in pharmaceutical research laboratories worldwide, personal evaporators have important drug discovery applications. When we were approached to help create and manufacture a PU enclosure for one such evaporator, incorporating revolutionary technology, we gladly accepted the challenge.
This device was designed to concentrate and dry the contents of up to six 450ml sample flasks rapidly in parallel, and concentrate these samples directly into small vials when required. This improves productivity by allowing users to concentrate on other tasks.
In this environment, where high-level functionality goes hand-in-hand with stylish aesthetic, our client wanted a change from their earlier designs which featured sheet metal covers and a small number of mouldings. To help achieve this, they turned to a Cambridge-based industrial design company with whom they had successfully worked with before.
After exploring several different aesthetic, material, and manufacturing options, Midas MRIM™ was selected to produce their product.
The deciding factor was that anticipated volumes of around 500 per year don’t lend themselves to traditional injection moulding, but are perfectly suited to the faster and more economic MRIM™ process.
Using MRIM™, complex features that would normally need to be machined like vertical faces, undercuts, metal inserts, and bushes can be cast into PU mouldings accurately, quickly, and competitively; mouldings can also be modified at relatively low costs and with little difficulty.
One design challenge we faced involved the casing needing side actions which called for undercuts and holes against the line of the draw. This required plenty of thought about how to break the tooling down to create a single moulding. Moreover, as the casing had to pass down over the top of the chassis during assembly, a ‘slide’ fit was needed over interference or clearance. To achieve these tight tolerances, certain ribs and fixing bosses had zero draft.
MRIM™ allowed the team at Midas to create this single complex moulding which eliminated the need for many smaller components. Colour banding was also easily incorporated into the design. Our advice proved invaluable on this project and allowed the designers to push what can be achieved by a single moulding to the limit.
From the outset, we demonstrated a proactive approach and hit all the requested deadlines as well as offering our advice and expertise on the MRIM™ process. The end result was a stylish single casing fully incorporating all the necessary technology.
For more information about how Midas Pattern Company could help with your latest PU moulding project, contact us today.