Week 8 - Challenge 2 - Switch Bezel Design

TOOLING AXIS CREATION:

Class-A surface is first analyzed to create tooling axis or tooling direction that molds pull apart in injection molding. Tooling direction is vital for plastic product design as it decides direction for mold separation. Steps followed for creation of tooling axis:

1. Reference point is first created on extracted surface.
2. New axis system is deployed to plot clearance lines.
3. The X direction and Y direction along the class A were used to create tooling axis
4. Two clearing lines were bisected to form Tooling axis.
5. Graphic properties of tooling axis were change before publishing.

DRAFT ANALYSIS:

Draft Angle The draft angle is the amount of taper for molded or cast parts perpendicular to the parting line. It can be measured in degrees or mm/mm (in/in). As plastic cools, it shrinks and therefore shrinks onto molding surfaces. Because of this and a few other reasons, we draft (angle) the walls of the plastic part, so as the part is removed it breaks free from the molding surfaces easier and without dragging. A functional part for injection molding has to have drafts facing both cavity and core sides to reduce the risk of damage to the parts and ensure ejection. What's also important is to overcome the vacuum forces by letting air in between the metal and the plastic for the part to release properly. Adding an adequate draft angle ensures that warpage upon ejection is prevented while maintaining a decent cosmetic finish.

• Draft angles are generally a requirement of injection molding design (though there are a select few soft materials, like nylon, that can get away with draft angles of zero).
• Draft should be a part of design for manufacture, and Plastic Product Designer should be aware of its need at the outset of the design process. This allows considerations for design requirements to be taken into account.

CREATION OF TOOLING DIRECTION

• Considering the Ejection from the cavity of the mould after manufacturing the interior trim (switch bezel) must have the nominal 3-degree draft angle.
• Hence the tooling direction is created by considering the above factor and bisecting method is used.
• The base surface of the class - A was extracted and a point at the centre is created and an axis system was inserted to the point with the current feature is disabled.
• Then, using project intersection along yz plane is created and the two inclined lines were drawn inside the positioned sketch.
• Then bisecting lines with the two inclined lines were drawn.
• Now the same procedure is done along the xz plane but on one side we don't have inclined lines so the centre point is used to extrude a line along the z direction and gave a measurement of 5 degrees (Tentatively).
• With these two lines from sketches I and 2, the bisecting line is crated and published as Tooling Axis(tooling direction).

 Draft analysis report for  final plastic component;

ISOMETRIC VIEW;

TOP VIEW;

FRONT VIEW;

SIDE VIEW;