Plastic Injection Molding Prototypes

Prototypes are important in the development process of plastic injection molded components, saving time and money by helping detect design flaws and other issues in the design phase. With over 20 years of experience in providing injection molding prototypes, Integrated Value Services Ltd will work with you to develop injection molding prototypes that will work successfully for your project.

Plastic injection molding prototypes can be produced quickly to meet the demands of tight development time lines. Prototypes can also be painted and decorated to appear much like the final product for marketing use prior to availability of production parts.

Why Plastic Molding Prototyping?

The use of injection molding prototypes can facilitate efficient and cost-effective evaluation of a part’s form, fit and function. It can also be painted and decorated to appear much like the final product for marketing use prior to availability of production parts.

Integrated Value Services Ltd employs a full range of technologies for plastic injection molding prototyping, from traditional CNC machining to a full range of additive manufacturing rapid prototyping technologies, including:

  • Traditional CNC Machining
  • 3D Printing

A rapid prototyping additive manufacturing process laying down successive layers of material directly from a CAD model that can create almost any geometry, including undercuts, overhangs and internal volumes. 3D Printing additive manufacturing also offers relatively inexpensive and fast production for a small number of parts.

  • Selective Laser Sintering (SLS)
    A rapid prototyping additive manufacturing process using a laser to sinter powder-based materials together, layer by layer, forming a durable solid prototype model ideal for functional parts in a variety of applications. SLS also enables production of injection molding prototypes with snap fits and living hinges.
  • Stereolithography (SLA)
    A rapid prototyping additive manufacturing process employing a UV laser and vat of liquid UV-curable photopolymer resin to produce prototypes quickly, one layer at a time. SLA injection molding prototyping is ideal for checking part sizing, fit and function and for use as finished-part-looking marketing prototypes.
  • Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
    A solid-based rapid prototyping additive manufacturing process that extrudes material layer by layer to build the prototype. FDM is ideal for producing conceptual and engineering models and functional testing plastic injection molding prototypes.

Prototype Molds/Preproduction Injection Molds

A plastic injection molding prototype mold can be very important in the development of a new product, offering a fast, low-cost tooling solution for producing parts for fit and function testing. Prototype molds also offer the advantages of testing the molding process and molding with the production material, so any process- or material-based design flaws are discovered early on, saving time and money in development.

Capabilities

Prototype molds can be used for low volume plastic injection molding production. Integrated Value Services Ltd injection molding prototype mold capabilities include:

  • Quick lead time tooling/rapid prototypes
  • One cavity pull up in a multi-cavity base
  • Master Unit Die (MUD) Inserts
  • Single cavity to multi cavity
  • Short run molds
  • Simple or complex geometrics
  • Aluminum or hard tool steel