Thermoforming
Applications
The use of IR technology for industrial or composite thermoforming
Plastics have become very popular in almost all products. While plastic foils are produced on blowing machines, solid plastic parts are formed with 2 major technics: Injection molding and thermoforming that is mainly used for big parts that can be created out of plastic sheets/plates.
Thermoforming involves heating a sheet of thermoplastic material until softened and then forming it in a mold. This process is used to manufacture products such as refrigerator interiors, sinks, sleds, doors, automobile interior parts, sanitary ware, roof boxes and technical parts.
Thermoforming machines are usually built with:
- Upper and lower heating bench
- Support frame for the plastic sheet
- Mold to give the final shape
The thickness of the sheet varies from 1 to more than 20 mm and new machines can form even multilayer sheets. Loading and unloading can be automatic or manual.
DR. FISCHER Speedium lamps
Particularly effective on a wide range of materials. Market leaders use this technology for energy savings and high efficiency.
Technical examples:
- Speedium lamps 650W (1700K), distance between lamps: 44 mm, power density: 6.0 W/cm²
- 800W Speedium lamps (1900K), distance between lamps: 44 mm, power density: 8.6 W/cm²
Thermoplastic materials used:
- ABS, PET, PA, PLA, PMMA, PC, PE, PP, PS, PEEK, PVC. PE and PP are the most common.
- Each material requires specific temperatures for forming, for example, ABS at around 200°C and PET at around 110°C.
- Thermoforming machines can also process double sheet materials.
Thermoforming process:
The sheet is loaded into the machine.
The heating benches are positioned above and below the sheet.
Emitters heat the sheet in 10 to 60 seconds, depending on thickness.
The softened sheet is formed in the mold by suction and pressure.
The mold is cooled by a cooling circuit.
The cooled product is removed and the edges are trimmed.
IR heating bench
Modern modules contain hundreds of lamps individually controlled to adjust the temperature according to the shape of the product. The most efficient machines use DR FISCHER shortwave transmitters or Speedium, which heat quickly and efficiently.
Our customised solutions
Large infrared
module
The large IR modules can be used to create large thermoforming machines.