Design of a thermoplastic micro over injection machine for the automotive component industry

Abstract The plastic injection molding process, including thermoplastic injection, is nowadays used in several industrial processes, including in the automotive industry for bowden cables. This process makes possible to produce a wide range of products with different sizes, shapes, and for varying applications. During the years, many challenges emerged, which obliged the injection machine manufacturers to adapt and continuously innovate in their equipment, and made the design process of these equipment highly complex. This work aims to design a thermoplastic micro over injection molding station adapted to the current injection rates in a real company, in order to increase efficiency, and that can be implemented in automated production lines, reducing the number of operators. The equipment should be used in the production lines of bowden cables, which are used to command different systems inside the car. These cables can have zamak terminations covered with plastic, or terminations entirely made of plastic. These plastic parts of the cables are over-injected using polyethylene, polyamide with and without the addition of glass fibers, and polyacetal. As a result of this work, the designed injection machine has an estimated production rate of 7 injected cable ends in a maximum of 39 seconds, which is equivalent to 5.57 seconds per cable end.