Integrated Metal/Plastic Processing for Teletronics
Engel combines metal punching and tapping with injection overmolding in one integrated process.
Thermal switches of punched and tapped brass, overmolded with nylon, are produced in one integrated line by Engel.
Left to right, this Engel line punches and taps brass sheet from a roll, and overmolds it with nylon in a vertical press, with inline quality checks.
Thermal switch housings, used to monitor electric motors in cars or home appliances, are usually produced in a complex, multi-stage process. As a rule, the metal components are punched and overmolded at entirely different locations. This requires considerable logistics overhead and ties up a lot of material and work in process, since two independent processes must be started up.
Engel is combining these operations in a single integrated production flow. Engel developed the system together with MMS Modular Molding Systems of Austria, a specialist in turnkey production lines for metal/plastic hybrids. The process starts with feeding thin brass sheet from a coil through a punch press, where the brass also has a thread servo-electrically tapped. The brass carrier plates, still on a continuous reel, are fed into a vertical, 38.5-ton Engel insert 60V/35 press for overmolding with glass-filled nylon. Camera inspection and high-voltage testing integrated into the tool ensure 100% quality control. Eight finished parts leave the cell every 20 sec.
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