Rotational Molding Design

Blue-Reed, LLC
Part Design and Tooling for Rotational Molding :

How to Achieve Success in Every Project
Gregory Stout Blue-Reed, LLC 4191 Courtiff Circle Stow, Ohio 44224 www.blue-reed.com
Gregory Stout
Rotational Molding Design
p. 330.688.1324 e. gstout@blue-reed.com
Introduction
Greg Stout - designer specializing in hollow plastic parts. Over (17) years experience with rotational molding process. SolidWorks This presentation will illustrate how part design and tooling design influence and affect each other.
Gregory Stout
Tooling and Part Design
All design has limitations to obey or follow. Material limitations. Mold or Tooling limitations Machine or Oven limitations. To achieve success in your designs you must understand and know your options.
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Tooling Options
Cast Aluminum molds. Fabricated Aluminum or Steel molds. CNC molds.
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Tooling Advantages
Cast Aluminum molds:
1. 2. Can Mold Very Complex shapes Can use Pattern or Model as a design check before pouring metal.
Fabricated Aluminum or Steel molds:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Can Mold Nearly as Complex shapes Can be lower cost. Requires no Pattern or Model Thinner mold wall makes for faster heat transfer. Extremely large molds can be made
CNC molds:
1. 2. 3. Very close dimensional tolerances can be held. Requires no Pattern or Model No Porosity
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Part Design
The following are examples of how the mold design was manipulated to help make the parts be manufactured successfully.
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Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser
Two parts from two molds that hinge together to form one part. The top lid is a dispenser and the bottom is a receptacle.
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An inside look shows how diverse the parts are. The bottom has no restrictions to shrink while the top has to shrink around a large core.
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Features: Two large core pins. One small core pin. Large graphic area.
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Routered hole for bag insertion. Routered holes for bag dispensing. Pull pins for hinges.
Core is very deep in cavity to accommodate pull pins on the side of the part and for the head of the router for the hole to insert the boxes of bags. Notice the crown in the graphic area to fight warp.
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Features: Large graphic area Drilled holes for hinge to match molded in holes for lid. Recess in center for mounting post Drilled drain holes in bottom.
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Problem: The lid has restricted shrinkage and the bottom has no restrictions on shrinkage. How will the parts mate together if they dont shrink the same? Solution: Since the top will not shrink as much as the bottom part, was taken out of the width of the bottom and 1/8 was taken out of the depth of the bottom part.
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Pontoon Bass Boat
A Boat that was originally vacuum formed in two pieces and then glued together. Now molded as one piece and foam filled.
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Pontoon Bass Boat
Boat has to be strong and solid in feel when stood on. Walls have to withstand clamping force of motor mount and forces when motor is running.
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Pontoon Bass Boat
Foam filling has to happen in mold and no holes can be left open. Areas in the mold have to be close enough to form a kiss-off and yet open enough to let both materials flow.
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Pontoon Bass Boat
Drop Boxes were used for foaming the part in mold. Study was done to find out the optimal kiss-off, foaming distance. Holes from the Drop Boxes were filled with an additional storage feature for the part.
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29 Gal. Gas Walker

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Many threaded features Had to pass DOT Packaging Certification tests Needed to have consumer appeal.
29 Gal. Gas Walker
Many molded in graphics as well as post molded graphics Many ribs for strength also add problems with porosity at P/L for mold maker.
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29 Gal. Gas Walker
Large center core difficult for mold maker to pour. Part had to be stackable for shipment and for testing. DOT Testing spec.: Part had to withstand 1100 lbs. stacking force for 28 days with no deformation. DOT Testing spec.: Hydrostatic Pressure of 17.5 PSI for 30 min. with no deformation. Part had to have no more than .200 wall thickness.
Gregory Stout
29 Gal. Gas Walker
Ribs to prevent distortion from tests. Must hold at least the amount on label. Limited room for threaded caps and bushings Be careful of narrow walls for finishing and texturing.
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29 Gal. Gas Walker
Pull pins for axle pins through two walls on each side for strength. Molded in insert for hose valve is a tight area for machining in the mold
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Sharbade Scooter
Game scooter for children, adults and for the physically disabled. Has to support 250 lb. athlete. Has to approximate design of current foam covered plywood scooter.
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Sharbade Scooter
Part had to be deep enough to allow resin powder movement and to charge it in one mold half. 3:1 is standard but can go lower. Needed to run FEA to determine amount and style of slots.
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Sharbade Scooter
FEA results were very good in both stress and deformation. Hint: Red bad; Blue good! The plastic part could actually hold 440 lbs. easily. Warning: FEA is a design guide. Actual behavior of product could be different. Too many processing variables.
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Sharbade Scooter
Slots or holes give you the most added strength. If the part were larger, wider slots would give more room for an opening in the flange in the tool to help with air flow.
Gregory Stout
Sharbade Scooter
Mounting posts in the slots make for better shut-off, no flash. Dont make slots so narrow that the tool will be solid resulting in a cold spot which will make for a thin wall.
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Sharbade Scooter

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Registration in the slot bosses to keep mismatch of P/L to a minimum. Vent hole will be covered up on the finished part by the caster mounting plate. Quick-Sert pins to hold the molded in inserts for the casters.
Tank/Skid

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Customer needs large tank in certain sized footprint. Must be able to move with a hand truck or a tow motor. Oh, no! Two sizes are needed!
Tank/Skid
Larger size- no problem. Use an additional mold piece to enlarge the tank portion of the mold. Whaddaya mean its got to fit in the oven!??
Gregory Stout
Tank/Skid Oven Fit
Modeled the molders oven Expanded the part to include part shrink Modeled the P/L flange, mounting posts and spider tubing. Insert model assembly into the oven and look for conflicts with oven limits and the part- remember mold wall thickness
Gregory Stout
Tank/Skid Oven Fit
Areas that had to be adjusted were the hose hanger at the top right had to move in and the threaded cap needed to move closer to the center- a clamp has to hold it in.
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Tank/Skid
Mold with insert for larger size tank capacity. Fabricated aluminum mold.
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Typical Fab Mold

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Square mounting posts that are welded on. Flat P/L with dowel pin registration.
Multi-Piece Fab Mold
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Clamping Parting lines in different planes.
Multi-Piece Fab Mold
Another view
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Fab Mold
Round parts are best parted through the cross section rather than down the length to ensure roundness. The lengthwise parting line will make the part come out oval shaped instead of round.
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Fab Mold
Large sheet metal mold.
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Fab Mold
Some parts of a Fab mold may be machined.
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Fab Mold
Fabricated mold with kiss-offs.
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Fab Mold
Multiple piece Fabricated mold.
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Fab Mold
Fab molds are repeatable.
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Fab Mold
Fabricated molds can be very large and of complex shapes.
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Fab Mold
Computer generated 3D models are used by some fabricated mold makers to make the sheet metal pieces.
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Fab Mold
Large fabricated mold with complex geometry.
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Fab Mold
The backside of the same mold.
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Fab Mold
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Bending the sheet metal for the fab mold.
Fab Mold
A Sheet Metal tube mold.
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Fab Mold
Sheet Metal tube mold spot welded.
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Fab Mold
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More complex shapes from a fab mold.

Fab Mold
Large pull pins to create holes in the part in a fabricated mold.

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Fab Mold
Clamping directly through the parting line flange on a fabricated mold.
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Fab Mold
Fine polish of a sheet metal mold.
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Fab Mold
Complex parting line in a fabricated mold.
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Fab Mold
Molded in arrow logo in a fabricated mold.
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Fab Mold
Kiss-offs and other complex geometry.
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Fab Mold
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Duplicates of fabricated molds.
Fab Mold
Another very large fabricated mold. Too large to be cast in one piece.
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Fab Mold
Nice crisp lines.
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Fab Mold
Spider tubing bent instead of pieced welded together. Very clean and strong.
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Fab Mold
Clamping directly through a very complex parting line.
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Fab Mold
Large cone shaped mold.
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6 Gal. Fuel Tank Cast Mold
A three piece cast mold with one male thread and two female threads molded in. Room must be left for the pins and bushings.
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Cabinet Cast Mold
Cast mold with multiple pieces on slides and hinges, with pull pins and molded in inserts.
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Spider Height Issues
Die spring within mounting post. A way to reduce the overall spider height.
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Spot Teflon Coating
Spot Teflon coating allows areas with deep cores to be pulled easier.
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Cast Mold
Multiple piece cast mold.
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Cast Mold
Multiple piece cast mold. Notice the heavy duty slide for the mold piece on the right.
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Cast Mold
Completely removable mold piece.
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Cast Mold
The other side.
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Cast Mold
Close up of slide for large mold piece.
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Cast Mold
Mold opened on slide.
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Cast Mold
Another view of the slide.
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Cast Mold
The inside of the cast mold with Brown Teflon coating.
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Cast Mold
Another view.
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Cast Mold
Kiss-Offs for strength. Difficult for the foundry.
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Cast Mold
Multiple piece mold on slides and hinges enable molding of what would have been undercut. Nice mold detail to the right.
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Cast Mold
A precision slide for a molded undercut.
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Cast Mold
Close up of slide.
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Various Clamps
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Pneumatic Clamp
Normally used on multiple cavity spiders to clamp and unclamp quickly.
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Cast Mold
Heat pins or fins attracts more heat to a particular mold area which will thicken the part wall in that area.
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Cast Mold
Heat pins can be put all over.
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Cast Mold
More heat pins! To help reduce cycle time.
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Cast Mold
Heat pins used to help heat a deep core that would be difficult to get hot oven air to.
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Cast Mold
The model is often used to communicate parting line and other info.
This is a wooden pattern or model critical to making the cast mold. The model has both plastic material shrink and aluminum shrink factored in so it is actually larger than what the part will be.
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Cast Mold
Foundry tooling to make the sands that the metal is poured into.
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Cast Mold
Pouring molten aluminum into the sand castings.
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Cast Mold
Mold polishing. Necessary in all mold making.
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Cast Mold
Another multiple piece mold.
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Cast Mold
Close up of a kiss-off in a cast mold. Usually a good idea to leave metal safe in the mold to allow the molder to adjust.
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Cast Mold
A cast mold with an insulated area on top. This will make the insulated area mold a large open area.
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Mounting Plate
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A mounting plate.
Grate
This is a grate for mounting numerous dissimilar molds.
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Grate Mount
Two molds mounted on a grate.
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Multiple Mold Spider
Multiple molds on a spider to make more parts in the same amount of time.
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Air Amplifiers
Air Amplifiers direct the heated air to a particular area that may be difficult to heat or to make a particular areas wall thickness thicker.
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Pull Pins
Pull pins are used to create molded in holes in parts.
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European Mold Making
The following are examples of how the European mold makers are making strides in our industry.
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Cast Molds
A large complex cast mold with a lot of different mold pieces to produce a lot of different configurations.
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CNC Molds
CNC molds make up approximately 40% of the molds sold there.
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CNC Molds
Nice multiple piece CNC mold.
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CNC Molds
Another good example.
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CNC Molds
A CNC mold for a liquid nylon part.
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CNC Molds
Another complex mold!
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Model, Mold, and Part Inspection
Available with some mold makers in the USA.
Complete Moulds CTR Dimensional control, to ensure Tolerances, Shrinkage and correct Shape.
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Machines
The next slides will talk about advancement in automation for the rotomolding machines.
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Leonardo Machine
A fully automated rotomolding machine no operator! When will we see them in the US Very soon! See the presentation later today!
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Leonardo Machine
Human resource reduced to machine setup, human influence eliminated from the product quality. Improved product quality thanks by the uniform wall thickness distribution. Increased productivity. Absence of mould refurbishment needed. Clean and fresh working area.
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Leonardo Machine
Automatic mould opening/closing. Automatic moulds control: product demolding, inserts loading, material loading, mould temperature control. Alarm signals in case of danger or Dysfunctions. Automatic product demolding. Accurate Material dosing system.
Gregory Stout
Summary
Thank-you Any Questions?
www.blue-reed.com
Gregory Stout

Rotational Molding Design

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Rotational Molding Design

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Blue-Reed, LLC

Part Design and Tooling for Rotational Molding :

Tooling and Part Design

Cast Aluminum molds. Fabricated Aluminum or Steel molds. CNC molds.

Fabricated Aluminum or Steel molds:

Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser

Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser

Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser

Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser

Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser

Dog Waste Receptacle & Bag Dispenser

Pontoon Bass Boat

Pontoon Bass Boat

Pontoon Bass Boat

Pontoon Bass Boat

29 Gal. Gas Walker

29 Gal. Gas Walker

29 Gal. Gas Walker

29 Gal. Gas Walker

29 Gal. Gas Walker

Tank/Skid Oven Fit

Tank/Skid Oven Fit

Typical Fab Mold

Multi-Piece Fab Mold

Clamping Parting lines in different planes.

Multi-Piece Fab Mold

Large sheet metal mold.

Some parts of a Fab mold may be machined.

Fabricated mold with kiss-offs.

Multiple piece Fabricated mold.

Fab molds are repeatable.

Fabricated molds can be very large and of complex shapes.

Large fabricated mold with complex geometry.

The backside of the same mold.

Bending the sheet metal for the fab mold.

A Sheet Metal tube mold.

Sheet Metal tube mold spot welded.

More complex shapes from a fab mold.

Large pull pins to create holes in the part in a fabricated mold.

Clamping directly through the parting line flange on a fabricated mold.

Fine polish of a sheet metal mold.

Complex parting line in a fabricated mold.

Molded in arrow logo in a fabricated mold.

Kiss-offs and other complex geometry.

Duplicates of fabricated molds.

Nice crisp lines.

Clamping directly through a very complex parting line.

Large cone shaped mold.

6 Gal. Fuel Tank Cast Mold

Cabinet Cast Mold

Spider Height Issues

Spot Teflon Coating

Multiple piece cast mold.

Completely removable mold piece.

The other side.

Close up of slide for large mold piece.

Mold opened on slide.

Another view of the slide.

The inside of the cast mold with Brown Teflon coating.

Kiss-Offs for strength. Difficult for the foundry.

A precision slide for a molded undercut.

Normally used on multiple cavity spiders to clamp and unclamp quickly.

Heat pins can be put all over.

More heat pins! To help reduce cycle time.