HEAT INSERTION
Heat insertion into thermoplastics: contact insertion and induction insertion.
Insertion of inserts made of plastics or other materials into thermoplastic articles.
HEAT INSERTION
Heat insertion, also called thermal insertion, employs heat to make the thermoplastic material malleable in the area where the insert must be inserted. The heat necessary to heat up the material where the component will be inserted is created by means of two methods.
HEAT INSERTION BY CONTACT
The component to be inserted is pre-warmed by the contact with a hot-plate. During the operation, the heat is transferred from the component to the article, making it malleable in the insertion area. The temperature check is very important: to avoid melted burrs around the upper end of the element to insert, it is necessary that the material does not melt. The material, made malleable by the heat, envelops the element getting inside pre-ordered interstices. The pressure applied must be well set to allow the material to gradually envelope the surface profile of the element to insert. In the following cooling phase, the joining of element and article hardens until it gets fixed solid. Heat insertion by contact is used to insert metal inserts into thermoplastic articles.
HEAT INSERTION BY INDUCTION
The component to be inserted is pre-warmed by an electro-magnetic field generated by an electro-magnetic heating element. Therefore this kind of insertion is called heat insertion by induction or with electro-magnetic heating element. The insert is heated up contactless by the source of heat in a very short time: few seconds. When the material gest in contact with the heated up insert, in the insertion area, it heats up until it becomes soft and envelops the outer profiles of the insert. The joining gets solid during the cooling phase. Heat insertion by induction is used to insert metal inserts into thermoplastic components.
Inserts can be heat-inserted into thermoplastic articles produced by means of injection moulding, extrusion moulding, compression moulding, thermoforming, blow moulding, suction 2D/3D (2k) and rotational moulding.
Among the articles assembled by means of thermal insertion by GS Finishing Machines’ devices there are the following, listed as an example: battery boxes, automotive pedalboards, supports for the steering column, filter boxes, tanks, pipes, conveyor ducts, light cases and accessory components of any nature.
