262. Your Guide to Plastic Molding
Plastic is a synthetically-produced non-metallic substance. It can be molded into various forms and hardened for use.
Plastic molded products can be seen everywhere. A few examples are jars, protective caps, tubes, handles, toys, bottles, boxes, accessories and tools.
The keyboard and mouse you are using are of molded plastic. The plastic components of the chair you sit on are of molded plastic.
The basic idea of plastic molding is to inject molten (melted) plastic into the cavity of a mold, this cavity being of the form the finished part is to be. The mold and the plastic inside it then cool, and the plastic thus hardens in the form of the cavity.
More examples of products this custom-molding process yields include bottles, garden pots, furniture, office trays and boxes, barriers, barricades and signs. Just a few generations ago plastic molded products did not exist, but now it seems we cannot function without them.
If you would go into the plastic molding business, you must first know the various processes of plastic processing. Following are the basic definitions of the various methods of molding plastic.