Profile Extrusion
Plastic profiles are produced through a process by which various plastic materials are used to develop quality plastic products. These products have a continuous cross-section such as pipe, drinking straws, decorative molding, eavestroughing, window trimming and many others. The basic procedure of profile extrusion is that the polymer is melted into a hollow mold cavity, under the influence of high pressure.
The Plastic Extrusion Process
The process for creating plastic profiles begins with the feeding of the plastic material (pellets, granules, flakes or powders) from a hopper into the barrel of the extruder. The material is gradually melted by the mechanical energy generated by turning screws and by heaters arranged along the barrel. The molten polymer is then forced into a die, which shapes the polymer into a shape that hardens during cooling.
Lomont’s process of producing plastic products using plastic extrusion technologies can be extensive. However, the benefits heavily outweigh the disadvantages. Lomont’s extruded plastic process generally follows as stated below:
- This process takes raw thermoplastic material in the form of small beads and feeds them from a top mounted hopper into the barrel of the extruder
- Additives such as colorants and UV inhibitors and others are often added
- This process has much in common with plastic injection molding from the point of the extruder technology though it differs in that it is a continuous process.
- We produce complex profile with internal wall and simple profile with only external walls
- Lomont extruders are connected directly to our IQMS operating system along with being on a closed loop chilled water system
- All profile processed though our five-zoned heat controlled monitoring system which allow us to provide high quality show and non-show parts at a high FPM output
- Along with a full secondary department, we offer in-line filming, in-line data, and part-coding
Extruded Plastic Benefits
There are numerous advantages associated with plastic extrusion technologies, some of the beneficial qualities of plastic profiles include:
- Equipment widely available in all geographical areas
- Relatively low tooling costs
- Inexpensive process
- Product combinations possible
- Design freedom
Plastic Extrusion Design Applications
Profile Extrusion is a plastics process that creates 3 dimensional shapes (height, width, & length). There are also a wide range of applications where the process of profile extrusion is tremendously useful. Additionally, there are many design options that are associated with the use of this process. Typical applications and design possibilities of the extruded plastic process are as follows:
- Piping/Tubing
- Sealing Sections
- Edging
- Windows Profile
- Moldings
- Decorative Trim
- Cooler Bumpers
- Modular Drawer Profiles
- And More
Plastic Profile Customization Options
Lomont can fully customize our plastic profiles to your project requirement needs. Some of the plastic extrusions that we can fully customize include tubing, custom profiles and coextrusions.
Tubing Extrusion
Extruded plastic tubing, such as PVC piping, is manufactured using similar dies as those used in blown film extrusion processes. Positive pressure can be applied to the internal cavities through the pin, or negative pressure can be applied to the outside diameter using a vacuum sizer to ensure correct final dimensions. Additional lumens or holes may be introduced by adding the appropriate inner mandrels to the die.
Plastic extrusion tubing applications are noticeably present within the automotive, plumbing, heating and packaging industries.
Coextrusions
A Coextrusion is the result of the extrusion of multiple layers of material simultaneously. This type of extrusion utilizes two or more extruders to melt and deliver a steady volumetric throughput of different viscous plastics to a single extrusion head (die), which will extrude the materials in the desired form. The layer thicknesses are controlled by the relative speeds and sizes of the individual extruders delivering the materials.
