Process for making enclosures

Process for making enclosures

1. Line bending

   • used to make simple bends in a sheet of thermoplastic polymer
   • A simple enclosure can be made from two U-shaped parts, attached together using a suitable adhesive.
   • Line bending involves heating the material along a line, using a heating element. The plastic softens as it heats, allowing it to be bent.
   • As the plastic cools it will retain its shape. A wooden former is often used to ensure accurate bending.

2. Vacuum Forming

   • Vacuum forming is used to make many different products from thermoplastic sheets. These include enclosures, packaging, helmets and baths.
   • The sheet is heated to make it flexible, formed over a mould, and then cooled to become hard again.
   • process
     • 1. Plastic placed over mould
     • 2. plastic heated
     • 3. Air in mould removed

3. Injection moulding

   • Injection moulding is used to make a wide range of plastic products, from enclosures to model construction kits, chairs and toys.
   • The process is very fast and complicated shapes can be made from both thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers.
   • Injection-moulded parts can often be identified by their sprue point, a slight protrusion where the plastic was injected into the mould.
   • Injection moulding involves heating the polymer until it is liquid and then using pressure to force it into a mould.
   • They may also have a split line visible if the sides of the mould did not fit together perfectly.

4. Laser cutting

   • Although laser cutting is a relatively new process, it is already widely used in all levels of production.
   • A computer-controlled laser beam burns through a sheet of material, such as thin sheets of plastic, MDF or aluminium.
   • It can cut simple 2D shapes that can be joined together to make an enclosure.