Our presentation about the mold maintenance used in polymer processing industries and their storage.

1. Fahad Ali 14-NTU-1008
Tosseq Haider 14-NTU-1010
Abuzar Ahmad 14-NTU-1039
Muhammad Arslan 14-NTU-1040
Department Of Polymer Engineering
National Textile University
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Contents
Polymer Engineering Care, Maintenance and storage of molds 1
 Purpose of Mold Maintenance
 Maintenance Determined factor
 Different levels of care/maintenance
• Preservation
• Inspection
• Maintenance
• Major Maintenance
 Storage
• Types
• Models
 References

3. Purpose of Mold Maintenance:
• Regular mold maintenance can help your
mold to last longer, to run with less
interruptions, and will save you time,
money, and frustration in the long run.
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5. Polymer Engineering Care, Maintenance and storage of molds 4
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7. Maintenance determined factors
The amount and frequency of maintenance
is determined by several factors:
• Mold Material
• Part material
• Mold complexity
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8. Different levels of
care/maintenance:
1. Preventative: Every day, and every time the mold
is pulled from production or put back into production
2. Inspection: Every 20,000 cycles (or every 10 days
of production)
3. Maintenance: Every 100,000 cycles (or every 10
production runs)
4. Major Maintenance: Every 250,000 cycles (or
half the anticipated life time volume)
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9. 1. Preventative Measures
Simple Preventive Maintenance greatly improves the life of your
mold. At the end of every shift while the mold is still in the
press.
Procedure:
• Before the mold is removed from the press the mold should
be returned to room temperature.
• It is critical that no water be trapped inside mold.
• The parting surfaces, core, and cavity should
be gently cleaned with a mild, clean solvent and
soft, clean towels to remove any residual dirt and grime.
• The ejector system should be moved fully forward, then spray
both mold halves with light rust preventive lubricant.
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10. CAUTION:
Highly polished mold surfaces should NOT be wiped
with a towel. Instead spray these surfaces with solvent
and blow off with clean, filtered, compressed air to
remove the majority of dirt and residue.
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11. 2. Inspection
This kind of maintenance should be performed by a lead
operator or an experienced person in your tool room after about
20,000 cycles, after 10 production days, or at the end of a
production run.
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Continue

13. • Inspect the tool and look for minor damage or if
any "touchup" work is required. Any missing
components or blocked off cavities should be
noted.
• The mold should be washed all over with mild,
clean solvent to remove the varnish and build up
from the molding process.
• The vents should be checked for depth around
the cavity face.
• Bent, worn or broken ejector pins should be
noted and the mold should be removed from
production and the pins replaced.
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Continue

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15. 3. Maintenance
This level of maintenance should only be performed by
skilled Mold makers.
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16.  All water lines are to be pressure tested for leaks and
for flow capacity.
 The ejector system should be examined for proper
alignment.
 Guided Ejection bushing should be checked for wear
and any broken return springs should be replaced.
 Determine if Re-plating or Resurfacing is necessary
 Determine if Replacement/Re-sizing of gates or gate
inserts, new runner blocks etc. are necessary.
 Replace all springs after 50,000 cycles.
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18.  All plates are separated and their faces cleaned.
 All moving parts are to be lubricated. Use lubricant
sparingly on all moving parts which make contact with
plastic parts.
 Vents should be checked for depth, width and land and
a determination made if repair is needed.
 Maintaining good venting prevents fill problems,
excessive fill pressures, material "burning", etc.
 They should also be checked for corrosion and vent
burns to see if additional venting may be required.
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19. Major Maintenance Tools
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 Rubber or hard plastic mallet and a light weight
machinists hammer (Ball Peen).
 Hex wrenches sets
 Cleaning tank, with clean cleaning solvent.
 Clean towels
 Compressed Air, filtered, with standard shop air
pressure.
 A set of polishing stones (fine), to remove burrs or
scratches on mold inserts. Be careful to protect the
cavity surface.
 Duct tape: Used to protect all critical corners and
edges on cavities and cores.
Continue

21. Storage of Mold
• Mold storage racks allow for safe and efficient
organization of molds and optimize floor space. Any
configuration of cells and capacities can be
manufactured for your environment. These are the
highest quality injection mold and die storage racks
you can buy with structural steel shelf carriages and
automatic safety interlocks that lock in all other
shelves when one shelf is extended.
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23.  Manual Racks: Load capacity per shelf from 300 to
3,000 lbs., shelf widths up to 96", shelf depths up to
60" and rack heights up to 120".
 Pneumatic Racks: Load capacity per shelf up to 20,000
lbs., shelf widths up to 120", shelf depths up to 72" and
rack heights up to 144".
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Types

24. Models
Here are Different types of racks we are used.
IM1: Roll-out shelving racks for injection molds and dies provide easy
accessibility and identification of multiple molds. Automatic safety
interlock system for only one shelf extending at a time comes standard.
Includes 100% Shelf Extension.
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25. IMC1: Injection mold roll-out shelving racks are able to store
large quantities of large and small dies. Rack tops may be
reinforced to store heavier molds. Includes 100% Shelf
Extension, Reinforced Top
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26. IM2: Reinforced rack tops provide an economical way to store your
heaviest tools with rack top capacities up 20,000 lbs or more.
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27. IM7: This series of roll-out shelving injection mold racks reduced
floor space requirements by 70%.
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28. IM4: Roll-out shelving provides easy and safe access to
injection molds and dies. Shelves are adjustable on 1" centers
to handle your changing inventory of molds.
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29. IM6: High capacity pneumatic roll-out shelving mold and die racks
allow you to store your heaviest molds with ease so you can
maximize valuable floor space.
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30. References
• http://www.properstorage.com/im3-
pneumatic-injection-mold-die-rack.html
• http://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/prod
ucts/mold-maintenance-software-now-in-
cloud-platform
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