There is a growing demand by industry, governmental regulatory agencies and consumers for durable and inexpensive products that are functional comparable or superior to metal products.  This is particularly true in the automotive and transportation industry as well as in the field of electronic devices like cell phones. 

 

Developers and manufacturers of these products are concerned with the strength parameters, such as impact, bending, stretching, and twisting resilience, while minimizing weight. 

 

To meet these demands, a number of reactive thermoplastic and thermoset composite pre-pregs, thermoset and thermoplastic based fully polymerized and consolidated sheets (together called composite sheets),  and sandwich materials based on various composite sheets and core materials have been engineered. These materials are usually processed slowly in molds or presses primarily because it takes a long time to heat and cool the mold or press. This long time ends up increasing cost. Therefore there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for making multi-layer parts that is quick to heat yet holds its shape during processing.

 

To justify this demand IQ Tec Switzerland GmbH has developed various technologies to make and form composite sheets and panels and does provide custom made solutions in regards to processes and equipment – especially for projects in development stage.

 

IQ Tec Switzerland GmbH is a strong R&D partner providing turnkey solutions during material, product, process and application development and is in addition a reliable partner to supply machinery and equipment to support our customers’ development efforts.

 

 

The FlexMold Technology provides an apparatus for forming a shape of a composite assembly, comprising: a mold having a first surface and a vacuum bag thereon, wherein the vacuum bag comprises a plurality of vacuum bag sheet(s), and a composite assembly therein, wherein the composite assembly comprises a plurality of bondable layers, wherein at least one of the plurality of sheet(s) of the vacuum bag is between the plurality of bondable layers and the first surface of the mold, and wherein the plurality of bondable layers are able to retain a shape which is the negative image of the mold when the pressure of the inside of the vacuum bag is reduced, even if the bag and plurality of bondable layers of the composite assembly are removed from the mold.

 

The key of the FlexMold assembly is its fast heating and cooling cycles, due to reduced mass of the mold materials. Heat can be provided by contact heating, IR heat or thru convection ovens and typically reach heat up rates of >50°C per minute. IQ Tec Switzerland GmbH can provide FlexMold assemblies for flat panels and also for almost any shaped products/applications. The FlexMold Technology has already been successfully installed for wind mill rotor blades, sandwich panels and thermoplastic composite sheets. IQ Tec Switzerland GmbH has realized already sizes of up to 12m.

 

The basic principle of our lab type equipment is shown below:

 

 

 

Thermoforming of sheets is most likely the fastest way to manufacture a composite article. Thermoforming solutions provided by IQ Tec Switzerland GmbH are custom made and can be combined with our patended FlexMold Technology.

 

At thermoforming basically a composite sheet gets pre-heated (using, contact or convection heating) and formed to shape in a compression molding process, where the mold can be cold or heated – depending on the final shape and material used.

 

IQ Tec Switzerland GmbH does provide turn-key solutions from the selection of raw materials to the final equipment. Most of our in house designed equipment goes into prototyping and R&D work, while the basic and process engineering can be transferred to any full scale production line.

 

Application

• Optical lenses including aspheric silicon lens with precise mold
• Automotive covers
• Metal components for automotive

 

Basic Technology

 

 

1.         Loading sheet materials

On the loading table the sheet that needs to be molded is positioned. The sheet can be ;

- loaded manually

- loaded and positioned automatically with a handling with sheets from a stack unwind form a roll to a set length, cut and positioned

 

2.         Heating station

The heating station heats up the sheet ;

- Only from one side(top or bottom)

- From both sides(top to bottom)

  

Different heating stations are available ;

- IR-Heating field

- Contact heating press

- Hot-air-oven

- Induction

 

3.         Molding press

In the molding press there is a molding tool installed with a top and a bottom half. In general there are two types of molding presses ;

- Single acting press(top or bottom plate is movable)

- Double acting press(top and bottom plates are movable)

 

The following parameters of a press are important ;

- press force : upto 400T

- press area : upto 3m x 3m

- press stroke

  

During molding the sheet must be fixed at the sides and there are following options ;

- needle frame in combination with a simple transport system

- grippers fixed on the tool in combination with a simple transport system

- active clamps on the transport system

 

4.         Transport system

The transport system moves the sheet from one station to the other. It consists a gripper bar or special clamps.

 

A typical R&D lab unit is shown below: