Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: MacDermid Autotype | Subject: Autoflex IMD
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 03 September 2002
Films feature in modern mobile designs
Autotype International has launched a family of coated films that are being widely adopted in the mobile phone market.
Autotype International has launched a family of coated films that are being widely adopted in the mobile phone market Autoflex in-mould decoration (IMD) films represent a breakthrough in IMD processing by offering advanced mouldability alongside extraordinary levels of abrasion, chemical and solvent resistance
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 2 Apr 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Autoflex IMD films expand the financially viable possibilities of IMD by featuring state-of-the-art coatings, innovative surface technologies and enhanced formability.
The family of films provides optimum design flexibility to the mobile phone industry as it is has been developed for shallow, medium and deep-draw IMD applications.
The result is a perfect platform on which intricate graphics can be reproduced on 3D components, such as mobile phone casings, which are likely to be exposed to high levels of wear.
The films were developed in direct response to the growing demand for new mobile phone designs and visages fuelled by a demanding and rapidly expanding youth market.
The four separate films in the Autoflex IMD family guarantee all the design and cost advantages associated with IMD production, alongside remarkable abrasion resistance.
Each Autoflex IMD film has been specifically designed for the manufacture of different draw-depth phone components so end users can accurately specify the film that best suits their needs.
The range includes Autoflex EBG - ideal for cost-effective embossing and shallow-form applications - Autoflex AutoForm - best suited for gently formed parts where microcracking is to be avoided - and Autoflex HiForm and Autoflex XtraForm.
HiForm features an ingenious self-healing coating that repairs itself when scratched, ensuring moulded parts retain their cosmetic appearance for longer.
Autoflex HiForm is ideal for consumer products that require deep forming while Autoflex XtraForm is designed for the deepest form applications where extra hardness is a must.
Tim Wright, Product Manager at Autotype, revealed the extent to which Autotype had pushed the technological boundaries of IMD films during the development of the Autoflex IMD range.
"We reconsidered the whole concept of hardcoating and created a series of finishes that utilise the most up-to-date chemical developments.
In the case of Autoflex HiForm we created a truly revolutionary system that when scratched will heal itself in a matter of hours". Request a free brochure from MacDermid Autotype ...
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