Static eliminator stops dashboard foils clinging

Accrington-based Aries (UK) has been specialising in automotive injection moulding for over 30 years, and - as with any plastics - static can be a problem.

Accrington-based Aries (UK) has been specialising in automotive injection moulding for over 30 years.

And when the company embarked on a new project which involved using decorative foils for automotive dashboard decorative trim mouldings it called on Meech Static Eliminators to discuss possible solutions.

The company, which employs over 300 people and makes mouldings for interior, exterior and under-bonnet applications, had been using Meech static elimination products for many years in applications ranging from the screen printing shop to eliminate the problem of ink "fly", to the paint shop to avoid the problem of dust particles being attracted to the statically charged mouldings.

When items are released from the mould they can carry a static charge of as much as 70-80kV, depending on the polymer used, the size of the moulding and the amount and type of work that has been done to the part.

Staff at Aries knew static would need to be removed from the foils prior to moulding, in order to avoid the problem of dust "cling" and contamination.

The foils are made of ABS vacuum formed film and are over 900mm long but only 0.6mm thick, making them very flimsy.

The foiling and moulding operations take place in a clean, dust-free environment where a robot takes a foil from the loading station and automatically places it into the mould.

Static is removed from the foils, prior to lifting, using Meech Model 976 pulsed DC static eliminator bars and controllers, in order to ensure total cleanliness.

Any speck of dirt, inclusion or small scratch would render the finished moulding unacceptable, resulting in considerable wastage.

It is at this point that the combined talents of Meech and Aries came together to create a really innovative solution to the smooth placement of such large foils.

Immediately prior to loading the foil into the mould three pinning heads on the robot gripper are energised for just a couple of seconds in order to create a static charge in the foil such that it will be attracted to the mould and lie smoothly in it.

This simple, but creative use of deliberately generated static provides Aries with a simple method of laying large foils into mirror-finish moulds at a rate of one per minute with excellent finish results.

Senior Production Engineer, John Crooks, explains, "A car fascia is a highly visible product, the first thing you see when you enter the vehicle, so the level of finish is critical.

We have been delighted with the effectiveness of the "static-out/static-in" solution developed with Meech, which ensures both cleanliness and smooth placement of the foils, giving us the productivity we are looking for and our clients the level of finish they demand".

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