German RP technique set for UK exposure
A
Protoform product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Aug 23, 2005
Although Space Puzzle Molding has been very successful in Germany it is relatively unknown in the UK and can realistically be regarded as "new" to the rapid prototyping market.
Although Space Puzzle Molding from Protoform has been very successful in Germany since its introduction as a concept in 1984, serving predominantly, but not exclusively, the automotive industry, completing literally hundreds of projects for names like Porsche, Mercedes Benz and BMW (famous names like Bosch, Leica, Kodak and Grundig also figure in the extensive client list), it is relatively unknown in the UK and can realistically be regarded as "new" to the rapid prototyping and "fast-time-to-market" sector of product development.
The process uses state of the art CAD/CAM technology to produce metal tooling for injection moulding via CNC and five-axis machining.
mouldings of up to 2kg shot weight can be produced in all grades of material including co-injection and gas-assisted techniques.
Demoulding is arranged by clever design to be only semi-automatic avoiding the need for complex (and expensive) ejector systems resulting in a price in the region of half of that for full production tooling.
The name derives from the way all the inserts for multiple ejection planes are assembled in an exact sequence just like a sophisticated "space puzzle".
Engineers and buyers regard Space Puzzle Molding as a "soft landing" for complex designs enabling a full evaluation of all aspects, right from mould-flow characteristics through to functionality, before production tooling is commissioned.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Browse by category
-
Capital Equipment (3,429)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (522)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,108)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (65)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (942)
- Consultancy and Services (909)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,073)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (808)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (187)
- Control and Instrumentation (2)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (295)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (202)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,187)
- Plantwide control (1,338)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (570)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (388)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,402)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,285)
- Industrial Motors (500)
- Linear Drives and Motors (117)
- Precision Motors and Gears (420)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,077)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,213)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (559)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (695)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (636)
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (1)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (371)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (713)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (426)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (812)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,245)
- 2D CAD software (201)
- 3D CAD software (1,163)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (572)
- Data, document management software (315)
- Electrical design software (165)
- Engineering Design Software (15)
- FEA and structural analysis software (374)
- File conversion software, data capture (355)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Materials design and moulding design software (152)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (320)
- PLM and collaboration software (652)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (264)
- Publishing and documentation software (233)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (201)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (929)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,146)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Conferences (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (845)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (568)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (357)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (636)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Seminars (405)
- Engineering Training Courses (443)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (176)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (280)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (115)
- Machine Building (4,573)
-
Materials and Processing (2,998)
- Materials and components (2,241)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials processing and testing (288)
- Rapid Prototyping (464)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,548)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (479)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (498)
- Data loggers (423)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (636)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (737)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (446)
- Materials testing equipment (420)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (156)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (510)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,242)
-
Powertrain Design (3,654)
- Bearings (960)
- Chains and belts (330)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,456)
- Hydraulic Components (473)
- Lubricants (431)
- Powertrain Design (3)
-
Sensors (7,155)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (436)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (624)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (286)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (155)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (529)
- Linear Position Sensors (408)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (712)
- Pressure sensors (626)
- Proximity Sensors (708)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (551)
- Sensors (8)
- Temperature sensors (613)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,396)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,989)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,664)
