Product Design Seminars

 

PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDED PART DESIGN SEMINAR:

This topic takes two full days concurrently.

There are many other plastic molding methods which are mentioned and samples shown for comparison.  

All of the basic materials, blended and alloyed materials, material properties, fillers, and additives are examined.  Design rules for plastic shapes, wall thicknesses, bosses, etc., are reviewed.

Unique plastic design samples such as snap fits, light pipes, multi-material and multi-layer molding, gears, and bearings are discussed and design guides provided.

Finally, sample drawings, drawing notes, and cost of plastic raw materials are presented. All of this is accompanied by samples of plastic parts and material for discussion. 

During all of this, a video tour of a plastic injection mold shop helps the student understand where and how the design will become a reality. There are also videos of several rapid prototyping methods and samples. Manual Sample Here.

 

SHEET METAL PART DESIGN SEMINAR:

Includes Platings and Coatings

This topic is taught in one day.

The course begins by covering one hour of machine shop metal shaping processes. The rest of the day focuses on press-break type sheet metal design. This is the most common method for creating parts from sheet metal. Near the end of the day, a review of plating, coating, and finishing methods used in product design wraps up a very full seminar.

In the study of sheet metal design, we look at a lot of the common and special tooling available for forming lances, beads, card guides, etc. Included is very good design guide with recommendations for good design practices, and metal folding options. Sheet metal assembly methods are examined and include fasteners, clinch fasteners, welding and brazing. Sheet metal raw material cost and clinch fastener cost is provided. An extensive section is included just to explain all of the sheet metal alloys available. Finally, we take a video tour of a sheet metal shop.

The platings and coatings is a review of all the common plating processes available with samples and the base metals they apply to.  Paints are discussed and compared, including powder coats, urethanes, and epoxies. Metal surface preparation such as bead blasting and ball peening are reviewed with samples. An explanation of how a galvanic chart should be used in combination with electro-plating  is included. Finally, various metal heat treatment processes are discussed. Manual Sample Here

 

METAL EXTRUSION & METAL CASTING PART DESIGN SEMINAR:

This topic is taught in one day.

The course begins with the extruded aluminum part (shape) design with samples of extruded shapes and products designed using extrusions. Included is a complete design guide for shape and tolerances standards.

Finally, metal castings are examined. There are a dozen or more unique metal casting processes, each with its own design requirements, and each tailored for a specific metal, part size, or production quantity. This seminar section will help you sort it all out and will provide the design tools needed to produce almost any casting called for by your design. There is a follow on section covering methods for rapid prototyping castings. Most of the casting processes are shown with videos.   Manual Sample Here