CAPABILITIES
PRESSURE FORMING:
Ideal for Great-Looking, Highly Detailed Cosmetic Parts
The pressure forming process can yield durable, highly detailed cosmetic plastic parts that rival those made by injection molding. In fact, pressure forming provides a number of advantages:
- Lower tooling costs
- Easier prototyping and faster turnaround on tooling
- Highly cosmetic—and great-looking—parts are possible
- Wide variety of available thermoplastic materials to meet most specifications
- Possible to decorate parts for further cosmetic enhancement
Pressure Forming Works Best If You Need…
Recognize your needs in any of the following? Plastic Profiles could be your solution:
Highly engineered cosmetic parts
Physically large parts
Estimated volumes in hundreds to thousands
Rapid development and speed to market
With pressure forming, a single part can be manufactured in as few as four to six weeks.
Color-matched parts with sharp, flawless detail
Thermoplastic material with molded-in color is available in a spectrum of colors (at no extra cost). And with the pressure forming process, parts have no gate marks, knit lines, sink marks, ejector marks, etc.
Multi-part programs with molded-in color
This is the ideal process for two or more mating parts, where each one increases the degree of difficulty exponentially. In addition, using molded-in color material saves on painting time and costs.
Design flexibility
Pressure forming works effectively for parts needing decorative materials or coatings. The technique also works great for parts with zero draft, complex undercuts, molded-in features, and trim features that need to be easily adjusted.
Durability and industry-compliance
Thermoform material is extremely versatile and can meet the industry demands and performance requirements for everything from medical devices and fitness equipment to electrical enclosures and industrial safety equipment.
Lightweight parts
Thermoform plastic material is considerably lighter than steel, aluminum, and fiberglass yet can still meet demanding specifications.
Understanding the Pressure Forming Process
Pressure forming involves heating a single sheet of extruded thermoplastic to a softening point and applying pressure of up to 100 psi to force the material into a female tool. The next step is evacuating the air between the sheet and the mold.
The combination of pressure, the right material, and a well-designed, intricate mold can produce highly detailed parts matching those made from injection molding.
The Pressure Forming Innovator for nearly 40 Years
Profile Plastics specializes in providing highly cosmetic, close tolerance, pressure-formed parts to a wide array of OEM manufacturers.
In 1983, we produced our first pressure-formed part. Since then we’ve led the industry by continually improving both the process and the parts themselves. We’ve also built an exceptional team of experienced engineers who help optimize part designs for improved performance and cost-efficiency.
Along the way, we’ve demonstrated the following to thousands of customers: Pressure forming—with the appropriate tooling, detailed design, precision equipment, and quality control—can be an inherently better option than injection molding.