Research and development
We don’t just speak about innovation; we’re actively involved in research and development so that we are constantly in a position to provide our customers with new procedures. Moreover, cost efficiency and process safety are of central importance to our endeavours. The following three patented technologies are impressive examples of our wealth of invention. These were awarded with the GKV Technical Part Prize on several occasions.
folioWood
From raw veneer to high quality plastic components with an authentic wooden surface: Firstly, the veneer is clad with fleece on the reverse side and the surface is sanded. In combination with a PC-foil it can then be formed 3 dimensionally. The following IML process supplies end finished parts with protected authentic wooden surfaces, variable gloss grades and perceptible graining.
Advantages:
- 3-D Forming (Authentic wood!)
- Surface sealing
- Complete part with injection moulding
- Weight advantage
folioPlate
The new secret of partial chrome plating: Using the IML procedure, a galvanisable foil is formed, stamped and back moulded with a non-coatable plastic. In the subsequent galvanic bath, the metal attaches itself to the foil only and the rest of the part body remains free.Quantifiable advantage: 2-Component tools and costly masking technique become superfluous.
Advantages:
- Cool touch
- No masking or 2-component procedure
- Variant diversity through foil surface
- Reduction of typical error pattern
Wirelution
Advantages:
- weight saving
- smaller deflection radius than steel wire rope, more design freedom
(eg. folding monitor, window lift)
Granted: Kunststoff Helmbrechts is well known as a surface specialist, and with a concentrated charge in technical competence, the KH-team finds surprising solutions in quite unrelated fields as well. For example, “wirelution”, a high-tech rope with injection molded plastic elements that will replace technically utilized wire rope in the future. The advantages are obvious: A synthetic rope has less twisting radii than a wire rope, weighs less, doesn’t corrode and is substantially more robust compared with reverse bends.
On this basis, a customer from the automotive industry requested a plastic rope for utilisation and the KH-team around project manager, Michele Ettorre, began to develop. Twenty kilometres from Helmbrechts is the company Liros, designated experts for ropes and cables. Together they tested various rope materials, plastic and compound solutions; the goal being a force-locked join between rope and plastic.
Up till now plastic injection molding around ropes has been used solely for decorative purposes (e.g. bead curtain). Here, rope and beads have no need of any special properties. Wirelution requires considerably higher values in pull-off and breaking resistance. With simple overmolding around the rope, plastic elements achieve only an approximate 5% of the rope breaking load. For this reason the KH-team developed a, since patented process, with two metal pins and a two-step injection process. In this way the locking elements are securely fixed. At 400N the nipple begins to move slightly; 700N is required for the destruction of wirelution. Wirelution is now being applied in field experiments in order to gain more knowledge of its practical efficiency. Moreover, the KH-team hope for further interesting (development) projects.
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First of all, two wire-tacks... | then two discs... | in the end, the completed part. |
