Selection Skills of TPE Coating Material
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Product details
For customers who are first exposed to TPE materials, it is often unclear in the communication process whether they are separately molded or encapsulated, especially for secondary injection molding. When recommending real encapsulated materials and fake encapsulated materials to customers, the prices are different, and the mold structure needs modification and coordination, which makes the customers even more difficult to understand.
TPE coating, also known as over-coating, is to coat soft TPE material onto other materials (usually plastic) by injection molding through injection molding equipment. Generally used processing methods include two-color injection molding machines for one-step molding, or ordinary injection molding machines for two-step injection molding using encapsulated molds. Encapsulation is one of the most important molding methods or applications of TPE. Through the encapsulation process, various functional characteristics of TPE materials can be fully displayed. Such as soft touch (e.g. handle handle equipment), anti-skid property (casters, coasters, anti-skid pads, foot pads), elasticity (e.g. keys), sealing property (e.g. composite material seals), other special functions (e.g. kitchen utensils with foldable storage function), etc. There are two different encapsulation mechanisms, commonly known as true encapsulation and false encapsulation, depending on the encapsulation structure of different products and the desired encapsulation effect.
TPE is really rubberized. Refers to the fusion bonding of the soft TPE and the hard plastic at the bonding surface (the position to be covered with glue). The mechanism of welding is that TPE and hard plastic have similar polarity and certain compatibility, so that when TPE is coated on the surface of hard plastic in molten state, it can fuse with hard plastic at the combined interface (the mechanism is somewhat similar to metal welding). The melting action occurs, the encapsulation molding is completed, the product is cooled down, the TPE and the hard plastic can be firmly formed into an integral component, and the TPE and the hard plastic are difficult to tear off by external force or can be torn off by great force, but the TPE material is damaged at the cost, and the whole TPE piece cannot be peeled off.
The mechanism of TPE true encapsulation is chemical compatible compounding, and the mechanism of false encapsulation is physical mechanical compounding. From the perspective of encapsulation firmness, of course, the real encapsulation effect is better than the fake encapsulation, but the TPE materials required for the real encapsulation usually cost more than the fake encapsulation. TPE and TPR are the most common soft adhesives used in real package, and the performances of TPE and TPR are also different according to the types and characteristics of hard plastics. Common hard plastics such as ABS,PA,PC,PC/ABS,PP,PS, etc. As the soft rubber for encapsulation, TPE,TPR, TPV,TPU,PVC, etc. are also used. However, TPE and TPR have unique soft touch, which makes them the best soft materials for encapsulation in most cases.
TPE false encapsulation. TPE and hard plastic or other materials do not need to be achieved through the above-mentioned sintering action. Use a suitable encapsulation structure, such as the integral encapsulation of the product, or make structural treatment to the hard product, such as adding holes and making some grooves at the edge of the encapsulation position, to enhance the bonding force between TPE and the hard product (also known as insert injection molding). Soft rubber TPE,TPR and metal coating belong to fake coating. TPE replaces rubber injection molding and encapsulating metal. Whether it can be encapsulated depends on the encapsulation structure. The higher the hardness of TPE, the more favorable it will be for encapsulation with metal.
