THE CHALLENGE

Mold lifters are supposed to help, not hinder, a production run. So when Uniphase Inc. encountered an issue with angled lifters on a new multi-cavity steel mold, they knew they had to act quickly to resolve the problem.

The custom injection molding and contract manufacturing company had started a high-volume program for one of its customers—a consumer packaged product made out of PC-ABS. But the side-ejection lifters kept pushing the parts out on an angle, causing them to stick to one side of the mold or the other.

“The tool wasn’t allowing the part to fall,” said Dave Granquist, Uniphase, general manager.

With two eight-cavity molds, each with 16 lifters, the sticking issue would bring a whole cycle to a halt.

“When you’re running well over a million parts, you can’t be stopping to pull the parts out,” said Granquist, even if you’re employing robotics like Uniphase does.

Adding more draft wasn’t an option. So Uniphase looked to Bales, as it does when facing a tough challenge like this one.

THE SOLUTION

The Bales team advised Uniphase that coating the molds with Bales’ proprietary NIBORE™ coating could solve the sticking problem. A combination of Nickel Boron Nitride, NIBORE™ offers corrosion and oxidation protection equal to Electroless Nickel, with added lubricity and wear resistance.

A test run with just one cavity coated in NIBORE™ proved successful. The part released clean from the mold.

THE RESULT

Applying NIBORE™ to the rest of the molds ensured Uniphase could get back to business.

“We were able to deliver on time,” Granquist said. “Bales enabled us to have a successful program. They are a quality company. We like to work with somebody we can trust.”