TWI761990B - Manufacturing method of rapid mold with reinforced structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a rapid mold with a reinforced structure. The manufacturing method includes steps A to F. In step A, an intermediate mold is made from the prototype surface of the prototype workpiece by a reproducing method. In step B, the intermediate mold is placed in the mold frame, and the reprinted surface corresponding to the prototype surface is opened to the outside. In step C, the composite material coated on the inner surface of the mold frame and the reprinted surface is heated and cured to form a surface layer structure. In step D, the reinforcing structure is arranged in the mold frame and abuts against the surface layer adhering surface of the surface layer structure. The mechanical strength of the reinforced structure is better than the mechanical strength of the composite material after curing. Step E: After pouring the composite material into the mold frame, heating to solidify the composite material to form a main mold body covering the reinforcing structure. Step F: Move the surface structure, the main mold body and the intermediate mold out of the mold frame, and separate the combination of the surface structure and the main mold body from the intermediate mold to complete the production of the rapid mold.

Description

Manufacturing method of rapid mold with reinforced structure

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a mold, in particular to a method for manufacturing a rapid mold made of curable composite materials.

With the rapid changes in market demand, the life cycle of newly developed products is shortened. In order to meet market demand and enhance the competitive advantage of new products in the market, the development cycle of new products must be shortened in the field of product development. Therefore, in the field of new products In the development process of a new product, the rapid trial production of new products is usually completed by using a rapid mold that is inexpensive and easy to manufacture. Existing rapid molds are most commonly made of metal resin prepared by mixing epoxy resin and aluminum powder. However, rapid molds made of metal resin are prone to injection molding in the process of trial production of sample products. The pressure is too large, which leads to rapid mold deformation, which causes the problem of flashing of the sample product.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a rapid mold with a reinforced structure that can withstand pressure and is not easily deformed.

Thus, the rapid die with reinforced structure of the present invention is suitable for making a replica of a prototype workpiece. The prototype workpiece has a prototype surface for reproduction. The rapid mold includes a main mold body and a strengthening structure. The main mold body includes a main body forming surface. The body forming surface is adapted to complement the shape of the prototype surface. The reinforcement structure is arranged in the main mold, and the mechanical strength of the reinforcement structure is superior to that of the main mold the mechanical strength of the body.

In some embodiments, the rapid mold further includes a skin structure. The surface layer structure covers the periphery of the main mold body, and includes two opposite surfaces, a surface layer adhering surface and a surface layer forming surface. The surface layer adhering surface is abutted against and combined with the main body molding surface. The skin forming surface is adapted to complement the shape of the prototype surface.

In some embodiments, the thickness of the surface structure is 5 mm to 10 mm.

In some embodiments, the reinforcement structure is similar in shape to the main motif.

In some embodiments, the reinforcement structure includes a plurality of base units arranged in a stacked manner.

In some embodiments, the cross-section of each base unit is hexagonal, so that the reinforcing structure exhibits a honeycomb structure.

In some embodiments, the cross-section of each base unit is X-shaped, so that the reinforcing structure presents a rib-shaped structure.

In some embodiments, the longitudinal section of each base unit is triangular, so that the reinforcement structure is presented as a truss structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing the aforementioned rapid mold.

Therefore, the manufacturing method of the rapid mold with the reinforced structure of the present invention is carried out by a prototype workpiece and a mold frame. The prototype workpiece has a prototype surface for reproduction. The manufacturing method includes the following steps:

A step (A), using a reproducing method to make a prototype surface of the prototype workpiece Intermediate mold. The intermediate mold has a reprint surface corresponding to the prototype surface.

In a step (B), the intermediate mold is set in the mold frame, and the reprinted surface is opened to the outside.

In step (C), after coating a curable composite material on the inner surface of the mold frame and the reprinted surface of the intermediate mold, heating the composite material to solidify to form a surface layer structure. The surface layer structure includes two opposite surfaces, a surface layer adhering surface and a surface layer forming surface. The skin forming surface is complementary to the shape of the reprint surface.

In a step (D), a reinforcing structure is disposed in the mold frame and abutted on the surface layer bonding surface. The mechanical strength of the reinforced structure is better than the mechanical strength of the composite material after curing.

In a step (E), after the composite material is poured into the mold frame, the composite material is cured by heating to form a main mold body covering the reinforcing structure. And the main mold body is attached to the surface layer adhering surface of the surface layer structure.

In a step (F), the surface structure, the main mold body and the intermediate mold are removed from the mold frame, and the combination of the surface structure and the main mold body is separated from the intermediate mold to complete the production of the rapid mold .

In some embodiments, the step (D) is to arrange a plurality of base units in a stacked manner to form the strengthening structure.

In some embodiments, the step (D) is to arrange and stack the base units according to the similar shape of the main pattern, so that the reinforcement structure exhibits a cis-shape of the main pattern.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing the aforementioned rapid mold.

Thus, the present invention has a method for manufacturing a rapid mold with a reinforced structure, by means of a mold frame and a prototype workpiece having a prototype surface for reprinting, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps:

In a step (A), an intermediate mold is fabricated from the prototype surface of the prototype workpiece by a reproducing method. The intermediate mold has a reprint surface corresponding to the prototype surface.

In a step (B), the intermediate mold is set in the mold frame, and the reprinted surface is opened to the outside.

In a step (D), a reinforcing structure is disposed in the mold frame and abutted on the reprinted surface.

In a step (E), after pouring a curable composite material into the mold frame, heating to solidify the composite material to form a main mold body covering the reinforcing structure. The main mold body has a main body forming surface complementary to the imprinting surface. The body forming surface is adapted to complement the shape of the prototype surface. Wherein, the mechanical strength of the reinforced structure is better than the mechanical strength of the composite material after curing.

In a step (F), the main mold body and the intermediate mold are removed from the mold frame, and the main mold body and the intermediate mold are separated to complete the production of the rapid mold.

The effect of the present invention is that: by covering the reinforcement structure with the main mold body, a rapid mold that can be used to imitate the prototype workpiece is obtained, and at the same time, the mechanical strength of the reinforcement structure is superior to that of the main mold body, so , the overall mechanical strength of the rapid mold can be improved, and therefore, the purpose of pressure resistance and less deformation during the injection molding process of the rapid mold can be achieved. In addition, by covering the periphery of the main mold body with the surface layer structure of the same material as the main mold body, the reinforcing structure of the fast mold can be prevented from being exposed on the surface of the mold, so that the surface of the fast mold can be integrated Formed structure without seams. In this way, when the rapid mold is used in the injection molding process, the injection molding high-pressure plastic can be prevented from being separated from the seam by the seam. In the case of overflow, the purpose of pressure resistance and not easy to deform can also be achieved.

100: Quick Die

1: Main Motif

11: Main body molding surface

2: Strengthen the structure

21: Base unit

3: Surface structure

31: Surface bonding surface

32: Surface molding surface

5: Prototype Artifacts

51: Prototype Surface

6: Simple mold

7: Intermediate mold

71: Reprint Surface

8: Mold frame

(A) to (F): Steps

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic view illustrating the correspondence between an embodiment of a rapid mold having a reinforced structure of the present invention and a prototype workpiece 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the manufacturing process of this embodiment; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a step (A) of the manufacturing process of this embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the manufacturing process of this embodiment. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a step (C) of the manufacturing process of this embodiment; Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a step (D) of the manufacturing process of this embodiment; Fig. 7 is a A schematic diagram illustrating a step (E) of the manufacturing process of this embodiment; FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a step (F) of the manufacturing process of this embodiment; and FIG. Another embodiment of the manufacturing process.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 8 , it is an embodiment of the rapid mold 100 having the reinforcing structure 2 of the present invention. The rapid die 100 is suitable for making a replica of a prototype workpiece 5 . The prototype workpiece 5 can be any object structure and has a prototype surface 51 for reproduction. That is, a replica of the prototype workpiece 5 can be produced by using the rapid mold 100 and the injection molding process.

The rapid mold 100 includes a main mold body 1 , a reinforcement structure 2 and a surface layer structure 3 . the master The mold body 1 includes a main body forming surface 11 . The body molding surface 11 is adapted to complement the shape of the prototype surface 51 . In this embodiment, the material of the main mold body 1 is a curable composite material (not shown), such as metal resin. Specifically, the material components of the metal resin include epoxy resin and aluminum. Among them, the composition ratio of epoxy resin accounts for 20%~30% of the metal resin, and the composition ratio of aluminum accounts for 70%~80% of the metal resin. In the present embodiment, the main mold body 1 is illustrated as a metal resin composed of epoxy resin with a composition ratio of 15% and powdered aluminum with a composition ratio of 85%.

The reinforcement structure 2 is disposed in the main mold body 1 and includes a plurality of base body units 21 stacked on each other. In this embodiment, the material of the reinforcing structure 2 is hemp-aging steel. However, the material of the reinforcement structure 2 can also be high hardness materials such as stainless steel, high temperature alloy steel, aluminum alloy steel, magnesium aluminum alloy steel or ceramic materials, so that the mechanical strength of the reinforcement structure 2 is better than that of the main mold body 1 Mechanical strength is not limited to a specific material.

In this embodiment, the base units 21 are fabricated by 3D printing, so that the fineness of the base units 21 ranges from 10 μm to 50 μm, and at the same time, the minimum structure of the base units 21 is achieved. The size is 1 cubic millimeter. In addition, there are three types of structure of the reinforcement structure 2 in total. One of the types is the honeycomb structure, which is formed by stacking and arranging the base units 21 with a hexagonal cross section. The second type is a rib structure, which is formed by stacking and arranging the base units 21 with an X-shaped cross section. The last type is the truss structure, which is formed by stacking and arranging the base units 21 with a triangular longitudinal section. In this embodiment, the reinforcing structure 2 is an example of a honeycomb structure formed by stacking and arranging the hexagonal base units 21. Through this specially designed mechanical structure (eg honeycomb structure), the energy per unit area can be increased. Bearing pressure, so that the main mold clad in the reinforcement structure 2 The mechanical strength of the body 1 is superior to that of the main mold body 1 without the reinforcement structure 2 , so that the purpose of the rapid mold 100 being pressure-resistant and not easily deformed can be achieved.

At the same time, the reinforcement structure 2 is similar to the main model body 1 . That is to say, the reinforcing structure 2 may be a similar structure whose shape is similar to that of the main mold body 1 which is scaled down, or a miniaturized structure whose shape is slightly different. In this way, the thickness from the surface of the main mold body 1 to the reinforcement structure 2 is uniform, and the stress borne by the main mold body can be uniformly dispersed to the reinforcement structure 2, thereby increasing the pressure resistance of this embodiment. More specifically, the rapid mold 100 can adjust the shape design of the reinforcing structure 2 by changing the structural shape of the base units 21 or changing the arrangement and stacking of the base units 21, so that the mechanical strength of the rapid mold 100 can be adjusted. is controllable. The purpose of adjusting the mechanical strength of the rapid mold 100 can also be achieved by adjusting the size of the reinforcing structure 2 or the material of the reinforcing structure 2 .

The surface layer structure 3 covers the periphery of the main mold body 1 and includes two opposite surfaces, a surface layer bonding surface 31 and a surface layer molding surface 32 . The surface layer adhering surface 31 is abutted against and combined with the main body molding surface 11 . The surface molding surface 32 corresponds to the shape of the main body molding surface 11 and is adapted to be complementary to the shape of the prototype surface 51 , so that when the rapid mold 100 is used in the injection molding process, the surface molding surface 32 can be manufactured to be complementary to the surface molding surface 32 and corresponding to the shape of the prototype surface 51 . The finished product of the prototype surface 51 to complete the production of a replica of the prototype workpiece 5 . When the size of the rapid mold 100 is 50 mm to 300 mm, the thickness of the surface layer structure 3 is 5 mm to 10 mm. Within this thickness range, the surface layer structure 3 can be fabricated by coating. , and the thickness of the surface layer structure 3 is not more than 12.5% relative to the length, width and height of the reinforcement structure 2, so that the mechanical strength of the rapid mold 100 can be regulated on the premise that the surface layer structure 3 is not easily damaged. In this embodiment, the thickness of the surface layer structure 3 is 5 mm, and the length, width and height of the reinforcement structure 2 are all determined by the surface layer structure. An example of eight times the thickness of the structure 3 can make the rapid die 100 have better mechanical strength. However, when the size of the rapid die 100 is greater than 300 mm, the length, width and height of the reinforcing structure 2 can be made less than eight times the thickness of the surface structure 3, and the mechanical properties of the rapid die 100 can also be adjusted. strength, so that the rapid mold 100 has better mechanical strength.

It is worth mentioning that, in another implementation aspect of this embodiment, the surface layer structure 3 can be omitted. In this embodiment, the rapid mold 100 includes the main mold body 1 and the reinforcement structure 2 . The main molding surface 11 of the main mold body 1 is adapted to be complementary to the shape of the prototype surface 51 , so that when the rapid mold 100 is used for injection molding, it can also be made complementary to the surface molding surface 32 and corresponding to the prototype surface 51 to complete the production of a replica of the prototype workpiece 5.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the manufacturing process of this embodiment is shown. The manufacturing method of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8 .

Referring to FIG. 3 , a step (A) is first performed: an intermediate mold 7 is fabricated from the prototype surface 51 of the prototype workpiece 5 by a reproducing method. In the reproducing method, a simple mold 6 is first reproduced through the prototype workpiece 5 and a mold frame 8 , or the simple mold 6 whose outline and shape complement the prototype surface 51 can be directly produced by 3D printing. The material of the simple mold 6 is a plasticized material with low hardness, such as ABS resin (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) or polylactic acid (Polylactic Acid). In particular, the simple mold 6 includes an upper mold (not shown) and a lower mold (not shown), and the upper mold and the lower mold can be matched with each other to form a complete contour complementary to the outer surface of the prototype workpiece 5 . Therefore, the following description of the manufacturing method of the quick die 100 is only taken as an example of manufacturing one of the upper die and the lower die corresponding to the simple die 6 , and the method of manufacturing the quick die 100 corresponding to the other is complete. are the same, and thus will not be repeated. Next, the simple mold 6 is placed in the mold frame 8, and a curable material prepared with a weight ratio of silicone glue and a hardener of 10:1 is poured into the mold frame 8, and the curable material is cured by heating. The intermediate mold 7 as shown in FIG. 3 is produced. The intermediate mold 7 has a surface profile complementary to the simple mold 6 and corresponding to the reprint surface 71 of the prototype surface 51 . In this embodiment, the material of the intermediate mold 7 is silicone, which can make the intermediate mold 7 easier to separate during the demolding process. Next, the intermediate mold 7 and the simple mold 6 are removed from the mold frame 8 , and the intermediate mold 7 and the simple mold 6 are separated to complete the fabrication of the rapid mold 100 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , a step (B) is performed next: the intermediate mold 7 is placed in the mold frame 8 , and the reprinting surface 71 is opened to the outside.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a step (C) is then performed: coating the curable composite material (the aforementioned metal resin) with a coating thickness of 5 mm on the inner surface of the mold frame 8 and the intermediate mold 7 The reprinted surface 71 is then heated at 60-80 degrees Celsius for 1 hour to cure the composite material to form the surface layer structure 3 . The surface layer structure 3 includes two opposite surface layer adhering surfaces 31 and the surface layer forming surface 32 . The skin forming surface 32 is complementary to the shape of the reprint surface 71 . In this step, the surface layer structure 3 is fabricated to limit the reinforcement structure 2 in the next step.

Referring to FIG. 6 , a step (D) is then performed: firstly, the base units 21 are fabricated by 3D printing, and the structure, shape, stacking method and quantity of the base units 21 can be adjusted according to the design of the rapid mold 100 . . Then, the base units 21 are arranged in a stacked manner to form the reinforcement structure 2 . As shown in FIG. 6 , in FIG. 6 , the base units 21 are shown in a grid with several layers stacked in a staggered arrangement and with hatching lines, and the reinforcement structure 2 is composed of the hexagonal base units 21 . The voids in the structure are shown as blank squares in FIG. 6 . In the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the base units 21 are arranged in similar structures with shapes similar to the main mold body 1 , so that the reinforcement structure 2 presents a conformal shape of the main mold body 1 . That is to say, the conformal shape is a shape in which the outer contours of the surface structure 3 and the mold frame 8 are shrunk by about 70%-80%. Next, the reinforcing structure 2 is arranged in the mold frame 8 and abuts against the surface layer adhering surface 31, so that the reinforcing structure 2 is limited by the surface layer structure 3 and placed in the middle of the mold frame 8, It can be avoided that the reinforcement structure 2 is exposed outside the surface structure 3 .

Referring to FIG. 7 , a step (E) is then performed: the composite material, which is degassed in a vacuum environment (pressure 50Pa) for 15 to 30 minutes and is of the same material as the main mold body 1 , is poured into the mold frame 8 , so that the composite material fills the gaps between the base units 21 to strengthen the mechanical strength of the rapid mold 100 . As shown in FIG. 7 , the voids in the structure formed by the hexagonal base units 21 of the reinforcement structure 2 are filled with blank squares by hatching lines in FIG. 7 to indicate that the composite material is filled with the mold frame 8 , And form the main model body 1 . After that, the mold frame 8 containing the composite material is placed in a vacuum environment for about 5 to 10 minutes, so that the air bubbles in the composite material are released from the vacuum environment, and the vacuum defoaming process is repeated until the air bubbles no longer emerge, ensuring that After subsequent curing, the rapid mold 100 will not cause the problem of insufficient structural strength due to air bubbles. Then, the composite material is cured by heating to form a main mold body 1 covering the reinforcing structure 2 . And the main mold body 1 is attached to the surface layer bonding surface 31 of the surface layer structure 3 . In the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the heating and curing conditions of the composite material are to perform preliminary curing by heating at 25 degrees Celsius for 24 hours to 48 hours. Next, heating at 100 degrees Celsius for 1 hour for secondary curing, and then heating at 150 degrees Celsius for 1 hour to 2 hours for post-hardening treatment, so that the rapid mold 100 further improves the mechanical strength.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 8, a step (F) is finally performed: the surface layer structure 3, the main mold The body 1 and the intermediate mold 7 are removed from the mold frame 8 , and the combined body of the surface structure 3 and the main mold body 1 is separated from the intermediate mold 7 to complete the fabrication of the rapid mold 100 . Repeating this step (A) to this step (F) can respectively make two rapid molds 100 corresponding to the upper mold and the lower mold, and through the combination of these rapid molds 100 can be manufactured by the injection molding process as shown in the figure. A replica of the prototype workpiece 5 shown at 1.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 9 , the manufacturing process of another implementation of this embodiment is shown. The manufacturing process of this embodiment is similar to the manufacturing process of the aforementioned embodiment of FIG. 2 , and the main difference is that in the manufacturing process of this embodiment, the step (C) is omitted, that is, the step (C) is omitted. Fabrication of Surface Structure 3. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the reinforcement structure 2 is disposed in the mold frame 8 in the step (D), the reinforcement structure 2 is abutted against the printing surface 71 . And in this step (E), the main mold body 1 has the main body molding surface 11 complementary to the reprint surface 71 , and the main body molding surface 11 is adapted to be complementary to the shape of the prototype surface 51 . Finally, in this step (F), only the main mold body 1 and the intermediate mold 7 are moved out of the mold frame 8 , and the main mold body 1 and the intermediate mold 7 are separated to complete the production of the rapid mold 100 . In this way, the quick die 100 only includes the main die body 1 and the reinforcement structure 2 , and the purpose of the quick die 100 being pressure resistant and not easily deformed can also be achieved.

To sum up, by wrapping the main mold body 1 on the reinforcement structure 2 , a rapid mold 100 that can be used to imitate the prototype workpiece 5 is obtained, and at the same time, the mechanical strength of the reinforcement structure 2 is superior to that of the main mold body 1 . In this way, the overall mechanical strength of the rapid mold 100 can be improved, and therefore, the purpose of the rapid mold 100 being pressure-resistant and not easily deformed during injection molding can be achieved. In addition, by covering the periphery of the main mold body 1 with the surface layer structure 3 of the same material as the main mold body 1, the reinforcing structure 2 of the rapid mold 100 can be prevented from being exposed on the surface of the mold, so that the rapid The surface of the mold 100 is integrally formed structure without seams. In this way, when the rapid mold 100 is used in the injection molding process, it can avoid the situation that the injection-molded high-pressure plastic overflows from the seam, and also achieves the purpose of the rapid mold 100 being pressure resistant and not easily deformed, so it can indeed be achieve the purpose of the present invention.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention, and should not limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the contents of the patent specification are still included in the scope of the present invention. within the scope of the invention patent.

100: Quick Die

1: Main Motif

11: Main body molding surface

2: Strengthen the structure

21: Base unit

3: Surface structure

31: Surface bonding surface

32: Surface molding surface

5: Prototype Artifacts

51: Prototype Surface

Claims (4)

A method of manufacturing a rapid mold with a reinforced structure is carried out by a prototype workpiece and a mold frame, the prototype workpiece having a prototype surface for reprinting, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps: a step (A), using a reproduction The method uses the prototype surface of the prototype workpiece to make an intermediate mold, the intermediate mold has a reprint surface corresponding to the prototype surface; a step (B), the intermediate mold is arranged in the mold frame, and the reprint is made. The surface is open to the outside; a step (C), after coating a curable composite material on the inner surface of the mold frame and the reprinted surface of the intermediate mold, heating to solidify the composite material to form a surface layer structure, the The surface layer structure includes two opposite surface layer adhering surfaces and a surface layer forming surface, the surface layer forming surface is complementary to the shape of the reprinted surface; a step (D), disposing a reinforcing structure in the mold frame, and abutting on the The mechanical strength of the reinforced structure is better than the mechanical strength of the composite material after the surface layer is attached to the surface; in a step (E), after the composite material is poured into the mold frame, the composite material is cured by heating to form a package The main mold body covering the reinforcement structure, and the main mold body is attached to the surface layer adhering surface of the surface layer structure; and a step (F), the surface layer structure, the main mold body and the intermediate mold are moved out of the mold frame , and separate the combination of the surface layer structure and the main mold body from the intermediate mold to complete the production of the rapid mold. The method for manufacturing a rapid mold with a reinforced structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step (D) is to arrange a plurality of base units in a stacked manner to form the reinforced structure. The method for manufacturing a rapid mold with a reinforced structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the In step (D), the base units are arranged and stacked on each other according to the similar shape of the main pattern body, so that the reinforcement structure exhibits a cis-shape shape of the main pattern body. A method for manufacturing a rapid mold with a reinforced structure, using a mold frame and a prototype workpiece, the prototype workpiece having a prototype surface for reprinting, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps: a step (A), using a reproducing method Using the prototype surface of the prototype workpiece to make an intermediate mold, the intermediate mold has a reprint surface corresponding to the prototype surface; a step (B), the intermediate mold is arranged in the mold frame, and the reprint surface is made open to the outside; a step (D), disposing a reinforcing structure in the mold frame, and abutting on the reprinted surface; a step (E), pouring a curable composite material into the mold frame after , heating to solidify the composite material to form a main mold body covering the reinforcing structure, the main mold body having a main molding surface complementary to the reprinted surface, and the main molding surface is suitable for complementing the shape of the prototype surface, wherein, the mechanical strength of the reinforcing structure is better than the mechanical strength of the composite material after curing; and a step (F), removing the main mold body and the intermediate mold from the mold frame, and removing the main mold body and the intermediate mold separation to complete the making of this quick mold.

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