Thinwall: reducing the weight, size and cost of portable electronics by reducing the wall thickness of enclosures
✍ Scribed by Kurt Weiss
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1999
- Weight
- 243 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0261-3069
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
In recent design cycles, the average thickness for many portable electronic equipment applications made from engineering thermoplastics has dropped from 2.0 mm to 1.5 mm. Thinwall technology developed by GE Plastics can be used to reduce the wall thickness even more, which boosts productivity and permits more technically demanding designs that differentiate products. This paper will focus on key design development tools that GE Plastics has created as a result of work conducted by GE Plastics engineers at the Polymer Processing Development Center and the Advanced Design & Engineering team of the GE Plastics Innovation Center. With GE-developed engineering in Thinwall predictive impact and filling tools, combined with expertise in Ž . advanced processing technology high-speed sequential valve-gating which can maximize product performance and aesthetics, Thinwall technology is helping portable electronic designers and manufacturers achieve the full potential of this technology as a cost-reducing processing method, enabling faster cycle times and lighter weight parts using less material.