» FRIMO TECHCENTER
We support you in product development right from the start - worldwide.
BACK INJECTED ORGANO SHEETS
Strength in every fiber
Organo sheets are high-performance, semi-finished materials with carbon, glass, or aramid fiber fabrics embedded in a thermoplastic matrix. Our fully-developed Organo Sheet Injection process (OSI) features short cycle times for thermoplastic structural components that are not only considerably lighter, but that can also include many functions.
Additional functional elements can be integrated with back injection, including mounting eyes, weld domes/ribs, or targeted reinforcements, and the edges of the part can be perfected. The costs of handling and storage are significantly reduced through combining the processes in one step.
FRIMO OSI PRODUCTS
Organo Sheet Injection tooling and equipment
- Vertical presses
- Infrared ovens
- Robotic automation
- Integration of injection molding machines/equipment
- Customer-driven solutions
ORGANO SHEET INJECTION PROCESS
Forming and back injection in one step
During the FRIMO OSI process, the organo sheet is formed in the tool and back injected within a single step. This translates into noticeably shorter cycle times, tool savings, and therefore increased profitability.
- Organo sheet insertion from magazine, alignment, and feeding
- Heating via IR emitter
- Transfer to hybrid tool
- Organo sheet forming
- Back injection
- Release and removal
MULTIFUNCTIONAL TOOLING AND EQUIPMENT
Optimize cost and performance
Process combinations and functional element integration make back injected organo sheets attractive and efficient for innovative lightweight construction applications in many different industries. One example of this is clips used for the fuselage of the Airbus A350 XWB. Carbon fiber organo sheets replaced the typical aluminum design. The multitude of different geometries, of course, resulted in a multitude of tools. Because the fully-automated tool changes are integrated into the customer's data logs, thousands of different clips can be produced flawlessly and reproducibly in the shortest cycle time.
BACK PRESSING FOR D-LFT HYBRID STRUCTURES
Increased design freedom with optimal mechanical properties
Along with the established organo sheet back injection process, there are additional processes for making thermoplastic hybrid structures. Organo sheets or custom direct long-fiber thermoplastic UD tapes (D-LFT) can also be strengthened or functionalized with back pressing. Through the additional combination with D-LFT tapes, the advantages of both materials are brought out because their special flow behavior allows more design freedom. Rib structures or reinforcements can be formed and additional functions can be integrated through metal inserts.
With this new process, the lightweight potential of LFT applications for thermoplastic fiber reinforced structures can be fully recognized. An innovative tool design is the center of this process. The entire production process occurs in cycle times of less than one minute. Using a pressing process eliminates the need for hot runner technology in an injection molding process.
FRIMO ORGANO SHEET INJECTION ADVANTAGES
- Reliable process validation beforehand in the FRIMO TechCenter
- Tooling & equipment from a single source
- Fast process for structural components, short cycle times (approximately 60 seconds)
- Significant weight reduction (up to 30%)
- Better mechanical properties through fiber reinforcement
- Direct integration of functional elements (e.g. screws, inserts, weld areas) for assembly later on
- Fully-automated tool changes possible
- Compressed air (diaphragm) forming processes and variothermal direct processing possible
- Shuttle systems, e.g. from heating and compression stations
- Multifunctional machine technology for customer trials at the Institute for Plastics Technology in Aachen, Germany
- Over 5,000 reference tooling projects
