In-mold decoration

One of our special production methods is called “press molding” of carbon fiber ( or similar ) shell parts. Over the last years we have refined this technology by introducing a decorative top layer during the molding process. This technology can best be compared with injection molding in-mold or insert molding. This surface layer has many advantages.

        • It guarantees the surface quality and aesthetics reproduceability of the part, bringing the surface void content to zero and coping with eventual resin rich areas.
        • This surface layer can be colored and this decoration is transferred into the product during molding. The result is a high quality aesthetic product. The decoration is under the skin thus highly resistant to abrasion and carving.  The mold surface effects ( sanding, gloss, laser or etching effects) are also transferred into this surface layer and this will allow us to make parts with surface effects not feasible by painting or other technologies.
        • The surface layer also gives the part an increase in toughness which increases the impact resistance of the part. In case of failure the part will not have cutting edges.
        • The final advantage of this surface layer is that it allows for plastic over-injection with seamless edges. The injected polymer will weld with this surface layer which can also be applied on the back of the part.

The combination between press molding with this decorative surface layer and injection molding is very suitable for the production of automotive interior parts (interior TRIM) in which the carbon fiber inserts will be visible and seamlessly integrated with the polymer part.  In many cases this the over-injection can be done starting from flat sheets without the need for pre-forming and routing the composite insert. This will allow for a drastic reduction of the production cost of the part.

In January 2016 Dynafit has launched the all new TLT7 alpine ski boot. This boot has won the ‘ISPO award 2016“. In this product both above described technologies have been applied.