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Monday, March 29, 2010 12:42 AM
Ask the Engineer: Low-volume Enclosures
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Q: We need to make a low-volume enclosure for a medical device with annual quantities of 1000. Most of our experience has been with injection molded enclosures, but the tooling cost is prohibitively high for the volumes under consideration. What alternative processes might be available, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? A: There are many processes that might be contenders, but among the most attractive are the following: Thermoforming: A sheet of thermopl more...
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Friday, October 22, 2010 by
It really depends on the size, shape and complexity of the product as well as the end use and need to keep out body fluids. There are many "off-the-shelf" enclosures available on both in plastic and in metal. Extrusions are another way to keep the costs down while adding some unique shapes to the design - size is limited though. For larger items, I prefer sheetmetal. For the smaller parts many of the items discussed work well.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 by
HI Jeff,
I read your answer, and I couldn't help but wonder...couldn't the part be precision machined? Obviously that is what we do here at Connecticut Plastics, so that is why I am suggesting it. And I am not an engineer, but custom designed plastics parts in lots of 1,000 are common in our industry. And for that exact reason, the high cost of tooling for molded parts. Plastic machining is a low cost alternative for plastic components when the annual volume is low.
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