MoldDesign Basics

The design of the mold assembly consists of two main design tasks:

Design of active components, which form the shape of the molded part.

Design of the mold base, which includes plates, guides, the cooling, injection and ejection systems and other mechanical systems, which locate or move the mold components.

These two tasks are closely related and may require frequent interaction as the shape; size and the general configuration of the active parts define and affect all the mold components and subsystems.

Unlike the active components of the mold, which are unique, a typical mold base consists of many standard parts that can be obtained from several manufacturers.

Convenient access to such catalogs, the ability to extend and modify them and an intelligent search and selection capabilities are critical elements of Cimatron's MoldDesign application.

The design of a mold consists of the following:

Adding the base (mold configuration)

Adding active parts and designing the layout.

Systems designing (cooling, injection, ejection)

Designing slider and lifter mechanisms

Adding standard catalog parts and sub-systems (screws, pins, etc.)

Designing and adding non-standard parts and sub-systems

Creating outputs (Drafting, NC, BOM)

The order in which these tasks are performed may vary from organization to organization; it may also vary according to the mold type.

The cost of a mold operation is determined by the amount of features, which determine what tooling will need to be used.

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