Molding Undercut with Collapsible Cores

Creating plastic parts having undercuts present distinctive challenges for molding operators. Undercuts represent recessions in a plastic part. These cuts make it difficult for the mold to slide away once the plastic part has been formed. These features prevent direct removal of the core, consequently making it essential to use an additional mold piece. A side core or internal core lifter can be used to form the desired shape. Custom core parts machining may be required for the process to get the core.


Use of undercut designs

  • These are used to create threaded parts, such as:
  • Snap-on products like lipstick containers
  • Screw-on bottle caps

·        And a variety of medical, automotive and consumer grade products

Threaded bottle caps have complexities with the undercuts. After the formation of caps, the threads of the part and threads of the core get intermeshed. This intermesh has to be disengaged before pulling out of the core and the cap eliminated from the mold.

How do collapsible cores help?

Collapsible cores have transformed the way undercut molding takes place. It has actually expanded the production capabilities with undercuts. Instead of using mechanical methods for unscrewing the parts, flexing steel cores provide greater flexibility by collapsing inward during the regular mold sequence. The process goes smooth and it doesn’t require relying on secondary operations and complex coring approaches. Additionally, it also reduces cycle-time and causes the process to be faster by around 30%.  

Plastic bottle cap manufacturing uses the technology to enhance the production with quality and accuracy. The collapsible core is attached to the ejector place and its tapered inner center remains fixed to the back of the mold. As the mold opens, threaded core collapses with the forward movement of the ejector plate.

This core parts machining have to be done carefully. The core has only three parts to allow construction of complex parts which were earlier impossible.

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