The History of Plastic Injection Molding
Plastic injection molding is a very common manufacturing process in current manufacturing industry. As it gives high manufacturing efficiency, lower cost, and corrosion-resistant parts. It’s widely used for near every product. You can see plastic products around you like plastic container, cups, computer, tubes, gears, housing, etc.
But few of us know the history and development process since its invention. Let’s talk about something more about plastic injection molding history.
In 1868, An American named John Wesley Hyatt who put the plastic injection molding in application by developing a plastic material named celluloid, He improves on Parkes” invention so that it could be processed into finished shapes.
In 1872, John Wesley Hyatt and his brother Isaiah patented the first injection molding machine. Compared to today’s injection molding machine, it seems very crude and rough, which used a plunger to inject melted raw material through a pre-heated cylinder into a mold tooling. This type of injection molding machine worked very slow.
Until 1946, American James Watson Hendry builds the first plastic injection machine with extrusion screw device, which gives much high efficiency and injection quality. Meanwhile it allows multi-color and recycles plastic material to be used. In 1951, the first screw style of injection machine was invented, which had been using up to now as it’s not patented.
In 1970s, James Watson Hendry developed the first gas-assisted injection molding process, which allows complex of production, chamber products, and cools quickly. This greatly improved design product flexibility as well as reducing production time and cost.
Up to now, plastic injection molding is still a very basic manufacturing process for many industries. But there are less young people who are willing to work in the plastic injection molding industries in Europe and United States, but In some Asia countries(India, Vietnam, Cambodia), it’s still a popular occupation.
Anyway, if you still have some query on the history of plastic injection molding, please do feel free to contact Inno Molding team for help.
Useful Resources:
