But how do you get from this…

Part and Mold Design:

The biggest challenge in the creation of the Pokeball Toy was ensuring the molds were properly designed for the tools and machinery being used. We landed on a design in which two identical half-sphere shells would be joined by pins using a snap fit. This design allows for the easiest assembly of the parts. Each of the parts does not require specific orientation for assembly, due to the design of the ring. Several revisions were performed to rid any undercuts, side action, assembly errors, and other discrepancies between the molds for our parts. Additionally, each of the parts maintains a uniform thickness of 0.125 inches to reduce possibility of defects.

To this:

CNC Milling:

The molds for the parts were created using programmed g-code in NX, that was then taken to a CNC Mill. For each part, a core and a cavity were required, along with some molds needing extra milling to create runners, sprues, or other essential features. To guarantee an efficient milling process, the team verified that all molds and cavities were properly aligned for assembly, all tools were properly sharpened, axes were programmed properly, and all operations were running smoothly step by step.

Injection Molding:

Once the core and cavity for each part were finished, it was time to take them to the injection molding machine. By experimenting with cycle time, mold temperature, nozzle temperature, and nozzle pressure, the team was able to witness first hand the different affects various injection molding factors have on surface finish and deformities. For our particular design, we found that with our relatively thin walls that stretched all around the mold, injecting the plastic at a high temperature and heat allowed the mold to properly fill without defects, while keeping the mold at room temperature cooled the plastic so that it did not contract too greatly.