A method of encapsulating a panel of electronic components such as power converters reduces wasted printed circuit board area. The panel, which may include a plurality of components, may be cut into one or more individual pieces after encapsulation. The mold may be used to form part of the finished product, e.g. providing heat sink fins or a surface mount solderable surface. Interconnection features provided along boundaries of individual circuits are exposed during the singulation process providing electrical connections to the components without wasting valuable PCB surface area. The molds may include various internal features such as registration features accurately locating the circuit board within the mold cavity, interlocking contours for structural integrity of the singulated module, contours to match component shapes and sizes enhancing heat removal from internal components and reducing the required volume of encapsulant, clearance channels providing safety agency spacing and setbacks for the interconnects. Wide cuts may be made in the molds after encapsulation reducing thermal stresses and reducing the thickness of material to be cut during subsequent singulation. External mold features can include various fin configurations for heat sinks, flat surfaces for surface mounting or soldering, etc. Blank mold panels may be machined to provide some or all of the above features in an on-demand manufacturing system. Connection adapters may be provided to use the modules in vertical or horizontal mounting positions in connector, through-hole, surface-mount solder variations. The interconnects may be plated to provide a connectorized module that may be inserted into a mating connector. Reuseable plates may be used instead of the heat sink panels. Alternatively the panel may be encapsulated in and separated from a re-useable mold after curing.

A method of encapsulating a panel of electronic components such as power converters reduces wasted printed circuit board area. The panel, which may include a plurality of components, may be cut into one or more individual pieces after encapsulation with the mold forming part of the finished product, e.g. providing heat sink fins or a surface mount solderable surface. Interconnection features provided along boundaries of individual circuits are exposed during the singulation process providing electrical connections to the components without wasting valuable PCB surface area. The molds may include various internal features such as registration features accurately locating the circuit board within the mold cavity, interlocking contours for structural integrity of the singulated module, contours to match component shapes and sizes enhancing heat removal from internal components and reducing the required volume of encapsulant, clearance channels providing safety agency spacing and setbacks for the interconnects. Wide cuts may be made in the molds after encapsulation reducing thermal stresses and reducing the thickness of material to be cut during subsequent singulation. External mold features can include various fin configurations for heat sinks, flat surfaces for surface mounting or soldering, etc. Blank mold panels may be machined to provide some or all of the above features in an on-demand manufacturing system. Connection adapters may be provided to use the modules in vertical or horizontal mounting positions in connector, through-hole, surface-mount solder variations. The interconnects may be plated to provide a connectorized module that may be inserted into a mating connector.

Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a manifold for use in plastic injection molding, the method comprising additive manufacturing a melt distribution structure onto a manifold base plate, wherein the manifold base plate comprises a critical assembly feature.

There is provided a metal product having an internal space formed therein, allowing for improvements in the flow of a coolant in the internal space, such as a cooling channel and an increase in cooling efficiency, and a method of manufacturing thereof. The metal product includes a body part having a first space formed therein; a space formation member having a second space formed therein, mounted on the body part to be communicated with the first space; and a finishing part forming an exterior by covering the space formation member in a state in which the space formation member is mounted on the body part.

A process to increase the diameter of a core rod (1) of an injection mould for preforms, wherein the core rod (1) has a moulding surface (2) divided in a neck finish portion (3) and a preform body portion (4), comprises the steps of: a) grinding or milling a layer from the surface of the preform body portion (4) of the core rod, b) depositing a metallic compound onto the ground portion to make a coating, c) removing the excess of coating material to bring the coated surface to a predetermined superficial roughness and to diametrical dimensions greater than the original surface profile (14) to reduce the thickness of the lateral wall of the moulded preform.

Disclosed herein, amongst other things, is a gate and a related method of forming the gate, having structure and steps of providing a base of a first base material, the base having a gate area, adding a layer of a second material to the base in the gate area by an additive manufacturing process to form a metallurgical bond, wherein the second material has a characteristic that differentiates the second material from the first base material and modifying an inner surface in the gate area comprised of the second material to define the gate.

A method of manufacturing a part using a cutting machine includes placing a non-porous sheet on a surface of a material cutting machine, removing material from the non-porous sheet to form a plurality of sections of the part, and while the non-porous sheet is present on the material cutting machine, forming fastening holes within the sections. The method further includes removing the sections from a remainder of the sheet, placing the sections together such that each section of the part abuts another section, and inserting fasteners through the fastening holes of the sections.

A method of producing an injection molding tool for molding an article includes producing a replica of the article using at least one of an additive manufacturing process, a solid freeform fabrication process, or a computer numerically controlled (CNC) process. A support block is configured to receive at least a portion of the replica and support the replica with at least one of an outer peripheral surface of the replica or an inner peripheral surface of the replica positioned at a spaced distance from a peripheral surface of the support block. The replica is supported inside the support block at the spaced distance, a ceramic resin material is introduced into the spaced distance and cured to form a ceramic shell insert, the insert is removed from the cavity, and the insert is positioned within the support block to form a part of a mold tool adapted for installation in a standard plastic injection molding machine.

A unitary monolithically formed hot-runner apparatus having at least a manifold containment structure, a hot-runner manifold, at least one nozzle, and one or more spacers. In some embodiments, the manifold containment structure, hot-runner manifold, nozzle(s), and spacer(s) may be multi-material apparatuses of unitary monolithic construction. In other embodiments, a thermal expansion accommodation portion is provided for each nozzle to accommodate thermal growth. Each spacer may be formed of a material having a lower thermal conductivity than the materials of the hot-runner manifold and manifold containment structure and may be made to include a discontinuity to allow for thermal expansion.

A machine component is formed of a coalesced metal body of multiple zones of material having at least one high hardness surface, along with high yield strength and good thermal conductivity. The coalesced metal body can have a zone of steel and a zone of copper, and have a transition zone in which the zones of steel and copper coalesce. The coalesced metal body has a machined surface on the zone of steel on a first side of the coalesced metal body. The zone of copper has a proximal boundary disposed proximal to, and separated by, the zone of steel, from the machined surface. Also the zone of copper has a distal boundary distal to the machined surface and proximal to a second surface of the coalesced metal body.