estabilished 1948
estabilished 1948
Since its introduction in the 1930’s vacuum forming has grown to be one of the most relevant technologies within plastic manufacturing. No alternative process can match the low cost, ease of tooling, efficiency and speed of replication.
The Vacuum Forming process involves the heating of a sheet of plastic to forming temperature and then draping it over a mould. A vacuum is then applied which removes the air between the mould and the draped sheet, allowing the plastic to form to the required shape. Once cooled you are then left with the formed sheet, which then requires trimming of the excess plastic. The addition of holes, apertures or cutouts required for the finished part can be catered for on our 5 Axis CNC controlled trimming machine.
APH3G offer prototype one offs and short runs up to production quantities of many 1000’s. We work with all vacuum formable materials ranging from HIPS to Fire Retardant Polycarbonate and thicknesses ranging from 0,25mm up to 10mm. In addition many of our customers in the aerospace, defence, railway and automotive industries require specialist materials, as dictated by the application of the end product.
All tooling design and manufacture is conducted in house, either by CNC or using our skilled pattern makers. Dependant on the nature of the job, we can produce low cost tooling in various density model board materials for short batch runs from 1 off to 100’s off, through to fully water cooled aluminium tools for 1000’s off. All components can be trimmed on our 5 axis equipment utilising the latest Tebis software with off-line programming.
Paint finishes can be applied in house to achieve colours not readily available in sheet form, along with APH undertaking full assembly of vacuum formed parts together with client free issue parts and hardware sourced by us. Any assembly fixturing required are designed and built in house as well as checking/inspection fixtures to ensure compliance with our end users requirements.
Depending on the application of the end product APH3G can offer Vacuum formed components from the range of plastic materials listed below :
