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> Maybe that is the case, but I've seen one report that the facilities they
> use are fed from a set of huge silos containing raw ABS materials in
> different colors for all the common elements they produce.
I'm sure that there is a feed system of pellets (most likely) to each
injection machine. Probably one gravity tube, that can possibly have
different colors fed into it.
> This suggests to me that perhaps their injection molding machines would be
> capable of automatically handling multiple colors one after the other.
Possibly, it would be nice to know. As some have said we often get
pieces with swirls of two colors, suggesting that they are changing
colors on the fly, and the mold either wasn't clean, or the previous
color had been flushed out completely.
> Basically, all that is needed is to spit out a small bit of ABS when
> changing over to a new color, to flush the old one out of the injection
> system. It might even be possible to have multiple colors at the injection
> point simultaneously, and just change colors on the fly or as demand for
> pieces dictates.
Maybe.
> This would probably be the case, but maybe they could also just switch the
> molds instead of the colors on a run. Quite feasible, have the old mold
> automatically slip out and the new one in, computerized routing
> automatically sends the parts to two or more designated bins for later
> removal and storage until needed.
Keeping the color the same and changing molds on the fly seems like a
possibility. Again, it would be nice to know the injectors
capabilities and setup.
> Or if two parts are needed in about the same quantities in two different
> sets, perhaps it could be automatically be programmed to switch back and
> forth from one to the other - I'd still reckon they'd favour just molding
> the entire production run in one or two large lots though.
Highly unlikely. They would finish as much product for a given run at
one go.
> I also wonder if any of the LEGO parts lend themselves to extrusion
> molding - especially those small connector pegs with holes through them.
> They look like a perfect candidate for extrusion molding at a first look.
> I'm also fairly certain that if nothing else, the axles they use are almost
> certainly extrusion molded. I noticed that some early axles do have a
> cutoff bump at one end of the axle where it gets separated from the sprue it
> would be on, but I haven't seen any such bumps in more recent axles, which
> would seem to suggest that they're either using extrusion molding for the
> axles, or are developing extremely accurate part separation machinery.
This is definitely possible, and quite likely for parts like the axels
you have mentioned.
> Probably - I've read that they only mold one or two parts in any given mold
> at any given time, don't know if this works the same way for large volume
> runs though.
I do know that one set of molds can make one, or many parts in one
cycle. Either all the same, or varied pieces. It depends on the
injection machine, its size, the size of the parts, the similarity
between parts (they can't be hugely different or the machines timing
will be impossible to set for both types of parts).
> Just some ideas I've picked up from reading and browsing the internet not
> too recently - it is of course entirely possible that these ideas are
> completely out-of-date by now. I'd love to see someone who's had a fair
> amount of experience in the molding business come into this discussion -
> would be nice to find out some hard data.
Geoffrey, I too would like to understand the capabilities and
processes better.
<ICS>
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Bulk Sales in the 21st Century
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| Ian Sinclair <sinclair@cadvision.com> wrote in message news:39643b6f.527169...ion.com... (...) Maybe that is the case, but I've seen one report that the facilities they use are fed from a set of huge silos containing raw ABS materials in different (...) (24 years ago, 6-Jul-00, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.general)
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