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In lugnet.lego.direct, Geoffrey Hyde writes:
>
>
> Ian Sinclair <sinclair@cadvision.com> wrote in message
> news:39643b6f.527169@mail.cadvision.com...
>
> > TLC wants to avoid changing molds as long as possible. Every time
> > that's done the injection machine must be purged, cleaned and the
> > molds changed. That is a lot of down time.
This sounds like one of the few things that could stop the flow of ABS, though
I doubt it's cleaned inside very often.
> 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.
>
> This suggests to me that perhaps their injection molding machines would be
> capable of automatically handling multiple colors one after the other.
>
> 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.
I totally agree. The unknown here seems to be how many pieces must go through
a mold before the new color completely (at least within tolerances) takes
over.
> > Therefore, you produce fairly large quantities of uncommon parts and
> > store them till needed on the set production runs.
The term "uncommon part" might be slightly misleading in this case if you
exclude color. While red 2x2x2 windows are plentiful, the other colors of that
piece are not. Thus it makes sense that colors can be switched on the fly, as
LD is offering them in white, whereas in that color they've been relatively
rare before.
> 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.
This might be the case, esp. with newer molding machines. Since the basic
bricks seem to be produced in quantities far surpassing other bricks, it might
make sense that a machine that usually produces 2x4 bricks, would produce them
most of the time, even though the color might change from time to time.
> 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.
Color still seems to be easier to change IMO rather than a mold, as I can
imagine that process would occur faster, as the machine would not have to
pause as long (if at all) in the changeover.
> 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 can't imagine any other process used today other than extrusion for some
pieces, esp. those. Some pieces are so detailed or complex that just pouring
in the plastic would take too much time for the plastic to fill all the sharp
little nooks and edging inside the molds by gravity alone. Yet, many light
saber pieces have bubbles in them. So apparently not all pieces are molded the
same or with the same tolerances.
> 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.
I would guess extrusion.
> I guess they would also recycle the excess ABS - if they
> used more than two parts in each mold the excess ABS could probably make
> another couple hundred worth of pieces, if they are able to reclaim and
> recycle it.
Perhaps some black pieces start their lives this way.
-Tom McD.
when replying, enjoy that ancient favorite British summertime treat today:
spamcake pudding!
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Bulk Sales in the 21st Century
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| Tom McDonald <radiotitan@yanospamhoo.com> wrote in message news:FxEoJG.Aq2@lugnet.com... (...) though (...) be (...) injection (...) through (...) Or do they have newer machines that simply flush out the old color with a bit of compressed air or (...) (24 years ago, 9-Jul-00, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.general)
| | | Re: Bulk Sales in the 21st Century
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| (...) I disagree. Consider the example of mold tooling that was built to the same form factor for the same machine. To change from one to the other requires merely a substitution of the tooling and a change in settings for amount of plastic to (...) (24 years ago, 10-Jul-00, to lugnet.lego.direct, lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Bulk Sales in the 21st Century
|
| 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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