Millions upon millions of plastic components are made every single year and that’s only going to increase as plastics continue to be developed and refined as a core manufacturing material.
While there are a variety of ways these products can be made, one of the most common is through plastic extrusion services. This manufacturing style makes long, continuous sheets of plastic that are formed into their specific part. The main piece of equipment for these services is a plastic extruder.
Plastic extruders are the lifeline for many companies, including Custom Profile. How exactly does it work? How does it work for you? What are common products made by a plastic extruder?
Custom Profile answers these questions and more while diving deep into the impact of this piece of important manufacturing equipment.
The Ins and Outs of a Plastic Extruder
A plastic extruder is the main piece of equipment companies like Custom Profile use to manufacture products every single day. This large machine operates under the watch of highly-trained and skilled professionals to ensure it’s operating correctly and components are high quality.
At its core, a plastic extruder is a machine that melts plastic pellets, or granules, and continuously moves the material through a custom-made die to create everyday plastic products.
There are a few key components to a plastic extruder.
Extruder Screw
This isn’t your household screw that a Phillips’ head can undo. Screws can range anywhere from 0.75 to 10 inches in most industrial machines. This screw is an essential part of a plastic extruder because this is what moves the melted plastic into the die.
Cooling Mechanisms
Not every plastic extruder contains the same set of cooling mechanisms, but regardless of type, they are important. They could either be air chillers where cool air is pushed through to settle the plastic or cooling tanks where the hot product is submerged into water to cool.
Metal Die
The metal die is what gives the melted plastic its shape. This component is a custom build and is unique to every project performed by a manufacturer.
How Does a Plastic Extruder Work?
While design and material selection are a key part of the process, the extruder has no physical impact on those two parts. However, collaboration with your extrusion partner will give the project the best chance of success as they can help optimize production and identify design constraints and material choices.
Feeding & Melting
Once part design and material selection are done, it’s onto the next part of the profile extrusion process.
The material of choice will be in the form of pellets or granules, which are fed into a hopper. The hopper is a channel that takes the pellets into an extruder barrel. This barrel contains a rotating screw that pushes the material forward. Built-in heating components begin to melt the pellets into a semi-solid state as they flow to the next stage of the manufacturing cycle.
Filtering
One of the built-in quality checks of the profile extrusion process is filtering. As the melted plastic moves through the plastic extruder, a screen and barrier plate remove any contaminants and allow for clean material to pass through.
It is worth noting that while not every company does this, it is typically performed during production.
Shaping
This is where the melted plastic transforms into the designed shape. As the melted pellets move throughout the extrusion machine, they flow through a designed die that’s custom-made to match the exact specifications of the design from the beginning of the process.
Cooling & Sizing
While there are multiple ways to cool products, the profile extrusion process often utilizes cooling tanks. Products have to be cooled down in order to solidify and this also helps with internal stress relief plus stabilize dimensions.
Cutting & Finishing
The final step of the profile extrusion process is to cut the continuous piece into its appropriate, pre-determined length. Depending on material selection, there are secondary services that can be applied such as thermoforming, assembly, and ultrasonic welding.
Common Products Made by a Plastic Extruder
Millions of products are manufactured from plastic extruders every single year. Ranging across various industries like construction and appliances to furniture and lighting, the impact of a plastic extruder machine is felt in many ways. Common examples include:
- Tubes
- Pipes
- Plastic sheets and film
- Weatherstripping
- Window frames
- Wire and cable insulation coatings
Custom Profile: Experts in Plastic Extruders and Extrusion Services
Custom Profile has been a trusted custom plastic extrusion company since 1992. With three locations across North America, including our Grand Rapids, Michigan, headquarters, we can serve the needs of customers from coast to coast.
Our experience as a plastic extruder-centric company has kept our doors open and created products that our customers are proud to use on a daily basis. Contact us today and see why Custom Profile is the right choice as a plastic extrusion company.