How to make multi-coloured silicone products？
Introduction to multi-coloured silicone product
Silicone products are freely adjustable in colour. However, the difficulty of production varies according to the number of colors. Generally speaking the unit cost of a single-colour molded product is much lower than that of a multi-colour molded product. There are differences in the way the two are produced.
Silicone products are a common part of everyday production and life. They are used in a variety of industries such as mother and baby products, food packaging, gifts, kitchenware and many more. There is a wide range of products in the silicone products sector and the industry chain is complete and large.
Nowadays, silicone products are no longer a single colour product, most products on the market are more beautiful and colourful. This has led many of our purchasing friends to question the colourful silicone products. They are afraid of the quality of the colors and the various problems that may arise. But for those who don’t know much about silicone products, do you know how silicone products are coloured? Do you know its safety performance?
Silicone raw material is a transparent colour, colourless and odourless, and is a highly living material. It has strong absorption properties and does not conflict with any substance other than strong bases. But because silicone raw material must be kept in a variety of styles in the production process. This is why silicone manufacturers use colour master batches to add a variety of colors to their products to keep them from having a single appearance. The silicone master batch is formed by gathering silicon raw materials, silicone oil, colour powder and dispersing agents. The reason why silicone master batches are used to make silicone products is because of their stable performance. It is highly dispersed and evenly distributed on top of the product, environmentally friendly, non-toxic, non-polluting and does not expire in long-term storage.
When the colour is obtained, it needs to be put into the plate vulcanizing machine at high temperature in accordance with the proportional amount, and after a few minutes. According to the shape of the mould out of the finished product with a raw edge, in the process of high temperature forming, the general colour is not sent in any change.
High output Two and three colour silicone products are basically processed by secondary moulding. In the production of silicone products, the secondary colour body is first cured and molded by the silicone product processors. The colour pieces are then placed into the main colour body cavity for fixing and the main colour body material enters the secondary curing process. The product produced is not significantly different from the drip process.
Multi-coloured silicone product processing methods
In-mould printing processing is now a relatively popular processing process. It is mainly similar to heat transfer printing, where the product is used more gradually in the mould as a whole. The printed patterned cardboard is put into the mould and molded. The finished product has the same effect as a heat transfer, which is a transfer effect. This type of silicone product can be made in more than a dozen colors. Nowadays, many silicone accessories are made in this way!
Molds have a very big impact on silicone products. If the mould is not handled well, it may directly affect the quality of the whole product. The two-colour cascade has a certain impact on the mould, as the two-colour type products are produced in the secondary mould after being put into the main mould. So the dimensions of the product must match. There must not be too much difference in shrinkage and mould tolerance range. Even an error of 0.1mm can lead to colour crosstalk.
In addition to the molds, sometimes there are also problems with the machine or manual operation that lead to colour crosstalk.
Vulcanization of Multi-coloured silicone product
When vulcanizing silicone products, no release agent is generally used. They should be quickly loaded, molded and pressed, otherwise they will easily scorch. Transfer moulding is a common process for processing silicone rubber. Compared to single hole per mould flat vulcanization, it has the advantage of short processing cycles and the ability to vulcanize complex rubber parts, especially those with inserts and pins. The cost of the equipment is lower compared to press vulcanization. Injection vulcanization of molded products increases rest productivity and reduces rest intensity, while also reducing the amount of peroxide, increasing the tear resistance of the product and improving compression deformation, but the shrinkage of the product is greater.
The vulcanization time of silicone products is directly related to the quality of the product, when the vulcanization time is too short or too long, it will lead to bad products. If the vulcanization time is too long, the silicone products may be uncooked, and if the vulcanization time is too long, the products may bubble or burst.
Silicone products are generally molded using flatbed vulcanizing machines, 12-colour drip moulding machines, intelligent ovens and so on.
The flatbed vulcanizing machine plays an important role in the silicone product forming process and is indispensable.
