Midas Pattern Develops Moulded Top Cover For Tool
Midas Pattern has been selected by Oxford Instruments to assist in the development and manufacture of a moulded top cover for a compact, open-loading tool for plasma etch and deposition. Produced using reaction injection moulding (RIM), Oxford Instruments said the stylish covers are less than half the cost of an equivalent cover made from glass reinforced plastic (GRP).
Oxford Instruments' etch, deposition and growth systems provide process solutions for the micro and nanometre engineering of materials for semiconductor, optoelectronics, HBLED, photovoltaics, MEMS/microfluidics, high-quality optical coating and many other applications in micro and nanotechnology. The majority of units are supplied to research and development production facilities worldwide. Helping strengthen its market position further is the recent development of a new range of etching and deposition tools aimed at target sectors such as semiconductor electronics, energy and ICT.
David Pratt, design for manufacture and assembly engineer at Oxford Instruments, said: 'It was always our intention to design the Plasmapro NGP80 next-generation plasma system with manufacture in mind. 'We wanted modularity to be a major feature and we invited an industrial team to create a concept that would build on our brand,' he added. One of the major design requirements was that all moving parts must be covered. Coupled with the need for a stylish exterior, producing the customer-facing top cover would prove to be a challenge and called for the expertise of a specialist moulding company.
Pratt said: 'Traditionally, we would have used sheet metal or GRP covers, but the former are not cost-effective while the latter can be heavy and sometimes offer varying thickness. 'As a result we looked carefully at polyurethane mouldings, trying to find the perfect balance between tooling cost and component cost for our relatively low annual volumes. 'The RIM process offered by Midas proved to be the ideal solution. 'Not only would it halve our costs, we could also easily create the exact shape we required and achieve the low weight restriction necessary for a lift-up component, while also offering dimensional repeatability,' he added.
The cover measures around 800 x 800mm with a curved front, various side features and a number of tapers. A Step file was send to Midas Pattern, and GRP prototypes were quickly produced for initial sign-off regarding appearance and shape. Once the basic premise was approved, Midas was able to work on the finer detail, such as offering up ways for the cover to locate more precisely over the operator view port, all of which was in the line of draw.
With the tooling committed, other details such as the required paint finish and the incorporation of a screen-printed logo were finalised. Platt said: 'We've now had production covers from Midas, and the NGP80 is available on the market. 'The style and modularity of the machine has been well received and we are extremely happy with the input from Midas. 'The NGP80 will probably be the first of many units adopting a similar transition in the coming years.
Oxford Instruments' etch, deposition and growth systems provide process solutions for the micro and nanometre engineering of materials for semiconductor, optoelectronics, HBLED, photovoltaics, MEMS/microfluidics, high-quality optical coating and many other applications in micro and nanotechnology. The majority of units are supplied to research and development production facilities worldwide. Helping strengthen its market position further is the recent development of a new range of etching and deposition tools aimed at target sectors such as semiconductor electronics, energy and ICT.
David Pratt, design for manufacture and assembly engineer at Oxford Instruments, said: 'It was always our intention to design the Plasmapro NGP80 next-generation plasma system with manufacture in mind. 'We wanted modularity to be a major feature and we invited an industrial team to create a concept that would build on our brand,' he added. One of the major design requirements was that all moving parts must be covered. Coupled with the need for a stylish exterior, producing the customer-facing top cover would prove to be a challenge and called for the expertise of a specialist moulding company.
Pratt said: 'Traditionally, we would have used sheet metal or GRP covers, but the former are not cost-effective while the latter can be heavy and sometimes offer varying thickness. 'As a result we looked carefully at polyurethane mouldings, trying to find the perfect balance between tooling cost and component cost for our relatively low annual volumes. 'The RIM process offered by Midas proved to be the ideal solution. 'Not only would it halve our costs, we could also easily create the exact shape we required and achieve the low weight restriction necessary for a lift-up component, while also offering dimensional repeatability,' he added.
The cover measures around 800 x 800mm with a curved front, various side features and a number of tapers. A Step file was send to Midas Pattern, and GRP prototypes were quickly produced for initial sign-off regarding appearance and shape. Once the basic premise was approved, Midas was able to work on the finer detail, such as offering up ways for the cover to locate more precisely over the operator view port, all of which was in the line of draw.
With the tooling committed, other details such as the required paint finish and the incorporation of a screen-printed logo were finalised. Platt said: 'We've now had production covers from Midas, and the NGP80 is available on the market. 'The style and modularity of the machine has been well received and we are extremely happy with the input from Midas. 'The NGP80 will probably be the first of many units adopting a similar transition in the coming years.
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