Hallink Moulds highlights labelless bottle, 3D printed molds

 Hallink Moulds Inc., a Cambridge, Ontario-based division of Big 3 Precision Products, is showcasing two new developments: a labelless bottle project and a new approach to 3D printed molds.

For the labelless bottle, Hallink created a mold with enhanced venting technology that allows detailed lettering to appear directly on the bottle surface. The project was developed for the Panamanian market and is now in commercial use for a spring water brand.

“It’s totally legible as far as all the different information, nutritional facts and so forth,” said Jason Warmington, general manager at Hallink. “It’s basically venting in the font. The design was done in Peru, but it was the technology and the mold that allowed the letters to be fully vented and show that detail.”

Warmington said the client had worked with Hallink in the past and returned with the challenge of producing a mold that could handle intricate lettering. Traditional pin-venting methods would have required too many holes, potentially compromising mold strength. Hallink’s new venting approach allowed venting for each individual letter, improving clarity and durability.

“We’ve done some experiments in the past where it wasn’t legible enough for certain markets,” Warmington said. “With this new technology, we could go back and improve on what we had done before.”

The company is also advancing its work with 3D printed molds. Hallink traditionally uses aluminum molds, but cost and lead times can be a barrier for customers. Its new system uses liquid 3D printing with specific materials, enabling molds to be printed overnight and shipped quickly.

While Hallink has worked with 3D printing for years, the ability to create one-off sample molds is a newer development. The focus is on reducing time to market and providing customers with more affordable options.

“Instead of doing a costly aluminum mold or a production mold that might cost $10,000, this option allows you to make a mold for $1,000 to $2,000,” Warmington said. “Whereas a lead cavity might take a week, with this printing technology we can do it in a day.

Hallink is still testing different materials to improve the durability of sample molds, but Warmington emphasized the purpose is not for production molds. Instead, the printed molds give customers a fast turnaround to see samples and validate designs before committing to full-scale production.

source : Plastics News