In-Mold Decoration
For special surfaces
Automotive manufacturers will love this: Custom surfaces with tactile designs, and deceptively real looks of leather or ebony without wasting valuable natural resources. With In-Mold Decoration, shape and decoration are created in one go. Today even single-frame decorations with a side length of over 1,000 millimeters can be transferred to plastic surfaces with high precision. The highly efficient In-Mold Dekoration process improves the carbon footprint thanks to thin-film technology and all-in-one process. What’s more, IMD also works for recycled materials. Surfaces finished with IMD can be easily recycled again. Impress your customers with unique and sustainable designs that feel fantastic. Backlighting, shy tech design and touch functions add additional highlights on request.
Process: In-Mold Decoration
- A film feed device such as the IMD SI DUO is installed on the injection molding machine.
- This device has sensors that ensure the high-precision pass-through of the register-marked carrier material and the IMD coating on it. This ensures that the decorative motifs are perfectly aligned and applied.
- Together with the plastic compound, the substrate with the attached decorative motif is pressed directly onto the wall of the cavity during the injection molding process.
- Due to the temperature in the machine, the super-fine design layer dissolves from the substrate and is transferred and adhered to the plastic surface.
- Characteristic of the technological refinement of the technique is, above all, the fact that as a new aesthetic variant of In-Mold Decoration (IMD), plastic surfaces with a soft finish you can see and feel can now also be created. This gives plastic completely new haptic qualities and can inspire buyers with a special sensual experience.
Today even single-frame decorations with a side length of over 1,000 millimeters can be transferred to plastic surfaces with high precision using IMD technology.
Why haptic effects will change plastic surfaces:
- Fabric, leather, and wood designs are given a tangible component and thus become deceptively real
- Soft touch designs also optimize the sound of plastic surfaces, or similar
- Touch user interfaces supporting the shy tech design are highlighted in a tactile and intuitive way
- Design for Recycling: The recyclability of the decorated components remains fully intact
- Thanks to the use of digital technology, tangible effects can be customized and promote special editions
- High levels of surface protection against scratches, abrasion, UV radiation
- Suitable for different types of plastic
- Can be used for recycled plastic materials
