To provide products that meet the needs of our customers, we use a variety of materials to mold parts ranging from large to small sizes. Customer requests for molding lead to opportunities for us to enhance our molding expertise and expand the range of molding in Monozukuri. We select from a variety of molding methods such as injection, compression, blow, surface, vacuum, two-color, foam, powder slush, and the like and deliver the products to our customers.
Substrate Molding
We build expertise on advanced molding technology, molds, and machines to achieve high cycle speeds and high product quality. In addition, we use in-house material development technology to meet all requirements and specifications while reducing material costs.
Injection Molding
Injection molding is a method of molding by which plastic material in the form of pellets is heated and melted, the molten material is injected into a mold from an injection device, and the mold is cooled to allow the product to solidify. Various shapes of plastic products can be molded by forming various molds. Since the pressure required to clamp the mold varies depending on the size of the molded product, a molding machine with a suitable clamping force is used.
FRP Compression Molding
FRP compression molding uses a material called sheet molding compound (SMC). SMC is a sheet material made by using films to cover both sides of a plastic paste comprising a mixture of a plastic material, hardener, thickener, and the like. Compression molding is a molding method that uses a pressing machine to harden SMC by compression and heat and produces thermoset molded products.
The properties of the molded product include resistance to high temperatures. Accordingly, the SMC compression molding method is in increasing demand for battery cases as electric vehicles are proliferating in the automotive field.
Surface Molding
Insert molding that achieves both high quality and low cost; powder slush molding that provides texture, aesthetic appearance, and occupant protection; vacuum molding with high cycle speeds; and trimless products. Using these industry-leading technologies, we produce high-value-added products.
Powder Slush Molding
Powder slush molding uses a powder 0.15 mm in particle size as the raw material. It molds a piece of surface sheet by depositing and melting the powder on a hot mold and cooling it.
Powder slush molding can mold shapes not possible with injection molding. It increases design flexibility because it can produce thin and soft textures. In addition, the pattern of genuine leather can be transferred when the mold is built. Thus, one feature of this method is that it can reproduce the texture of real leather on a surface.
Sewing
To respond to customer needs, we have established the technique of adding stitches as a design element to the surface. The sewing machine used for that purpose has capabilities of handling variations in surface thickness and preventing meandering. Moreover, it works in conjunction with a conveyor that follows along the seam, enabling sewing without deviating from the sewing groove, contributing to improved aesthetic appearance.
The technique produces a surface with sewn threads instead of fake stitches. It is an artisan technique for supplying customers with an instrument panel that is unique in the world.
Tear Line Creation
In the tear line creation process, cuts known as tear lines for deploying airbags are made in the surface manufactured by powder slush molding. As its property, the surface has variations in thickness in the order of millimeters. We form tear lines for airbag deployment according to the varying thickness of the surface, achieving the predetermined remaining thickness, while preserving the texture of the surface intactly.
The process is indispensable for the deployment of airbags to ensure the safety of occupants and is backed by a very important and highly reliable processing technique.
CP Molding
CP molding is a method of manufacturing a soft instrument panel with a soft and warm texture compared to hard instrument panels. It uses plastics and polyurethane to achieve weight reduction. It also uses our proprietary engineering method New Trimless System (NTS) which enables injection according to the shape of the product. This method significantly reduces waste and contributes to carbon neutrality.