DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF FREE MOTION HEAD FORM
THE CUSTOMER
Cellbond, an award winning company that specialises in the development and manufacture of equipment for vehicle occupant and pedestrian safety testing worldwide.
THE CHALLENGE
To design and produce a working mould and saleable rubber mouldings for use on the free motion head form safety testing equipment.
THE SOLUTION
Stonehill Engineering was given a sample part which they arranged to have digitised externally to give a 3D representation/model of the part. This model was then worked on by our development team using computer CAD software to produce solid blocks around the form. These solid blocks were cut out in a specific way to be able to disassemble the tool after it had been gravity/vacuum moulded.
Once the tool design was complete, CAD/CAM 3D machining programs were generated from the model and downloaded to the CNC machines. The workshop machine programmer/operators were given machining set up details and machining production began on the Machining Centre (Micron VCE600).
THE OUTCOME
The complete toolmaking took around 2 weeks to complete and was then ready for its first moulding. A previously determined rubber compound was poured into the tool until full and the tool was placed in a vacuum chamber inside a heated oven. The rubber sets and the tool was taken apart and the moulding released from the mould.
Testing for wall thickness and centre of gravity are completed on the sample and any modifications are carried out after this. The photos above show the machined and sampled tool awaiting a final surface polish.