Metallic-Look Film Avoids Flow Line Concerns
Canadian Plastics
The elegant silvery design of Siemens' cordless telephones (Gigaset S440 and S445) is made possible by Bayfol DF-A ABS film from Bayer MaterialScience. The faceplate of the handsets and the front part of the base stations are produced by film inse...
The elegant silvery design of Siemens’ cordless telephones (Gigaset S440 and S445) is made possible by Bayfol DF-A ABS film from Bayer MaterialScience. The faceplate of the handsets and the front part of the base stations are produced by film insert injection molding, using colored ABS film with a matte coating.
By using the film, the components do not need the time-consuming coating process that Siemens experienced with previous models.
“The fronts of the base station in particular are proof that film insert molding technology with colored films has a tangible benefits and produces very high-quality surfaces for larger casing components for telecommunications devices,” says Roland Kunzel, films expert with Bayer MaterialScience. The range of possible designs and colors is broad.
In this case, the ABS film has a thickness of 250 micrometers. The matte coating is applied by a reel-to-reel screen printing process by Albea Kunststofftechnik GmbH. It is then thermoformed and punched. At Siemens, the film is back-injected with an ABS resin.
An alternative method would be to mold the bases of colored ABS, however flow lines would be an aesthetic issue, especially in the case of metallic colors, Bayer reports.
Bayer MaterialScience 800-668-2554
