Albright Technologies - Rapid Prototyping

Picture of a composite mold The rapid prototype tool developed by Albright Technologies Inc. can provide anywhere from several dozen to several thousand plastic injection molded prototype parts, for a variety of designs. This new approach is unlike other prototyping method:

Faster build-time than conventional aluminum rapid tooling
Provides plastic injection molded resin products, unlike urethane casting or machined plastic
Provides exceptional surface reproduction of master

The Benefits

For many plastic part designs, this proprietary approach for rapid tooling fabrication offers the FASTEST turnaround time for turning models into rapid prototype plastic injection molded parts. By reducing the time required to build numerous, functional rapid prototypes in desired commercial plastic resins, this technology offers designers:

Reduction in the Design-to-Market product cycle
The ability to debug designs prior to production
The ability to test product functionality of products in desired resins
The ability to provide test market prototypes

The Process

Plastic injected parts using our rapid prototyping technology for rapid tooling

The Albright rapid tooling process begins with a computer generated rapid prototype model, such as SLA, which is built with the desired surface finish and dimensional compensation for molded resin shrinkage.

Aluminum mold cavities are then rough machined, to a high tolerance contour of the model, leaving a standoff distance for our specially treated rubber casting material to finish the geometry.

By altering the proportion and complexity of machining and casting, a wide range of surface finish and dimensional specifications can be achieved. No hand finishing is required, and dimensions of tight tolerance can be treated by the incorporation of individual metal inserts.

This utilization of composite materials and processing, rather than the traditional pure machining or casting, can SLASH WEEKS OFF YOUR VALUABLE PLASTIC PARTS LEAD-TIME. For many part designs, typical turnaround from model to molded parts is 1-2 WEEKS.

Materials

The Albright Tool™ will work with many different materials, here are a few;

ABS
ABS/NYLON
ABS/TPU
NYLON 6
NYLON 6/6
POLYCARBONATE
PC/ABS
PPS
POLYPROPYLENE
POLYSULFONE
POLYURETHANE
POLYESTER
LIQUID CRISTAL POLYMER
PVC
SAN
TPE, TPU, TPR
ULTEM
FILLED AND UNFILLED GRADES

and many other engineering resins.