Appliance Design - October 2007 - (Page 16)

COATINGS Powder on Plastics This plastic door-frame bezel for a front-loading washer/dryer pair is powder coated by Alliance Surface Finishing with a metallic red. Innovations in processes and materials open a new realm. by larry adams 16 applianceDESIGN October 2007 hen considering coating plastics, the first obvious question pops up. Why bother? By simply using pigmented resin one gets a molded-in color that can’t scratch off and one that also eliminates the need for a finishing operation. The answer is two-fold. One is that, in thick, large plastic parts, it can be more economical to put color on the outside where it is needed, instead of throughout the entire thickness of the part. The other is better color matching. Everyone has had the experience of seeing an assembly of metal and plastic parts that didn’t perfectly match, and where the fading on the plastic only made the color mismatch worse over time. Traditionally, those taking the coating route for coloring plastic parts had only one option — liquid coatings. The desire to powder coat plastic parts was but an unfulfilled dream. Even though the powder coating of metals was a proven and growing technology, the obvious challenges of putting powder on plastic restrained this approach. Those restraints are starting to give way, though slowly. As compared to the over- W all powder coating market, the use of this clean, cost-effective technology to coat plastics parts is estimated to make up only about 1 percent of the market. But the use of this technique is starting to grow due to new solutions to the age-old challenges. Coaters and material suppliers are developing new ways to powder coat plastics, and with good reason. Powder coating offers a number of benefits, including design flexibility, reclaimability and reusability of material, and its overall environmental advantages. Powder coats also provide a tough, durable, attractive finish to a part. Designers can choose from a wide range of powders that come in diverse colors, textures and gloss levels. In addition, the ability to apply powder coatings to both plastics and metals permits a finishing uniformity. This is important in applications that use multiple substrates, since it allows the matching of color and texture of both metal and plastic parts on the same appliance. That ability to achieve a harmonious uniformity of color is perhaps the most www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - October 2007

Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Applying Powder Coatings to Plastic Parts is No Longer a Pipe Dream New Technology Platform Provides the Ability for a single IC to Control Two- Motors in a Single Appliance, Simplifying Motor Control Design Advanced Motor-Control Techniques have Become More Accessible to a Wider Array of Appliances, Helping to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Noise Adding USB Host Capability to Appliances Permits In-Field Programming and Acquisition of Test Data ZigBee Modules Make it Easier to Design Wireless Connectivity into Applications New Concepts such as Rapid Tooling and Rapid Injection Molding Provide Stepping Stones Between Prototyping and Full Scale Production A Number of Factors and New Developments Affect the Decision on Whether to Build Prototypes In-House or Outsource to a Service Bureau DesignMart Advertiser’s Index Association Report: CEA

Appliance Design - October 2007

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