Prototype tools

Next is to make sample prototype tooling and sample prototype products for the test. Samples made by machining or other simplified model making techniques do not have the same properties as the product made by molding or extrusion or whatever process is to be used (Chapter 3, PROTOTYPES). A product made this way is a sample rather than a testable prototype. Simplified prototypes may reduce trial mold cost and produce adequate test data in some cases. Its main value is appearance and feel to determine whether the aesthetics are correct. Any testing has to be done with considerable reservation and caution. 

If prototype tooling is not made, then production tooling must be made to provide samples for evaluation testing. This is justified if the product does not represent a substantial departure from previously made units whose performance is known in similar applications. If there is no prior history and as an example... 

In the situation where a similar application existed, the risk that the tools may have to be scrapped or drastically altered as a result of the testing is not high and is justified. The other reason that a production tool is made with no prototype tooling is because of the lack of lead time. Here the risk is usually not justified and the shelves of processors are littered with tools that were the result of bad guesses made under severe time pressure. 

It would be desirable to make sample prototype tooling and analyze the flow effects on a product that is likely to present a flow problem. In addition to the usual physical testing of the product, the use of photo-stress analysis techniques plus the exposure to selected solvents to check for stress crack characteristics would lead to changes in the product to minimize the effects of the molding on the product performance. As an example there have been cases in the past where piano keys with frozen-in stresses have been released from perspiration, leaving open flow lines (Chapter 5, STRESS ANALYSIS). 

Delliarciprete, J., et al, Cavity Pressure Transfer Extends Prototype Tool Life, MP, Jan. 2000. 

Report 117 Rapid Prototyping, Tooling and Manufacturing, R.J.M. Hague and P.E. Reeves, Edward Mackenzie Consulting. 

The prototypes as well as the general approach and the underlying concepts have not only been discussed with our partners at innotec. Additionally, they have successfully been presented to selected customers of innotec from the German chemical industry. In multiple workshops, presentations and prototype tool demonstrations were given, followed by discussions about further ideas and requirements. We also presented our integration approach at practice-oriented conferences and in corresponding journals [36, 38, 41]. 

A formal and abstract description of the internal structure and behavior of tools, in Fig. 6.1 called layer 3 and elsewhere conceptual modeling for tools, has two big advantages (1) It allows the interpretation of this description in order to quickly get to prototyping tools. (2) It is also the basis for more efficient realizations of tools, where the code is generated being based on the formal specification. 

The fact that this conference project is industrially driven clearly demonstrates a new mindset in the chemical and process engineering. This new mindset is very much in line with the initial objectives of the research carried out in IMPROVE. Many of the concepts, methods, and prototypical tools resulting from the research in IMPROVE form a very good starting point to address and implement a significant reduction of the time needed to build a chemical plant. 

The relevance of the research agenda of IMPROVE has not fully been acknowledged by industry when IMPROVE got started. One reason for this lack of attention has been the business climate of the time. There has not been sufficiently strong economical pressure to reevaluate the design practice and to question the way design support tools have been used. Another reason for the limited attention of industrial practitioners is the focus of IMPROVE on fundamental and long-term research objectives which should result in novel concepts and methodologies rather than in prototypical tools to be demonstrated and evaluated by industry. 

Choline kinase phosphorylates choline to give a phosphocholine and participates in glycine, serine and threonine metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism. Hemicholinium-7 is the prototypical tool compound used to inhibit CHK. Based on inhibitor studies, it has been proposed that CHK is important for the regulation of cell proliferation. Inhibition of choline kinase is also used to target plasmodium and develop novel antimalarials. A series of papers on pyridinium based inhibitors have been published, but no disclosures of more drug-like molecules have been made. 

Prototype tools, where small quantities (perhaps of 50-100 moldings) are needed for test and evaluation, can be made of materials such as mild steel, aluminum, or epoxy resin tooling compounds. The tool life is limited and there is no long-term alternative to having a correct production tool manufactured. 

M. Datta, J.C. Andreshak, L.T. Romankiw, L.F. Vega, Surface finishing of high speed print bands I. A prototype tool for electrochemical microfinishing and character rounding of print bands, J. Electrochem. Soc. 145 (9) (1998) 3047-3051, http //dx.doi.Org/10.1149/l.1838761. 

Application Parts were used for concept visualization, functional prototypes, tooling, and investment casting (Fig. 8). 

Bridge tooling Direct tooling Indirect tooling Prototype tooling... 

Fig.1 Structure of the technology of additive manufacturing and its applications rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing as well as its correlation with Prototype Tooling, Direct Tooling, and Indirect Tooling...

Rapid prototyping means to make parts using RP processes and RP materials. In terms of tooling it results in Prototype Tooling. In contrast, rapid manufacturing uses materials close to non-AM processing, often named series materials and results in Direct Tooling. 

Tool making by RP processes and materials is called Bridge Tooling if the tools can be used to make final products but with limited features like reduced production volume, lower quality, or even similar but different material. The cons are balanced by the pros like reduced cycle time and costs. The name is based on the idea to bridge the gap between prototype tools and series tools. 

Prototype tools are made directly by sintering of plastics and are used preferably for casting, mainly of soft materials. Because of the rather poor surface quality that requires extensive postprocessing, sintered parts, mainly from plastics, are rarely used as masters for Indirect Tooling. 

Used for Prototype Tooling or Indirect Tooling, 3D printing quickly leads to not very expensive but not very detailed master models. Because of the poor surface quality and its brittleness that requires infiltration, they are not recommended for copying. If nevertheless taken, intensive surface finishing is required. 

Examples of Prototype Tooling by AM are the directly generated tool insert made by stereolithography (AIM) shown in Fig. 4 that was applied on an injection molding machine and the boot s sole profile (Fig. 5) that was cast manually. 

---