Customization of Competitive Pickleball Molds for an International Sports Goods Enterprise

Aiming at the customer's pain points and needs, GP Mold formulated a customized solution with precise design and strict quality control. Firstly, in terms of design optimization, we adopted the "double through hole + polytetrafluoroethylene connecting pipe" patented exhaust structure, combined with CAE mold flow analysis to optimize the design of the parting surface, ensuring that there is no gap when the mold is closed, completely avoiding flash and bubbles caused by gas retention; we reserved a precise positioning structure in the mold cavity, which cooperates with the exhaust hole to improve the subsequent drilling accuracy, controlling the error within ±0.01mm. Secondly, in terms of material selection and processing, we selected high-quality NAK80 mold steel as the material of the mold core and cavity, and after vacuum quenching and tempering, the surface of the cavity was polished to Ra0.03μm, which effectively improved the mold life to 500,000 mold cycles; we used CNC precision machining centers and EDM electrical discharge machines for processing, ensuring that the front mold core pulling structure is precise, 8 core pulls per cavity are installed in place, and the mold processing tolerance is controlled within ±0.005mm; at the same time, cooling water systems are set in the mold core and cavity to stabilize the molding temperature and ensure the stability of product quality. In terms of mold trial and debugging, we used CMM coordinate measuring instrument, 3D scanning and T1 mold trial verification to optimize the molding temperature (200℃) and mold opening and closing speed, adjust the cooling water flow to ensure complete gas discharge and stable molding temperature; we debugged the fine water gap side gating and mechanical ejection structure to ensure that the runner and half ball are automatically separated after demolding and the ejection is stable; we verified the adaptability of the 1-mold-8-cavity (half ball) structure, ensuring that the production cycle is controlled within 30-40S and the sprue weight is 23-26g. In addition, we adjusted the mold size and installation structure according to the parameters of the customer's existing 250T-260T injection molding machine, ensuring perfect adaptation with the customer's injection molding machine, manipulator and welding machine to realize fully automated production, without additional investment from the customer. At the same time, the mold design fully complies with EU RoHS environmental protection standards, and the raw materials and processing processes meet the requirements of environmental protection testing.