--30% lighter weight than non-foam products is now achievable--
SEKISUI TECHNO MOLDING CO., LTD. (head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President:
Mikiya Idehara), which is a 100% subsidiary of SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (head
office: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, President: Teiji Koge) has developed a
High-Magnification Foam Molding Technology (hereinafter called the "technology")
that can manufacture vehicle interior components that combine strength, good
appearance, and light weight. The plan for the future is to roll out this technology
to vehicle interior components*1.
Regarding the production of resin-based vehicle interior components,
during molding to reduce the chassis weight with the aim of improving fuel efficiency,
the resin is injected into the mold, which is designed to be thin, before being
turned into foam in the mold to create strength and rigidity, so foam mold technology
that reduces the amount of resin has been partially introduced.
With existing technology, weight reduction compared to non-foam products
is limited to approx. 20%, and attempts to increase this further cause nonconformances
such as "becoming unable to satisfy the necessary strength" and "appearance
defects occur, so productivity is reduced due to manual repairs".
The technology that we have developed here enables weight reduction of approx.
30%*2 compared to non-foam products, and satisfies the required strength for
shock resistance and rigidity, etc., so no specific appearance defects occur.
The three keys to this technology are 1) the "unique compound technology" for the base resin (polypropylene, etc.), which achieves the strength and good appearance, 2) the "unique mold technology", which suppresses foam breaking by filling the inside of the mold with high-pressure gas, and 3) the "process technology", which improves the product appearance, and it is the combination of all three that enables the required strength and high appearance quality to be maintained even with High-Magnification Foaming rates of double or more.
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*1: Door trim, luggage area, door pillars, etc. |
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Cross-section of product using the technology |
Main vehicle "door trim" parts. which benefit from this technology |
(Reference: SEKISUI TECHNO MOLDING CO., LTD.)
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-Company name: SEKISUI TECHNO MOLDING CO., LTD. |
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-Principal business: Resin-molded products for vehicles, and the manufacture and sale of resin-molded products for logistics, the environment, construction, and civil engineering |
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-Headquarters: 5th Floor, Yusen Nishi Shimbashi Building, 2-6-2 Nishi Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo |
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-Plant locations: |
(in Japan): Nara, Mie, Aichi |
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-Established: August 1962 |
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-Representative: President: Mikiya Idehara |
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-Capital: 200 million yen (100% contribution from SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD.) |
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Disclaimer
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements due to changes in global economic, business, competitive market and regulatory factors.