Friends who do not understand molds are easily confused by rubber molds and plastic molds, and they feel similar. In fact, rubber and plastic are very different, whether it is raw materials, processing equipment, or molding. To distinguish between rubber molds and plastic molds, there are several aspects. Firstly, their raw materials are different, secondly, they use different equipment and processing methods, and secondly, their molding methods are different. Below, we will provide a detailed introduction to the differences between rubber molds and plastic molds.

The first difference between rubber molds and plastic molds is the raw materials, which can be seen from their names. Plastic mostly refers to materials such as PE, PP, PVC, PC, etc., which are commonly encountered in our daily lives. Rubber generally refers to natural rubber and synthetic rubber, which is the essential difference between them.

The difference between rubber molds and plastic molds is not only in terms of raw materials, but also in terms of equipment and processing methods. Rubber molds are generally hot-dry compression molds. During processing, the rubber strips are placed in the cavity of the rubber mold. After the mold is closed, the mold is placed in a hot press, heated, pressurized, and insulated, and the mold is removed. The mold is then opened to remove the product. A plastic mold is generally an injection mold that injects molten plastic raw materials into the mold cavity. After the raw materials cool and solidify in the mold cavity, the mold is opened to eject the finished product.

The difference in molding methods is that for rubber molds, the rubber material is vulcanized and shaped under the fixed containment and restriction of the mold cavity, so the shape of the product is completely consistent with the shape of the mold cavity. As long as the design shrinkage is correct, qualified molded products can be obtained. The profile shape of the plastic mold is different from the profile shape of the rubber products obtained after injection molding, or even very different. The reason is that the vulcanization of the rubber extrusion products is completed on the open microwave (or other vulcanization methods) vulcanization production line, while the Injection mold construction is formed by injecting plastic into the mold for cooling.