National Composites Week – Agricultural Telecom
With the advent of smart agricultural tools, farm equipment has entered the 21st century and so has their communications. GPS is all the rage now and we were approached by a customer to mold a component that would be used for GPS electronics mounted atop a cab.
For the environmental and possible chemical exposure, a PBT/PC composite was the choice made which included UV stabilizers to provide weatherability.
Today, even cosmetics are a factor with agriculture equipment being so expensive. This composite was going to be purchased in a customer color coinciding with the equipment maker and the finished part had to meet color and visual requirements.
Of course, the final assembly needs to be mounted to the cab roof along with solidly holding the electronics, so the part included 4 inserts that were molded in during the shot.
Process development centered around achieving the cosmetics that were desired and a validated process was shortly achieved.
Is your supplier up to the task of molding for today’s requirements? PlastiCert is and supplies OEMs in a multitude of marketplaces including agriculture, sporting goods, industrial electronics and more.