How can power bank shell molds achieve integrated molding of a non-slip texture and a hard frame?
Publish Time: 2025-10-03
Amidst increasingly fierce competition in the consumer electronics market, power banks have evolved from simple charging tools to fashionable accessories that integrate performance, design, and user experience. Consumers are not only focused on capacity and fast charging speeds, but are also increasingly prioritizing product grip, appearance, and structural strength. To this end, manufacturers are generally adopting a design language combining a non-slip textured surface with a hard metal/metal-like frame. The key to efficiently and reliably achieving this complex integrated appearance and structure lies in the precise design and advanced manufacturing technology of power bank shell molds.1. Integrated Molding Requirements: The Dual Challenge of Aesthetics and FunctionTraditional power bank shells often utilize a split-piece structure: the main body is an injection-molded plastic part, with metal decorative strips or rubber anti-slip strips added to the edges through post-assembly or overmolding processes. This approach is not only cumbersome and costly, but also presents issues such as visible seams, looseness, and poor waterproofing. Modern high-end products strive for a seamless visual effect and a durable user experience. This requires that housings achieve smooth/textured surfaces, chamfered transitions, reinforced ribs, and a hard frame area that simulates a metallic texture, all in a single injection molding process. This places extremely high demands on mold design—precise control of varying surface treatments, varying material properties, and even multi-material composites must be achieved within the same mold cavity.2. Mold Parting and Slide Mechanism: Constructing Complex Geometric StructuresThe first step in achieving the integrated molding of a non-slip texture and a hard frame is precise mold parting design. Power bank housings typically feature a multi-faceted undercut structure, requiring the mold to be equipped with a lateral core-pulling mechanism to form the non-slip texture and frame contours on the sides. For example, a movable slider is incorporated into the frame area. When the mold is closed, the slider tightly engages the main mold core, forming a frame cavity with fine brushed, matte, or diamond-shaped patterns. When the mold is opened, the slider withdraws laterally, smoothly releasing the complex structure. Furthermore, the main mold core surface is pre-incorporated with a non-slip texture pattern through etching, sandblasting, or laser engraving, ensuring consistent tactile and visual effects with every injection.3. Two-color Injection Molding or In-Mold Decoration: Achieving Material DifferentiationThe so-called "hard border" isn't actually embedded metal; rather, it uses materials and processes to simulate the hard, high-gloss feel of metal. There are two mainstream solutions: one is two-color injection molding, using two plastics with different properties. The main structure is first injected, and then the core is rotated or moved within the same mold to inject the second color material to create the border area. The other is in-mold decoration, where a film pre-printed with a metallic texture and protective film is placed into the mold cavity. During injection molding, the plastic and film fuse together, creating a metallic border on the exposed surface while retaining the texture in other areas. Both technologies achieve a visual and tactile blend of hard and soft and a contrasting matte finish in a single molding process.4. Surface Treatment and Temperature Control: Ensuring Clear Texture and Sharp BordersThe temperature control within the mold directly affects the accuracy of texture reproduction and the clarity of the border edge. To ensure that the anti-slip pattern is not "filled in" by the molten plastic, the mold must be equipped with a high-precision hot runner system and zoned temperature control. The mold temperature in the frame area is slightly lower, allowing the plastic to cool and set quickly, preserving sharp corners. The main body area maintains a moderate temperature, ensuring fluidity and preventing shrinkage or stress marks. Furthermore, a hardened mold surface treatment not only extends the mold's lifespan but also enhances demolding efficiency and prevents wear of textured details, ensuring consistent quality for every case in mass production.The power bank shell mold may appear tiny, but it is the product of a fusion of mechanical design, materials science, optical aesthetics, and intelligent manufacturing. Through the coordinated operation of a slider mechanism, two-shot injection molding, IMD technology, and precise temperature control, Modern Mold successfully achieves efficient integrated production of a non-slip texture and a hard frame. This not only enhances product quality and user experience, but also significantly reduces assembly costs and defect rates.
