Patent Report: Device protects metal fastening inserts

Compagnie Plastic Omnium, Lyon, France, has patented a device for protecting metal fastening inserts during injection overmolding.

The device consists of an element for piercing a sheet of plastic and a feature for sealing the fastening insert to protect it from being coated with plastic during overmolding. The patent also covers a mold assembly with a housing designed to accommodate the device.

An advantage of the invention is “that it is possible to make attachment points that are very close together, which is not the case with sophisticated mechanisms based on pins whose size in the mould prevents the fasteners from being placed close to each other,” the patent states.

Additionally, the device eliminates the need for special molds with movable pins and improves the mechanical performance of the part by distributing material uniformly around the fastener, limiting join lines.

Patent application 20190176366; published June 13

Patents and patent applications can be viewed at www.uspto.gov

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