FAMILY MOLDING

摘要

A customer sends CAD files for two or more parts (10, 30) to be molded in a family to the system (38). The system (38) provides the customer with a quotation form (46) that allows the customer to select several family-level parameters which are independent of the shape of the part (10, 30), such as material (54) and delivery date (58). The quotation also allows the customer to select several part-level parameters which are independent off the shape of the part, such as quantity (64) of each part and surface finish (66, 68). The system (38) assesses the CAD files to determine savings which can be achieved by molding the parts (10, 30) as a family, with multiple parts in the same mold block (92). If possible, the system machines cavities (98, 102) for the multiple parts (10, 30) into a single mold block (92), passing on reductions in cost to the customer both in the quote and in the final product delivery.