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270 4 Designing Plastic Product
Fig. 4-14 Example of an insert with special fea-
tures.
use a thickness equal to the outer radius.
To ensure a proper interface, prototyping
is recommended (Chapter 3, FEATURE
INFLUENCING PERFORMANCES, In-
jection Molding, Molded-in insert).
When metal inserts require hermetic seal-
ing, consider coating them with a flexibleelas-
tamer such as an RTV rubber, polyurethane,
or epoxy system. A second method is to de-
sign an annular space or reservoir at one end
of the insert from which to dispense the flex-
ible elastomers to effectively create a her-
metic seal. Flexible sealants are also used
to compensate for differences in the thermal
coefficient of expansion between metal and
plastic.
Holding with Formed Head
A holding head is similar to the head
formed during riveting except that in the plas-
tic product there is a protruding stud that fits
through a hole in the product to be joined and
the head is shaped over it. It is an economi-
cal method of joining. Spinning or ultrasonic
forming can shape the head.
The spinning operation consists of high-
speed rotating and suitably shaped tool that
creates frictional heat that will permit the
stud to conform to the configuration in
the tool. Pressure exerted on the tool and
the time of rotation are accurately controlled.
The spinning device can produce joints, at
high speed, of good quality.
Ultrasonic head forming and welding is a
fast assembly technique. It is a very rapid op-
eration of about 2 seconds or less and lends
itself to full automation. In this process high-
frequency vibrations and pressure are ap-
plied to the products to be joined, heat is gen-
erated at the plastic causing it to flow, and,
when the vibrations cease, the melt solidi-
fies. The heart of the ultrasonic system is the
horn, which is made of a metal that can be
carefully tuned to the frequency of the sys-
tem. The manufacture of the horn and its
shape is normally developed by the manu-
facturer of the equipment. The results from
this operation are not only economical, but
also most satisfactory from a quality control
standpoint.
Snap Fit
Snap fits are widely used for both tempo-
rary and permanent assemblies,principally in
injection and blow molded products. Besides
being simple and inexpensive, snap fits have
superior qualities. Snap fits can be applied to
any combination of materials, such as plastic
and plastic, metal and plastics, glass and plas-
tics, and others. All types of plastics can be
used (Chapter 3, DESIGN CONCEPT,Snap
Joint).
The strength of a snap fit comes from its
mechanical interlocking, as well as from fric-
tion. Pullout strength in a snap fit can be made
hundreds of times larger than its snap in force.
In the assembly process, a snap fit undergoes
an energy exchange, with a clicking sound.
Once assembled, the components in a snap fit
are not under load, unlike the press fit, where
the component is constantly under the stress
resulting from the assembly process. There-
fore, stress relaxation and creep over a long
period may cause a press fit to fail, but the
strength of a snap fit will not decrease with
time (84).
When used as demountable assemblies,
snap fits can compete very well with screw
joints. The loss of friction under vibration can
 4 Designing Plastic Product
loosen bolts and screws. A snap fit is vibration
proof, however, because its assembled prod-
ucts are in a low state of potential energy.
There are also fewer parts in a snap fit that
means a saving in component and inventory
costs.
Successfullydesigning snap fits depends on
observing a set of rules governing the shape,
dimensions, materials, and interaction of the
mating parts. The interference in a snap fit is
the total deflection in the two mating mem-
bers during the assembly process. Too much
interference will create difficultyin assembly,
but too little will cause low pullout strength.
A snap fit can also fail from permanent de-
formation or the breakage of its spring com-
ponents. A drastic change in the amount of
friction, created by abrasion or oil contami-
nation, may ruin the snap.
A snap can be characterized by the geom-
etry of its spring component. The most com-
mon snaps are the cantilever type, the hollow-
cylinder type (as in the lids of pill bottles) and
the distortion type (Fig. 4-15). These snaps
include those in any shape that is deformed
or deflected to pass over interference. The
shapes of the mating parts in a hollow cylin-
der snap is the same, but the shapes of the
matingparts in a distortion snap are different,
by definition. These classifications are rather
nominal, because the cantilever category is
used loosely to include any leaf-spring com-
ponents, and the cylinder type is used also to
include noncircular section tubes.
For high-volume production, snap fit de-
signs provide economic, rapid assembly. In
Straight cross-section
Tapered cross-section
Fig. 4-15 Example of cantilever beam stresses in
a snap fit.
2 71
many products, such as inexpensive house-
wares or hand-held appliances, they are de-
signed for one assembly only, with no non-
destructive means for disassembling them.
Where servicing them is anticipated, provi-
sion is made for the release of the assem-
bly with a tool. Other designs, such as those
used in the battery compartment covers for
calculators and radios, are designed for easy
release and reassembly many hundreds of
times.
There is always some part of a snap fit
that must flex like a spring, usually past a
designed-in interference, and quickly return,
or at least nearly return to its unflexed posi-
tion, to create the assembly of two or more
parts. The key to successful design is to
provide sufficient holding power, without
exceeding the elastic limits of the plastic.
Fig. 4-16 shows a typical design. Using
'
the beam equations, calculate the maximum
stress during assembly. If it stays below the
yield point of the plastic, the flexing finger
will return to its original position. However,
for certain designs there will not be enough
holding power, because of the low forces or
small deflections.
It has been found that with many plastics
the calculated flexing stress can far exceed
the yield point stress, if the assembly occurs
too rapidly. In other words, the flexing finger
will just momentarily pass through its condi-
tion of maximum deflection or strain, and the
material will not respond as if the yield stress
had been greatly exceeded.
A common way to evaluate snap fits is to
calculate their strain rather than their stress.
Then compare this value with the allowable
dynamic strain limit for the particular plas-
tic. In designing the finger it is important to
avoid having sharp comers or structural dis-
continuities that can cause stress risers. A ta-
pered finger provides a more uniform stress
distribution, which makes it advisable to use
where possible. Snap fits usually require un-
dercuts, so a mold with a side action can be
used. Another approach when an opening at
the base of the flexingfinger is permitted per-
mits no use of a side action (3). There are
times when all that has to be done is just pop it
off the mold, taking advantage of the plastic's
 4 Designing Plastic Product 273

Shape of cross section A B C D

C1
CI

Rectangle Irregular
Trapezoid Ring segment cross section
I

Cross section constant

= 0.67 . e
h y 2a+b * = &, c-12
rz -" =L.
3
%
Y3)

over the length

All dimensions in = 1.09 .

E'lz h
y=1,64a+bll.*y
2a+b h
=1.64.C,2, ?!!- y = 0.55 . - E.12
directiony. e. g. h or r2 Y3)
Ar, decrease to
one-half.

All dimensions in direc-

= 0.86 .
h
~ ~ 1 . &???LU.+
2 8
2a+b
y = 3y
1.28.Q~) = 0.43 .
tion z, e. P. band a, rz cw
decreaseto one-quarter
2
R
z

Welding ucts with circular joints. It is especially suit-

It is the joining Tp parts by one of sev-
eral heat-softening processes (2). Not all of
them will be equally suited to a shape, size,
or joining certain different material or even
certain types of the same material. Different
type fixtures or jigs are used during welding
based on the method used. The differenttech-
niques are used to make permanent bonds
between materials that can meet different re-
quirements such as shapes, thickness, appear-
ance, bond strength, capability of different
being bonded, hermetic seal, or effect of ad-
ditives or fillers used in the plastics (2).
Once a process is being used, recognize
that if the compound additives or fillers are
changed or added, bond performance can
change or even not exist. As an example an
unreinforced plastic can be welded to itself;
however with a certain amount of glass fiber
fillers (they do not melt) added to the plas-
tic, action in weld strength can be reduced or
even eliminated.
An example of welding is frictional spin-
ning that can be applied to two plastic prod-
able for large parts where ultrasonic welding
may be impractical or equipment cost pro-
hibitive. In this operation the faces to be
joined are pressed together while one part
is rotated and the other is held in a fixed
position. Frictional heat produces a molten
zone that becomes a weld when rotation
stops. When alignment is precise and cen-
tering means are incorporated in the parts,
the result is a good joint in terms of strength
and appearance. The approximate parame-
ters are 40 to 50 feet per minute peripheral
speed and 300 to 400 psi pressure.
Ultrasonic welding's principle of operation
requires that the design of the joining sur-
faces meet special requirements. The impor-
tant feature in ultrasonic welding is the en-
ergy director that consists of an initial small
contact area through which the flow of en-
ergy is started. Variations of this design can
be adopted readily to larger parts without the
need of resorting to proportionately larger
welding facilities. The cycle times are fast
(less than 2 seconds) and energy consump-
tion is low due to the fact that only a thin layer
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