During the concept phase of creating the AltavaMask, RDM was tasked with figuring out a way to effectively create a gasket that would create a better seal with the users face and could be manufactured via injection molding. Injection molding is the process of creating plastic or rubber parts by melting material and injecting the material into a cavity to create the desired shape. Today, most household plastic items are made using this very process.

 In general, injection molding has several key components including the mixing nozzle, mold, and method of clamping.

During mass production, all of the key components are combined in an injection molding machine. The mixing nozzle is responsible for melting and agitating the plastic or rubber so that it can flow easily, the mold allows the desired shape to be achieved, and the clamping method secures the two mold halves together while the material is injected.

In our process, we leverage thermoset silicone and static mixing nozzles to prepare the silicone for injecting. Then through our proprietary mold making process, we secure the two mold halves together in order to create the desired product. It is this process that allowed us to create the inital prototype of the Covid-19 mask gasket.

Currently, to produce a silicone gasket, it takes on average 3 minutes from the time the material is injected until the part can be removed.

The process is semi-automated as silicone is soft which means that manual removal of the part is required in order to avoid damaging the part.

The gasket design was created in SolidWorks through surface modeling which allows for complex contours to be achieved such as those created by the face profile.

Here at RDM from start to finish we were able to design the part, engineer the mold, manufacture the mold, and have our first production unit in a week.

This is made possible through the efficient design in SolidWorks and our method for creating injection molds that minimize lead time. With this setup, we can produce roughly 100 parts a day.

If you want to learn more about what we have done with injection molding click this link here: RDMinnovation.com/injection-modling/. Stay tuned and look out for some new blogs coming your way!