Sequential Multi-Slider Mold for a Kitchen Appliance Water Manifold
A five-way water manifold for a kitchen appliance needed undercuts pulled in four directions at once. Thin-wall ribs dragged and deformed on the prototype tool, so we rebuilt the action sequence around hydraulic cylinders, secondary sliders and per-slider cooling.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
"A European appliance OEM needed a production mold for a five-way water manifold that routes water between a dishwasher's pump, heater and spray arms. The part is moulded in POM (acetal), with press-fit sealing diameters held to ±0.005 mm and undercuts on four different pull directions. The customer's prototype tool produced the geometry, but ejection dragged the deep ribs and every trial batch showed deformation on the thick-wall bosses — the mold never passed the customer's dimensional gate."
PAIN POINTS
- Undercuts on four different pull directions blocked straight-pull ejection, and the previous angled-lifter design galled after a few thousand shots
- Thick-wall bosses and deep ribs dragged on the core during ejection, deforming the press-fit diameters and pushing the part out of the ±0.005 mm gate
- Sliders ran with single-line cooling, so the manifold's sealing faces shrank unevenly and the cycle sat above the customer's takt target
OUR SOLUTION
- Four hydraulic cylinders with a PLC-sequenced opening order — cavity-side angled lifter releases first, then the four sliders pull in a fixed sequence so no feature is dragged across another
- Secondary sliders on the thick-wall bosses: the front section releases first and the trailing section follows, eliminating drag marks and ejection deformation
- Independent cooling circuits in every slider and lifter, balanced against the core circuit to hold the sealing diameters round and cut cycle time
MEASURED RESULTS
| Sealing diameter tolerance | Held at ±0.005 mm on all five press-fit ports across 250,000-shot sampling |
| Ejection deformation | Eliminated — thick-wall bosses and deep ribs eject clean, no drag marks |
| Cycle time | Cut 18% after per-slider cooling was balanced against the core circuit |
| Mold life | 1,000,000+ shots planned, with a documented PM at 500,000 shots |
YOUR APPLICATION MAY DIFFER
"For multi-undercut parts with thick walls, deep ribs or press-fit features, send us the 3D model — we will reply within 24 hours with a DFM covering the action sequence, slider layout and cooling plan for your resin and takt time."