Customized Injection Molding Service FCE S Expertise For Containers

Development Case of Lubricating Oil Container for Outdoor Solar Panels

In this project, FCE undertook the development of a lubricating oil container for outdoor solar panels. The customer's main requirements focused on material selection, structural design, and production processes. The container body must be made of PET, and it needs to resist acid rain and UV radiation. Particularly, the flatness of the container's top and the design of the ventilation hole required strict attention. Our team conducted in-depth optimizations and repeated validations throughout the entire development process.

Project Background and Requirements

The customer required the top of the container to have high flatness because it serves as a mounting surface that affects the sealing effect. To ensure the container's long-term outdoor use, they emphasized that the container material must be resistant to acid rain and UV radiation. Additionally, there is a vent hole at the top side of the container, which must allow ventilation without letting water in, preventing environmental factors from affecting the oil inside.

Material Selection and Design Challenges

Based on the customer’s requirements, PET was selected as the main material for the container body. PET has excellent resistance to acids and UV rays, making it ideal for long-term outdoor use. However, selecting the material was just the first step; the biggest design challenges were achieving the required flatness at the top of the container and ensuring the functionality of the vent hole.

• Two-Part Design and Welding Solution
  Due to the internal design of the container, which has reverse locking structures, and the small opening, we decided to divide the container into two parts and weld them together. Initially, we chose ultrasonic welding. However, with a height of 350mm, conventional 15kHz and 20kHz ultrasonic frequencies could not effectively transmit energy to the weld line, resulting in some leakage in the welded products.

To solve this issue, we decisively adjusted the design, switching from ultrasonic welding to hot plate welding. Hot plate welding allowed for more uniform and stable heat transfer, ensuring the upper and lower parts of the container were welded together reliably, solving the issues of sealing and strength.

• Flatness Optimization of the Top Surface
  To meet the strict flatness requirement of 0.1mm for the container opening, we performed multiple injection molding finite element analysis simulations using Moldflow. By optimizing the wall thickness, gate design, and conformal cooling channels, and combining this with a multi-stage packing process, we successfully controlled the flatness of the 6mm-thick opening to within 0.1mm. This result exceeded the customer's expectations, and they were highly impressed with our innovative process.

• Vent Hole Design
  For the container's vent hole, which needed to be breathable but waterproof, we conducted market research and found an off-the-shelf hydrophobic cap that could greatly reduce costs. Based on the thread specifications of this cap, we designed a threaded hole on the side wall of the container. This not only simplified the product development process but also significantly reduced production costs.

FCE's Expertise and Full-Process Capabilities

FCE has extensive experience in precision injection molding, complex structure design, and the development of highly functional products. The company offers full-process solutions from R&D to production and can provide strong technical support to meet customer requirements. We are certified with ISO13485 and ITSF16949 quality systems, ensuring that our products meet stringent quality standards.

Results and Customer Feedback

After two months of R&D, design, process adjustments, and production verification, the project was successfully completed. Our expert team demonstrated highly efficient collaboration throughout the process. The final product not only met the customer’s requirements for flatness and sealing but also significantly shortened the development cycle. We provided strong support for the customer's smooth product launch and received high praise from Allearth.

Through this project, FCE once again demonstrated its expertise in the development of complex structure designs, precision injection molding, and challenging functional products. We look forward to supporting more customers in the future.