In the toy industry, producing plush pandas is not difficult, but the challenging part lies in the silicone shell. Do you know the production process of silicone shell?
Bingdun the Ice Panda requires a high level of transparency for the silicone shell. This material has a good touch and can reach food-grade environmental standards. The overall production process of the silicone shell involves 3D modeling, mold processing, rubber refining, molding, and heat transfer printing.
Large-scale production of silicone shells like Bingdun the Ice Panda naturally requires excellent molds. The 3D surface of the mold core for Bingdun is complex and requires CNC five-axis linkage processing. The mold surface needs to undergo high-gloss polishing treatment.
The manufacturing process of the silicone shell for Bingdun the Ice Panda belongs to a type of compression molding. Compression molding can be processed using either solid-state or liquid-state production methods.
In solid-state silicone molding, the material is in solid form. After being mixed in a mixer, it is cut into suitable sizes and thicknesses, and then placed into the mold. Compression molding takes place at a certain temperature in a compression molding machine.
In liquid-state silicone molding, the material is liquid silicone rubber, which is injected using an injection molding machine for the curing process.
The size of Bingdun the Ice Panda’s silicone shell is relatively large. Unlike other small products that can produce dozens of products in one mold, a set of molds for Bingdun the Ice Panda can only produce two silicone shells at a time.
The most challenging part of the silicone shell production process is the “ice ribbon” on the shell. As the “ice ribbon” wraps around in five colors, while printing is generally done on a flat surface, accurately and flawlessly printing the ice ribbon in the corresponding position is quite difficult. This is achieved through continuous polishing and the use of mature heat transfer printing technology.
It is understood that the production of hundreds of ice shells and printing of patterns takes about half a day. They are then sent to the plush factory for assembly and then to retailers. It takes at least two days from production to reaching the consumer for a Bingdun the Ice Panda.
