California molder makes the tools used to train police

Ontario, Calif. — Custom injection molder Honor Plastics and Molding Inc. is producing a 16-piece law enforcement pat down training kit as the first job on a new $120,000 BS-series press from Guangzhou Borch Machinery Co. Ltd.

The 440-ton Borch machine reached the molder's Ontario plant March 3, Honor President and CEO Dennis Savalia said in an interview at the company.

The processor began using a 16-cavity mold March 8 to produce the kit's solid replicas of 30-percent-glass-filled polypropylene with the first 1,000 shots in yellow and the next 500 in orange.

Each shot produces a simulated razor blade, scissors, syringe, screwdriver, mini box cutter, open and closed pocket knives, flip phone, revolver, pistol, brass knuckles and five other items.

Trainees try to identify each shape while patting down individuals during security procedure training including that for the Transportation Security Administration agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Borch assembled the press in Guangzhou, China. Borch procured the gear pump, AC contactor, linear transducer and safety and position switches from Germany, the thermal overload relay from France, another relay from Italy, the computer controller from Austria and the servo driver and power supply from Taiwan.

The shot size, clamp opening and operating pressure make the press operate as an equivalent to a 500-ton machine, said Skip Humphrey of International Plastics Equipment in Canyon Lake, Calif., manufacturers' representative for Borch North America.

Savalia canceled an earlier press order with another manufacturer because of an issue with timing of the injection molding machine's delivery.

Honor Plastics employs 25 and also operates 13 TMC presses of 60-250 tons. Those machines were procured from 1998-2005.

"We will replace them" as part of a strategy to improve operations and increase volume, Savalia said.

After design modifications, Honor Plastics is producing barbed elbows of 60-percent-glass-filled thermoplastic polyurethane for an irrigation application.

"The original design was bad," said Michael Smith, who is lead process engineer and in charge of production operations at Honor's Ontario plant.

"We had to replace the brass elbow," he said. "We must maintain air flow and strength."

A vision system takes seven image frames simultaneously and checks to "make sure the pins are there" on each elbow, Smith noted in an interview.

Honor installed software to help protect the integrity of the four-cavity mold.

Smith joined Honor in 1997 and has a reputation for solving polymer-related processing challenges.

His approach: "I evaluate the tool or the plan for the tool. I look for the [hot] runner size, gating and tool venting. And I evaluate the material as specified to see whether or not it will work."

In general, the parts run at startup about 95 percent of the time, Smith said, "as a rule on the first try."

The shot size, clamp opening and operating pressure make the press operate as an equivalent to a 500-ton machine, said Skip Humphrey of International Plastics Equipment in Canyon Lake, Calif.