Plastics are an every-day part of our lives, from the handles of the toothbrushes that we use in the morning to the shells of the alarm clocks that we set at night. Many of these products form through the injection molding process, during which molten plastics are forced into molds under high pressure to create parts for a product.
There are some other places where you might be surprised to find so many plastics. The baseball diamond, the football field, the tennis court—at any location that welcomes sports, you can probably find products created with plastic injection molding.
Let’s consider why they are so prevalent in these arenas, what it is possible to make, and how companies source the products that they provide to players both on and off the field.
What Makes Injection Molding Suitable for the Sports Sector?
Whether it is in the shell of a baseball player’s helmet or thousands of golf tees, there are strong reasons why so many companies opt to use injection molding for sporting goods. There are four key factors that often drive that decision:
- Durability. Molded plastic components made from appropriate raw materials can withstand heavy impacts and frequent use without immediately breaking or wearing out.
- Versatility. With computer-aided design, it is possible to create molds for a staggeringly large number of products. One business can produce dozens of different molded products to appeal to players across many different sports.
- Materials selection. There is an impressively broad range of plastics available that are suitable for use in sporting good production, providing designers and businesses with immense flexibility.
- Cost-effectiveness. Following the design and creation of a mold, the mold can last for hundreds of thousands of cycles in a well-maintained plastic injection molding machine. As a result, long-term production costs primarily involve covering materials.
Which Sports Products Can Injection Molding Make?
There are easy-to-spot examples of injection molding at work in real-world sports applications. The full list of products could fill volumes on its own, but here are a few examples to consider:
- Protective padding for football players
- Mouthguards that protect players from impact
- Components for handles, grips, and other parts of larger sports equipment
As diverse as these items are, the design and production process for them is often the same. Professionals will mold the part or item in computer software. Next, engineers use that model to create and test a digital mold design. After fabricating the molds, production begins, with a wide degree of flexibility throughout the process.
Partnering With Reliant Plastics for Robust Results
For a successful sports item production run, insight and support from industry experts are essential from the start. Reliant Plastics features decades of experience and leverages the latest in technology and engineering to produce reliable results and advanced, value-added services to support businesses that are pursuing new product launches. To learn about the suitability of injection molding technology for your next product, contact our team today.
