Introducing The Protomold® Torus: A Complex-Feature-Demonstration-Sample

Proto Labs Ltd. Shropshire, UK. September, 2010: Following the extraordinary success of the Protomold^® Cube Resin Puzzle and Demo Mould feature-demonstration samples, Proto Labs^® has created The Protomold Torus: a new colourful, educational tool, available to designers and engineers, providing them with a handy and instant reference to the most commonly used features in injection-moulding – demonstrating that just because you want a part fast doesn’t mean a part has to be simple.

Geometrically, a torus is a surface generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar with, but not touching the circle. Made up of three, separate sections that fit together to form a doughnut, each one has several unique features to illustrate some of the more complex geometries achievable with injection-moulding in a part design. Section A, for example, shows a bayonet mount, text on a rib and several types of spring-clip; section B shows a gear, a ‘bumpoff’ and two types of bosses; and section C shows a clip, a clip dimple, text on a side and an energy director on a pocket. The Protomold Torus comes with a fully illustrated booklet explaining how the different features are created and an indication of relative cost of including them in a design.

“Not only is it a small but useful tool that can be kept on a desk, the Protomold Torus has been designed to show designers and engineers that we support complex features and they can use our rapid capabilities for complex parts,” says Proto Labs’ Commercial Manager, Damian Hennessey. “And what makes the Torus stand out from the usual clutter on desks is that it illustrates the relative complexity of part features and how they affect the overall cost of a part. So when they get their ProtoQuote® they understand how to manipulate the cost through part

The Protomold service allows designers and engineers with little or no previous knowledge or experience of injection moulding to quickly and simply order precision, moulded parts. A Protomold customer can upload a CAD model to the company’s website and in just a few hours, receive a ProtoQuote that includes an accurate price and manufacturability analysis thanks to Protomold’s powerful proprietary software, powered by a ‘super-compute’ cluster. Every online ProtoQuote instantly updates for different quantities, options, and, if appropriate, suggested changes for improved ‘mouldability’. It’s a fast, easy-to-use system that is in constant and continuous development.

“Our aim,” concludes Damian Hennessey, “is to make our services as easy to use and accessible to as many designers and engineers as possible. We also want them to be fully aware of what we can do and how we can help them design smarter. We’re confident the Protomold Torus will be as successful and as sought-after as the Cube, Resin Puzzle and Demo Mould.”