Two-component injection molding of molded interconnect devices

Molded Interconnect Device (MID) can be defined as that an injection-molded plastic part combining with electrical and mechanical functions in a single device. This study is to examine the application of micro injection molding technology to the two-component molding process for the MID fabrication. The process involves the first shot of a plastic component with channel patterns on the surface. A second shot by micro injection molding technology is applied to fill the channel with the plateable plastics. The effects of the micro injection molding process parameters on filled line width of the two-component MID will be investigated. It is concluded that, for a MID component, the molding conditions must be designed carefully to keep the thickness variation below the allowable value. It is also found from the experiments that the thickness interference may in the range from 92 μm to 196 μm to have adequate molding at the second shot.