3D Printing Capabilities
3D printing has become very popular over the last decade. This technology allows us to create almost anything from plastic models to metal parts. Nowadays, even electronics manufacturers are using 3D printers to prototype their new devices. ISL Products is proud to announce that 3D printing is now a part of our ever-expanding capabilities. We are always searching for new ways to help accommodate our customers throughout their design process. Having equipment like a 3D printer in house allows us to aid in the design of parts, ensuring proper compatibility with our components before the finalized pairing ships out to a customer.
Our 3D printing capabilities allow us to streamline the prototyping process. We provide printed parts that are complimentary to the electromechanical and electronic components that we manufacture and supply. We often get requests for mounting brackets for our dc gear motors, enclosures for electronic devices like our ballasts for UVC germicidal lamps, and housings for our audio components. In some cases, customers have requested a non-working printed prototype of our components purely for fitment reassurance before an actual sample is built up. Our team is very familiar with the 3D printing process, technology, and design software. They are able to provide unique design insights ensuring the prototype unit functions appropriately and is ready for the mass manufacturing process in the future.
We are capable of printing pre-designed concepts as well as creating custom parts based on a customers’ requirements. Our mechanical engineers are well versed in modeling and design software such as SolidWorks. Once designed we can do a single print or a batch print to suite a variety of needs and quantities. Our 3D printing and prototyping tools are a great asset to any engineer making design decisions. Our goal is to help you reach your production design and integrate our electronic components effortlessly into your application. If you need help designing a prototype part for your next project, Chat with a member of our team via the chat box at the bottom of this screen or contact us. Our team is here to assist you throughout your development process.
3D Printing to Streamline Your Success
ISL Products is one of the very few component manufactures in the electronics industry that has added this capability to its suite of services, and one of the fewer who has made it available to all customers. There are many different types of 3D printing technologies available. We are currently utilizing FDM/FFF plastic additive manufacturing, with the hopes of expanding into resins in the near future.
ISL Products is currently able to print parts by utilizing a wide variety of filament materials:
- PLA
- PETG
- TPU
- ABS
- ASA
- Nylon
- Carbon Fiber Nylon
Each material noted above has it’s own unique features. Our 3D printer experts will help assist you by providing useful insight as to which one is best suited for your particular use case. PLA is a quick and easy material to print. It is strong and well suited for most light use electronic products. Most 3D printed objects that you have interacted with are made from PLA.
ABS is stiffer and more thermally resistant; it’s what Lego bricks are made out of! ASA is very similar to ABS but is less reactive to UV light.
Materials like TPU are flexible, making them great for parts that have to warp or provide shock absorption. PETG is an in between material well suited for most applications, it’s incredibly similar to the material of which disposable water bottles are made out of.
In addition to customer requests, we use our printing capabilities to print various test fixtures and accessories for our in-house use. From mounts and holders for life cycle testing to adapter plates that we use to test our customers incumbent electronic components on our own test equipment. This comes in very handy when we test a non-standard motor on our dynamometer. We are always coming up with new ideas and new uses for our printing capabilities!
Rapid Prototyping in the Electronics Industry
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has been around since the 1970s but rose in popularity once several patents expired in the early-mid 2010s. This allowed for the expansion of consumer and engineering grade rapid prototyping and manufacturing. Since then, the quality of machines has dramatically improved, while the machines themselves have become increasingly affordable. This has led to the boom in 3D printing for a range of applications, from warehouse robotics to medical devices. 3D-printed electronics is a new technology that is starting to gain more momentum as rapid prototyping becomes the new normal. The printing of electronics, specifically electronic circuits, is a unique process but the industry is beginning to transition it into a traditional manufacturing technique.
