A Complete Guide to Plastic Pallet Manufacturing Process

Plastic pallet technology has evolved in recent years to support a variety of complex designs, and the quality of processed products is getting better and better. However, if you are new to the industry, there may be some difficulties in choosing the right plastic pallet manufacturing technology. 

So today this article will give you a detailed description of the various plastic pallet manufacturing processes and the choice of related technologies.

The following key processes are worthy of our attention:

Blow molding plastic pallets

Thermoformed plastic pallets

Rotational molding plastic pallets

Compression molding plastic pallets

Injection molding plastic pallets

These are the more common manufacturing processes in the plastic pallet mould industry. Next we will give you a detailed introduction.

1. Injection Molding Plastic Pallet

Injection molding is one of the more popular processes for molding plastic into the desired tray shape and size, and this process can be mass produced.

Generally, injection molding process involves the following key processes:

Hot plastic (in liquid state) leaves the heating chamber through a nozzle to a cavity (shape of the pallet you need), where it cools and hardens.

Raw material is fed into the machines through a hopper (depending on the type of plastic pallet, you can use PP or HDPE material).

Heater bands and frictional force melts the plastic material

It should be noted that the design of the injection molding pallets machine is different, and the processing sequence and heating process may be different.

In injection molding plastic pallet manufacturing process, you can choose from:

High pressure injection plastic pallet moulding

Low pressure structural foam plastic pallet moulding

So, what's the difference between these two types of injection moulding?

Low Pressure Structural Foam Molding

Under these conditions, the mold cavity will be injected with a plastic tray material and an inert gas, that is, a gas that does not chemically react with the material. You can also use carbon dioxide or nitrogen. Heating the mixture of nitrogen and polypropylene activates the blowing agent. This produces a honeycomb core surrounded by a rigid plastic material.

This plastic pallet manufacturing process is popular for the following reasons:

Less expensive compared to high pressure injection molding

Allows for flexibility in both rib and shape design

Plastic pallets have a higher strength to weight ratio

Plastic pallets are stiff, rugged and durable

It requires less material to make pallets

In addition, it is important to choose the technology based on your production environment. If the conditions meet the above criteria, then you can choose the way to structure the structural foam.

High Pressure Injection Molding

High pressure injection molding is a common method of making high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastics, which is a very precise process. The production of plastic injection pallets using this process does not require further processing.

In this plastic tray manufacturing technique, the plastic tray material and colorant are processed together in a barrel with a rotating screw, typically heated to the desired temperature (about 250 ℃).

The plastic material is heated to the desired temperature, injected into the mold and clamped under pressure. Then let it cool and pop up.

This is a key process and some details are considered based on the actual production process. It is important that you are prepared to pay for high energy costs.

In short, high pressure injection molding and structural foam molding play an integral role in the manufacture of plastic pallets. However, in each case, please evaluate your specific requirements before determining the plastic pallet forming process.

You must have a certain understanding of the choice of manufacturing process. In addition to the above methods, most manufacturers will adopt another key plastic pallet manufacturing process. You can follow our website and our next article will give you a detailed introduction to this method.