Virtually everyone I've asked about plastic extrusion process, knows little to nothing about the subject. It's really insane how many things aren't questioned or thought about! Customers buying products rarely want to know who made them and how. However, knowing these things can expose us to an entirely new perspective; that of the inventor! I'm talking about the true originators, those who came up with ideas and perpetually worked to have them realized. Some of these inventors are mentioned as mere side notes in an average high school text book, or even college (and many know how expensive those can be), and some inventors are never mentioned at all. Yet, on a daily basis their accomplishments are put to work every day, and are used to make our lives several times easier.

It's extremely important that you understand the injection molding process. But to start you off, I think it's smarter to just describe it as simply as possible. What injection molding actually does is to heat and shape thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic in order to manipulate it into a finished product. This is done with the help of a number of people (engineers, moldmakers, and a number of other specialists).

To really appreciate everything that goes into injection molding, it's a good idea to track its beginnings. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, contributions to the injection molding industry have been enormous. It all started with the beginning of synthetic plastic. A man by the name of Alexander Parkes, an inventive thinker from Britain discovered a material which he named Parkesine.

This plastic that Parkes invented (which he of course called Parkesine) was not top notch. Realistically, it was far too pricey to produce and when one was working with it, it often cracked or broke easily and became unusable. Not only that, but it was even known to be highly flammable, so those handling it had to be extremely careful to avoid danger. Seventeen years later, in 1868, an innovator from America by the name of John Wesley Hyatt developed a more improved version of Parkes' invention.

Hyatt titled his invention celluloid, and this plastic material could be molded cheaper, easier, and more durably. This invention really paved the way for the industry to start manipulating injection molded products. Four years after the making of celluloid, John and his brother Isaiah Hyatt worked together to create the prototype of the very first injection molding machine. This machine was actually quite simple (in comparison with the injection molding machines used today).

Just like that, with the uncovering of the injection molding machine, demands on the industry shot to ridiculous new heights. Improvements on the machine, and the process in general, were continually being thought up. The industry was really on the rise, and Hyatts' machines (as well as different varieties of them) were creating all sorts of new products everywhere from buttons to hair combs. It was an amazing growth for both producers and consumers alike!

When the 1940's came around, and the World War II fever began to settle in, the demand for plastic products and byproducts surpassed anything the industry had known. Suddenly the machines weren't enough, it was hardly possible to cater to such a large population with such huge demands. However, in 1945, James Watson Hendry initiated the very first screw injection molding machine, and it revolutionized what we know about the process. No other machine of this kind had used a screw to facilitate the process, and specialists found that they had more control of the speed of injection, allowing more product!

It was also found out that since the screw was now mixing the molten plastic products, other things could be mixed in with it. By adding different dyes, all sorts of new colorful products could be made, expanding the industry exponentially. Even now, most molding machines use a type of screw. Hendry also worked for thirty more years and release a molding machine that applied the use of gas, hugely reducing the use of important resources and creating storm shutters.