Custom Masking: Integrated Multi-Plugs and Innovative Die Cut
This is a really unique custom mask - actually, it's two in one! The blue part is a custom molded piece; the orange one is custom die cut from silicone sheeting. The part is an aircraft die cast piece, and had some important surfaces requiring no coating. The customer contacted Viadon and we designed a custom masking solution for them which increased productivity and masked the part effectively.
First, the blue piece. Though it looks like a table, that's really the "upside down" orientation. The "bottom of the table-top" - so to speak - covered one side of the metal part, which had a central round section protruding from it. But the customer also needed to mask the four holes around the corners of the part. So rather than putting the part down and inserting four separate pull plugs, Viadon designed integrated SPP silicone pull plugs right into that "table top" (which gives it that look of a table).
But these are no ordinary SPP silicone pull plugs.
On the opposite side of the metal piece were four areas where washers had to be placed in final assembly. There could not be any coating on these surfaces. Again, to reduce the time required to assemble these pieces, the customer asked us to create a one-piece mask that could go over the "pull plug" sections of the blue mask. But to keep this orange silicone die cut in place, the "pull plug" sections of the blue molded piece were made with a rounded flange section. This was designed precisely so that they would not only pull all the way through the orange die cut, but then "snap back" and create downward pressure ON the orange mask, holding it firmly in place.