What plastic are appliances such as coffee makers made of?
I’m wondering what thermoplastic (usually black or white colored) outer shells of simple electronic appliances such as coffee makers, calculators, keyboards modems and so on, are usually made of. Are there different kinds? I’ve been looking for a marking but haven’t found any.
How easy is it to combine this plastic with metal, say common steel, in a construction? What kind of attachments do I need to attach two plates together? Should I consider structural stability? The construction isn’t more than 50 cm tall, so it’s small-scale.
Tagged with: attachments • calculators • Coffee Makers • different kinds • electronic appliances • keyboards • modems • outer shells
Filed under: Coffee Brewing
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Appliances can be made from different thermoplastics. The markings that you are looking for will be on the inside surfaces of the product, so they can’t be seen from the outside. You will have to open it to be able to tell exactly what it is.
Most will be made from an ABS/PC blend of plastic that is fire retardant. This is a UL requirement, for some electronic products so that they will not start on fire.
Combining plastic with metal is easy to do in a plastic injection mold. However outside of the molding process it is more difficult to do and the adhesion will not be as good.
Bolts or dowels or a weld can be used to attach metal plates together. If they are plastic plates screws bolts or a sonic weld can be used. You could also have snap features designed into the parts so that the plastic will snap together.
The structural stability of the structure depends on how wide it is as well as how tall. Use trusses to make you structure stronger if it needs to support a weight.
Talk to a plastic injection mold designer to get more specific answers on a project. The can take into account the specific materials you are using and are usually pretty good engineers.