News & Events

MacDermid Autotype’s XtraForm^TM has provided the perfect film for mouldings on deep sea diving equipment for Italian manufacturer Mares. The success of this film insert moulding solution underlines the excellent durability of XtraForm^TM even in extreme conditions.

Mares is a worldwide leader in the manufacturing and distribution of high-tech diving equipment, and its local moulding supplier, Mold & Molding, has used MacDermid Autotype products for many years. The part was printed and formed by Pieffepi Vision and then cut, injection moulded and assembled by Mold & Molding. The film was required for a button on the Instinct 12S regulator, a device that reduces pressurised breathing gas to ambient pressure and delivers it to the diver.

The challenge was to identify a solution that would provide the finished product with both an attractive aesthetic appearance and strong abrasion resistance. To meet these requirements, Mold & Molding selected XtraForm^TM G250 MI, a formable, scratch-resistant polycarbonate with a high chemical resistance.

Alberto Venerandi, Managing Director, Mold & Molding, explained further why XtraForm^TM G250 MI was selected. “The main production challenges encountered related to thermoforming and cutting the film template. We produced suitable moulds to obtain an accurate outline of the profiles. During the moulding process we had to pay particular attention to the parameters for configuring the injection press in order to minimise any defects. It was therefore essential for us to use a MacDermid Autotype product because we needed to use a state-of-the-art, high-quality film with the formability to meet these challenges.”

Traditionally, a part such as this, which carries the brand name Mares, would be moulded then painted. However, with XtraForm^TM the decoration, colours, words and numbers are printed on the reverse of the film and are therefore protected. The films hardcoat gives an attractive gloss appearance and a durable, scratch-resistant surface.  

The use of XtraForm^TM  in Mares deep sea diving equipment illustrates how this film insert molding solution enables designers to combine strong aesthetic appeal with advanced design and outstanding material properties. The formable hardcoated polycarbonate substrate is ideal for deep draw forming, yet with all the robustness and chemical resistance of conventional hardcoated films. With the potential to achieve a variety of different depths of formability, from flat inserts to complex 3D shapes, XtraForm^TM can be used in a breadth of applications, enabling industrial designers to open up new market sectors. For Mares, XtraForm^TM takes film insert moulding to another level – the depths of the sea – and if the right result can be achieved in this demanding application, the potential in other applications is vast.

“Using XtraForm^TM was the obvious choice in order to achieve the best result,” said Alberto Venerandi. “The product is of extremely high quality and working with MacDermid Autotype brings highly qualified technical support. We achieved complete customer satisfaction using XtraForm^TM, which has proved to be long-lasting and suitable for use in extreme conditions. We have used MacDermid Autotype products in many other production operations and have always had successful results.”