PepsiCo Perfect Cap

The challenge: Limited design freedom with the desired material.
The solution: 3D printed tooling with Freeform Injection Molding, enabling foodgrade materials.

The perfect bottle cap by PepsiCo.
The material used for this project is PepsiCo blue HDPE.

Part Design(s)

Part Design(s)

3D render of part design for PepsiCo perfect cap.

The bottle cap was made to resemble the early PepsiCo bottle caps and the challenge lies in the inner design to ensure proper screw features.

60 minutes

Mold Design(s)‍

Next step is converting the STEP file into a mold design which is done by inverting the part into a cavity, in a block of material, and then adding the inlet gate(s) and initial venting.

The 2-part initial design allows for quick visual Quality Assurance.

90 minutes

Printed Tooling

3D printed tool for PepsiCo perfect cap.

The first molds were printed in a 100µm resolution, and speed was prioritized over visuals.

5 minutes

Freeform Injection Molding (FIM)

Filled 3D printed molding tools for Pepsi perfect cap.

The parts were molded on a 50-ton Krauss Maffei. However, the molds work hand-in-hand with any installed base molding unit.

An aluminum mold frame was used to hold the assembled mold, cycle time per part was around 5 minutes, and 1 minute cooling time after each shot.

1-4 days

Demolding‍

Final injection molded part for PepsiCo perfect cap.

The Addifab alkaline solution was used for demolding these parts, over a 4 day period.

This can be time-optimized by mold re-design or by removing a part of the mold before demolding.

Total time to 1st injection molded part:
155 minutes + 1-4 days of demolding

Finished product of the perfect bottle cap for PepsiCo.

Observations:

- The mold design is an easy process; similar to building a mold box around the design, and then make it a cavity.
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- The PepsiCo blue HDPE material filled the molds nicely in the first test rounds.
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- Optimization of the demolding is recommended when running next iterations. The more material that can be removed or reused, the faster the process will be.
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- Datasheet materials were used for molding data, settings, pressure, temperatures, and more.
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- Early hands-on testing for i.e. assembly and performance using first-out-of-tool parts is valuable for most team members: materials, design, process, regulatory, and if you need to make another round of iterations, you can do these the same day.

Freeform Injection Molding
PepsiCo Perfect Cap