The functions of plastic injection moulding features

Abstract The design of products requires engineers to be knowledgeable about basic features and their functions. This paper develops function/feature relation information used by designers in the plastic injection moulding domain. The basis for the findings are interviews with 27 industrial designers, mechanical design engineers, tool designers and plastics process engineers. These individuals discussed the design of 79 plastic parts with the first author. In doing so they used 11 different features to describe 53 basic functions.