The future is being held at BÖ-LA

Fair motto: „In touch with the future“ – FIM specialist is
presenting a total of four innovations at the Fakuma

The future is being held at BÖ-LA

„In touch with the future“: BÖ-LA is showing an FIM touchscreen display
for the Visteon concept vehi

Radevormwald. The film-insert-molding specialist, BÖ-LA, will be presenting four trailblazing developments at the Fakuma 2014 (October, 14th to 18th), the international trade fair for plastic processing in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The company“s motto: „In touch with the future“.

In addition to the implementation of OLED lighting in FIM components and BÖ-LA“s innovative 3D-sensitive-touch surface, the company in Radevormwald is showing an FIM touchscreen display for the Visteon concept vehicle, e-Bee. Another highlight of the fair will be the presentation of a complex and functional panel with integrated LED lighting for the touch-sensitive control of a washing machine console.

The vision: to reduce entire modules – consisting of control panels, trims, mechanical buttons, fiber-optics and LEDs – to one single film-decorated, touch-sensitive, self-illuminating FIM component with a closed, freely formable surface.

Against this background, the company will be researching until the end of 2015 as part of the publicity funded joint project, FIM-O, on the integration of organic electronics in the form of OLEDs into 3D-formed and insert-molded plastic components. „At the Fakuma, we will be presenting an FIM component which is illuminated from the inside by an insert-molded OLED. As far as we know, this is the first time in the world that a company has successfully processed an OLED using the injection-molding process to create a self-illuminating FIM component,“ says Managing Partner, Mike Böing-Meßing. With this innovation, BÖ-LA, a pioneer of FIM technology, will also become the forerunner in the further development of printed electronics to film-insert-molded electronics.

With the second generation of the „BÖ-LA clock“, an mp3 alarm-clock, the company is showing how a touch-sensitive surface for three-dimensionally formed components can be created with the 3D-sensitive-touch technology. This not only means curved surfaces but real 3D-shaped surfaces – complex geometries over several levels can also be reproduced. The full integrability of the 3D-sensitive-touch technology into the FIM process leads to a wide range of application possibilities in the field of control elements: 3D-sensitive-touch is not only compatible with all common film types and surfaces (hardcoat, matt/gloss, anti-reflection coating, soft touch, etc.) but can also be combined with special screen-printing inks. They are indispensable for the decoration and to achieve opacity for backlighted parts. BÖ-LA has therefore succeeded in reducing the technical and decorative process to one single film. „The fact that only one carrier medium is used gives our 3D-sensitive-touch a technological edge and, at the same time, offers cost benefits,“ says Mike Böing-Meßing.

The company from Radevormwald is also creating highlights in the automotive sector. A control element for the e-Bee driver interface of the Visteon concept vehicle in a „seamless design“ with closed surfaces, molded edges and a „secret-til-lit-effect“ is replacing the conventional automotive cockpit with switches and buttons. As a development partner for the driver interfaces, BÖ-LA has developed a high-quality, film-insert-molded display cover which is subsequently connected with a multi-touch display using the „optical bonding process“ and joined together to create an FIM touchscreen. The component on display is characterized by its sensitive surface with a scratch-proof coating which combines many functions and is controlled by touch.

Another innovation which is being presented at the Fakuma is the touchskin washing machine console. The complex control element with 40 touch sensors and the same number of LEDs with integrated microcontrollers was developed by the Austrian company, Plastic Electronic. The FIM specialists at BÖ-LA act as partners for printing the electronics and graphics and for the areas of 3D-forming and injection molding which will be added as options in the future.
Four film-insert-molded electronic innovations which set the course towards one vision: the intelligent, self-illuminating and touch-sensitive plastic component.

All these innovations have three things in common: elegant design, flawless surfaces and absolutely precise printing – those are the criteria with which the products from BÖ-LA can be described. To ensure that this succeeds and to satisfy the rising demand for high-gloss articles with a piano lacquer finish, the company encapsulated the printing room last year and converted the entire printing shop into one large clean room. As a result, BÖ-LA also set a course towards the production of printed electronics, a new and emerging business area where a particularly dust-free environment is key.

However, new innovative possibilities are not only opening up in the field of function integration but also in the decoration and individualization sector.

Many car buyers want an individualized vehicle interior. This is becoming reality with the joint project „multi-decoration trims“ from Gerhardi Kunststofftechnik. Individual design and color wishes can be achieved simply and at low price using an innovative multifunctional molding tool which is designed for various chrome, structural chrome, lacquer and film-insert-molded versions. BÖ-LA, as a partner for the
3D-formed and insert-molded FIM trims, depending on taste, is showing a large number of combinations of matt and high-gloss surfaces in attractive color tones. Whether 3D trims in piano lacquer finish with a hardcoat surface, backlighting of the component or indirect ambient lighting – everything is possible. A unique tool concept that sets standards.

Die 1975 gegründete BÖ-LA Siebdrucktechnik GmbH gehört weltweit zu den führenden Spezialisten für industrielle Siebdruckanwendungen und zählt, als ein Pionier des Film-Insert-Molding-Verfahrens, heute zu den anerkanntesten und kompetentesten Technologiepartnern im Bereich der Folienhinterspritzung. Rund 300 Mitarbeiter produzieren an drei Standorten in Radevormwald mit Anzeigeblenden, Bedienelementen (HMI) und
Zifferblättern ein breites Spektrum an technisch hochwertigen, foliendekorierten Kunststoffbauteilen für die Geschäftsbereiche Automotive,
Hausgeräte sowie Elektronik.

Firmenkontakt
BÖ-LA
Frau Ilka Kremer
Dahlienstraße 33
42477 Radevormwald
02195/91030
02195/40009
info@boela.de
www.boela.de

Pressekontakt
siegerbrauckmann
Frau Ilka Kremer
Mittelstraße 16
58553 Halver
02353/6686915
02353/6686928
kremer@siegerbrauckmann.de
www.siegerbrauckmann.de