This article mainly introduces the advantages, production equipment, production process, etc. of silicone cups. If you want to create your own silicone cup brand or business, and have a clear understanding of the advantages, application areas, design, and production process of silicone cups, please go through this article. Silicone cups have the advantages of high and low temperature resistance -40~230°C, anti-slip and Fall resistance, Versatility and environmental protection. They are widely used:
Outdoor sports: The portability and durability of Foldable silicone cups make them an ideal choice for outdoor sports enthusiasts. Whether hiking, camping, mountaineering or cycling, silicone cups can provide clean and hygienic drinking water and are easy to carry
Travel: In long-distance travel, self-driving tours, beach vacations and other occasions, silicone cups are ideal travel companions due to their lightweight and leak-proof design. They can be easily put into backpacks or luggage to provide drinks at any time
Office study: For office workers and students, silicone cups are not only easy to carry, but also can provide hot and cold drinks in the office or school. Its simple and stylish appearance also makes it a good choice for personal use or gifting
Home life: At home, silicone cups can be used for daily drinking, making tea, preparing hot drinks, etc. Its environmentally friendly material and durability make it an ideal choice for family life.
Business meetings: In business meetings, exhibitions, and event sites, silicone cups are suitable for various business activities due to their leak-proof design and portability.
Public places: In public places such as airports, stations, buses, subways, restaurants, etc., silicone cups are ideal beverage containers due to their lightness and leak-proof design.
What is the silicone cup?
Silicone cup is a cup made of silicone material, which has the characteristics of environmental protection, safety, and resistance to falling. Silicone cups are usually made of high-temperature vulcanized silicone through compression vulcanization molding, liquid injection molding, or drip molding. Silicone cups are generally soft and durable, not easy to break, environmentally friendly and healthy, leak-proof and scald-proof, and easy to clean.
Because of its anti-fall characteristics, silicone cups are particularly suitable for infants, the elderly, and outdoor use.
Silicone rubber cups are one of the must-have kettles for many outdoor travels. Due to its softness, it can be bent into other shapes at will, so folding and storage is currently the best choice. It is not easy to deform after long-term bending, and the silicone material can withstand high and low temperatures for a long time. It has no effect on using it to hold hot and cold water. It is easy to clean and carry. Due to its foldable characteristics, it is very small to store and does not take up space, which is especially suitable for students and going out. Not only can it hold hot and cold water, but it can also be folded and put into a pocket or bag at will. Whether it is a short trip or outdoor activities, it is super convenient to bring this cup.
What are the advantages of silicone cups?
Environmental protection and safety: The silicone cup uses environmentally friendly gas-phase silica gel, which has good chemical stability. It does not react with any acid or alkali except in the two extremely special cases of caustic alkali and hydrofluoric acid. It is non-toxic and odorless. It is often used in products with high safety requirements such as baby pacifiers and silicone bottles.
Fall resistance: The silicone cup has a good fall resistance effect and will not be easily damaged even if it falls from a high place.
High and low temperature resistance: The temperature resistance range of silicone raw materials is -40℃ to 220℃. It will not melt even at high temperatures and is safe to use.
Easy to clean: The silicone material is easy to clean and will not leave any odor or stains.
Versatility: The silicone cup can be bent into other shapes at will, which is suitable for outdoor travel and tourism. It is not easy to deform after long-term bending.
Z.S.R offers various Custom silicone cups with different shape and colors for different industry used such as baby, homeware, travelling and outdoor, Promotional etc.
Materials, Tools, Equipment
According to the silicone cup making process, there are 5 ways of silicone molding process: silicone rubber compression molding, LSR injection molding, silicone Drip molding, silicone Extrusion Molding, silicone Calendaring molding. Here in Z.S.R, for silicone cups, we only have 3 molding process capacity. The different molding process need the different material, tools and equipment:
Silicone compression molding
Silicone Compression Molding
The main materials required for the production of silicone cups include silicone raw material, crosslinking agent, catalyst, filler and additives. These materials working together to get the silicone cups. Usually, silicone rubber raw material, crosslinking agent and filler are made into one component, and catalyst is a separate component. Therefore, mold silicone products is also called two-component vulcanized silicone products. In Z.S.R, All the silicone raw material we used is FDA or LFGB approved 100% Food Grade silicone rubber. The crosslinking agent, catalyst is Platinum if you needed.
The solid silicone rubber silicone cup cost is relatively low. The silicone cup produced can also reach environmentally friendly food grade, with high-quality Food Grade material, which is the choice of many consumers from USA, Australia.
Material Preparation
Choice the correct standard material according to your products function and test standard, such as FDA or LFGB material.
Silicone Rubber Mixer
The silicone rubber material mixer is used to mix the raw materials with additives such as vulcanizer and color paste. used to add vulcanizer, masterbatch and other auxiliary materials to the raw materials, and refine the raw rubber into usable raw rubber. Z.S.R have 2 Silicone rubber mixer workshop and machine to mixed the material for your silicone cups.
Silicone Rubber Cutter
Cuts the refined silicone material into the required size and weight for making products. Z.S.R have 2 silicone rubber cutting machine to cut the material for your silicone cups.
Electronic Scale
Weight the cutted silicone rubber mixed material to ensure that the product is within the error range. We have more than 60 Electronic scales for each silicone compression molding machine.
Mold Preparation
Before the silicone cups making, Make the corresponding mold according to the product design requirements. The shape and size of the mold determine the shape and size of the product. The mold material is usually Steel or aluminum alloy (prototype tooling). Z.S.R International Group (HONG KONG) CO., LIMITED in-house tool shop consists 6 sets of advanced CNC machining centers and 3 sets of EDM spark machines for tooling.
So, we can make most of the silicone cup tooling and repair the silicone cup tooling in our factory to catch up your time needed. The complete mold work shop can help you develop your new design silicone products and offer the creative silicone cups OEM & ODM services for you.
Molding Stage
Install the prepared mold on the vulcanizer to ensure that the mold fits well and is well sealed. the hydraulic compress molding machine (also known as the flat vulcanizer) provides the pressure, mold temperature and vulcanization time required for molding; After the mold is heated to the appropriate temperature, the prepared silicone raw material is placed in the mold for molding.
During the molding process, parameters such as temperature, pressure and time need to be controlled to ensure that the product is molded completely and the size is accurate.Z.S.R have 32 sets silicone rubber molding machine to molded your silicone products.
The sandblasting machine is used to clean the molding mold and keep the production process clean.
Post-Processing
The silicone cups need to be post-processed such as deburring, cleaning, and drying to improve the appearance quality and durability of the product
Quality Inspection
Quality inspection is an important link to ensure the quality of silicone products, including appearance inspection, size measurement, performance testing and other aspects. Only products that have undergone strict quality inspection can be shipped out of the factory
Packaging and Shipment
Products that have passed quality inspection need to be packaged and shipped. The selection of packaging materials should comply with relevant standards and requirements to ensure that the product is not damaged during transportation
Z.S.R one day mass production capability for 21000-79999/pcs silicone cups according to the structure and size with the 32 sets molding machines.
L.S.R injection molding
Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) Injection Molding
Liquid silicone injection molding mainly uses liquid silicone rubber (LSR) material. LSR is a two-component thermosetting material, usually mixed in the form of A/B components. Component A contains a platinum catalyst, while component B contains a cross-linking agent. LSR is in a liquid state before curing and becomes an elastomer after curing.
The liquid silicone processing is relatively high cost. It is processed with liquid silicone rubber with water-like silicone cup material. The Liquid silicone rubber silicone cups feels more softer, has better rebound, and the parting line is smaller than that of solid silicone. However, the minimum order of the silicone cup is higher. And the LSR silicone cup’s injection mold cost is higher also.
Material preparation: Choose the appropriate liquid silicone type based on a comprehensive assessment of the product’s purpose, properties, shape, etc. For example, the medical industry should choose medical-grade silicone materials, and infant products generally use highly transparent food-grade liquid silicone raw materials. Prepare the appropriate color paste so that it can be mixed to achieve the final LSR molded product color that customer needed.
Mixing equipment: It is used to mix the liquid silicone of components A and B to ensure accurate proportions and uniform mixing. Common mixing equipment includes static mixers and vacuum tanks, etc.
Vacuum pump: used to remove bubbles from liquid silicone to ensure that the surface of the molded product is smooth and flawless.
Mixing container and stirring rod: containers and tools used to mix liquid silicone to ensure uniform mixing
Silicone Injection Mold: The mold is the carrier for liquid silicone injection molding. Its design and manufacturing must consider factors such as the fluidity of silicone, shrinkage after solidification, and the shape, size and wall thickness of the product. The precision and durability of the mold have a direct impact on the quality of the final product.
Z.S.R have 12 experienced engineer will consider your molded LSR products structure and design your silicone injection mold with the correct parting line and gate. Then Z.S.R team will make your precision injection tooling in our one roof mold workshop.
Injection molding machine: The injection molding machine is the core equipment for liquid silicone injection molding, which is used to inject the mixed liquid silicone into the mold. Common types of injection molding machines include vertical injection molding machines and horizontal injection molding machines.
Vertical injection molding machines are suitable for small-batch production and automatic molding of complex products, while horizontal injection molding machines are suitable for large-scale production, especially in the production of products that require high precision and smooth surfaces. Such as silicone baby nipple, baby pacifier or silicone medical products.
The mold needs to be preheated to 170~200℃, and the liquid silicone is injected into the mold through the injection molding machine. The injection pressure and temperature need to be precisely controlled.
Curing: Liquid silicone undergoes a curing reaction at high temperature, and the catalyst accelerates the curing process
Demolding and post-processing: The cured LSR silicone cups needs to be demolded from the mold, and some products may also require post-curing treatment, cleaning and removal of impurities
Quality control: Products must undergo strict quality inspections, including tests on size, hardness, transparency and elasticity
Packaging and transportation: Products that pass quality inspections will be cleanly packaged and shipped to the location specified by the customer
Z.S.R own 7 sets LSR injection molding machine to put your LSR silicone cups on mass production.
Z.S.R one day mass production capability for 10000-69999/pcs silicone cups according to the structure and size with the 7 sets molding machines. Liquid injection molding is very friendly to silicone products with high precision, high requirements and large-scale production to ensure product consistency, and is the most suitable choice.
The customization process for create your private silicone cups
In Z.S.R, we can custom the silicone cups shape, size, color, pattern, brands, logo by silkscreen printing, full-color printing, or laser engraving for your silicone products, if you would like to custom your brands silicone cups contact Z.S.R.
Customizable Content
- Appearance (shape, color): Shape can be round, square or creative shape by developing the new tooling. The color can be white, blue, black or use the pantone book number to customized. You also can get mixed color, marble color or double colored, multi-colored appearance.
- Material properties: You can customization the material with HTV material or LSR material. The hardness you can choice from 5-80 shore A, Translucent to highly transparent, Safety level from Food Grade to Medical grade, tensile properties from ordinary to high level)
- Mold type: Steel, Copper or Al
- Molding method：LSR Injection molding, HTV compression molding, dripping molding
- Labeling: Logo on the tooling and get the logo products. We also can Screen Printing，Laser Engraving，Heat Transfer Printing your logo on the silicone cups already.
- Packaging: zip bag, back card PET box, color box
- Shipping method: DHL, FedEx, Air shipping or Sea shipping
How to create your silicone cups brand or start your silicone cups business?
1. Design 3D structure of the silicone cup according to your idea.
2. Make the silicone cup tooling according to the silicone cup design requirements (Signal color or multi color) use the different metal, such as steel, copper or AL to ensure the accuracy and durability of the tooling.
Z.S.R International Group (HONG KONG) CO., LIMITED in-house tool shop consists 6 sets of advanced CNC machining centers and 3 sets of EDM spark machines for tooling; So, we can make most of the silicone cup tooling and repair the silicone cup tooling in our factory to catch up your time needed.
3. Prepare the silicone cup raw material: Raw silicone material are the key to silicone cup’s products. Usually, silicone cups meet certain environmental protection standards, so silicone cup material are no exception. Normally, environmentally friendly Fumed silicone rubber is selected for customized processing, while many manufacturers use Precipitated silicone rubber for processing. Although the product is not greatly affected, it is still different Fumed silicone rubber from in quality after a long time. Mix the silicone color according to your silicone cup needed. Cutting the silicone cup material in the correct weight. The color matching principle of the silicone raw materials used in silicone cups is basically the same as the color matching principle in art painting. The white translucent silicone raw materials are combined with the addition of vulcanizers by adding color pastes of corresponding color proportions into them to mix and knead to obtain the corresponding required color. The color matching color is generally based on the international Pantone color card, namely PANTONE color or actual color samples.
4. Feeding the prepared silicone cups mixed material on-Feeding the silicone cup material no matter the Liquid silicone rubber or solid silicone rubber in to the mold.
5. Curing the silicone cup: The silicone cups material is feeding into the mold after mixing, and the silicone cups material is filled into the entire space of the mold through heating and pressure. The temperature, pressure and time control of the molding process directly affect the size, shape and quality of the silicone cups.
No matter the silicone cup was made by: Compression molding or silicone dripping molding or LSR molding.
6. Demolding: After the curing is completed, take the silicone cup product out of the mold.
7. QC the silicone cup: Quality inspection: Visually inspect the molded silicone cup to see if there is lack of silicone cup material, uncooked Ness, or impurities
8. Post-processing: Carry out the silicone cup and then do the post processing and treatment, such as trimming, grinding, polishing, spraying, inspection, etc.
9. Secondary vulcanization: Secondary vulcanization is a process that must be handled for any product that has passed the inspection. The main reason why silicone cups have a certain smell is that they have not been subjected to Secondary vulcanization baking, and the catalyst of the raw silicone cups material of the products has not been emitted. At present, many silicone product manufacturers basically handle it, but the time and temperature of the Secondary vulcanization treatment are different. Bake in oven 2-4 hours to meet FDA or LFGB Standard. LSR silicone cup may do not need this process.
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10. LOGO or Pattern printing on the silicone cups if needed: screen printing or laser engraving. Most of time, we put the silicone cup logo on the silicone tooling directly. Check the products branding service to know more.
11. Final Quality control and testing: After all the silicone cup making process finished, we will arrange the final QC for the silicone cup before the delivery.
12. Package and Warehouse: Z. S. R offer custom packaging solutions you need for all your silicone cup packaging. Our custom packaging includes paper boxes, PE/PVC boxes, printed labels, hangtags, barcode stickers, etc to protect the safety of the silicone cup during transportation and storage, while ensuring the safety and aesthetics of the silicone cup.
In Z.S.R, we manufacture the silicone cup according to the client’s design and idea. We try our best to deliver the quality silicone cup to our customer.
Notice
When you buy the silicone cup, should pay attention to:
- Material and Certification: The silicone cup should meet your needs and is non-toxic and environmentally friendly to ensure safe use. lead, PVC-, and phthalates-free. Check whether the silicone cup product has a safety test certificate to ensure that it meets the relevant food safety standards. In China, silicone cup products can be checked for compliance with the limit requirements of GB 4806.11-2016 “National Food Safety Standard Food Contact material and Products”, while foreign products should be checked for US FDA certification, CPSIA certification or EU LFGB certification, etc. Food-grade silicone is preferred, IN USA -FDA Approved -silicone cup. The silicone cup should be 100% food-grade silicone raw silicone material to ensure safety. Ensuring that it complies with FDA and LFGB standards. Avoid choosing silicone cup made of ordinary plastics because they may release harmful substances.
- Choose a reliable brand: Buy a well-known, reputable brand quality-assured products to avoid safety hazards during use. Avoid buying inferior products and ensure safe use
- Proper size: The size of the silicone cup is very important. Inappropriate size will cause the cap to be loose or too tight, affecting the wearing experience. Generally speaking, the silicone cup should fit the scalp closely, but not too tight, otherwise it may cause discomfort.
- Design rationality: Choose a cap with ergonomic design, which can better adapt to the shape of the head and reduce discomfort. In addition, the silicone cup cover should have good elasticity and adaptability, fit the head tightly, and provide better protection.
When you would like to buy the silicone cup, you should comprehensively consider factors such as material, safety, brand, Function, and size to ensure a safe.
Conclusion
No matter you would like to create the silicone cup with your logo or design for sales, promotional or events. Z.S.R ‘s high-quality customized silicone cups are perfect for branding, souvenir, corporate gifts.
Z.S.R. customized branded silicone cup with added your logo, design pattern, text may be your good choices.
In Z.S.R, all the steps from raw silicone cups material selection to molding, curing, and quality control, each step plays a vital role in creating your silicone cup that meet safety standards and perform well in their intended applications.
Contact Z.S.R to brand your own silicone cup by contract manufacturing.
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About Author: Z.S.R International Group
Z.S.R International Group(Hong Kong) co., Limited, is a one-stop supplier for molded silicone products and silicone products molding solution provider in the consumer products field. We offer OEM services from silicone product design to Silicone products contract manufacturing. We have the capability for custom silicone tooling, LSR(Liquid silicone Rubber) molded silicone products, solid silicone molded products, molded silicone multi-colored products. We also can custom molded silicone, custom molded LSR, custom molded dripping injection dispensing(co-injection) silicone multi-colored products.
