Playmobil
Working with Silicone Is Child’s Play
The name “Playmobil” evokes a magical world of miniature plastic figures. Their creator, Geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG, has discovered flexible silicone rubber grades. The novel toy parts they make possible delight children the world over.
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The weeping willow branch from Playmobil’s “Feenwelt” (fairyland) would be impossible without flexible silicone rubber.
M+S Formteile, located in Saerbeck, northwest Germany, specializes in the production of injection-molded articles of solid and liquid silicone rubber. For years, it has been supplying Geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG with small, yet interesting parts that can’t be produced using other plastics.
Since their 1974 market introduction, over two billion of the characteristically designed Playmobil plastic figures have been sold. Via 330 injection-molding machines, the main production facility in Dietenhofen (Bavaria, Germany) alone consumes 16,000 metric tons of plastic annually.
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M+S Formteile’s unusual injection mold creates perfect silicone branches in no time at all.
Weeping Willow of Silicone
The toy manufacturer obtains specialty elastomer parts (including components for its newest “fairyland pet project”: Feenwelt – not yet available everywhere) from suppliers such as M+S. One small green component is made of WACKER’s ELASTOSIL®LR 3003 liquid silicone rubber. Hardly bigger than a hand, the individual part is rather unspectacular. However, when several are affixed to a plastic trunk, the result is a huge weeping willow.
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Dr. Elmar Kolossa from WACKER SILICONES (left) and Markus Pflips from M+S Formteile inspect a silicone branch.
Especially Free-Flowing
Producing these green toy parts is not as easy as it looks, because the flow paths are relatively long. They sometimes change from thin to thick, curve around sharp corners and then turn back on themselves. The part is also quite asymmetrical. However, WACKER’s liquid silicone rubber flows so well that it even fills out the fine leaves on branch tips.
Plastizicer-Free Alternative
Without specialty silicone grades, this item wouldn’t be possible. Soft and flexible plastics typically contain plasticizers, such as the problematic phthalates and other additives which have been long banned at Playmobil. However, an alternative is now available: WACKER’s ELASTOSIL®silicone grades.
They are hygienic, easily cleaned and flame-resistant, exhibit high mechanical resistance and don’t melt. Plus, they are not even dangerous when swallowed. After all, silicone is free of sharp edges and contains no hazardous materials. Silicone therefore has a bright future in the baby-care sector. Products such as nipples, pacifiers, teething rings and training cup lids are increasingly made from silicone.