Carbon Fibre Cases for E-cigarettes

Hypetex and Philip Morris International (PMI), owners of the heated tobacco devices brand IQOS, collaborated on a development program to create coloured carbon composite covers for IQOS.

Hypetex and Philip Morris International (PMI), owners of the heated tobacco devices brand IQOS, collaborated on a development program to create coloured carbon composite covers for IQOS.

PMI approached Hypetex with the objective to identify a viable composite material solution to create the IQOS accessories in coloured visual carbon, as well as defining an easily scalable production process and manufacturing supply chain using Hypetex’s unique in-mould coloured composite technology.

For this development project, Hypetex coordinated all aspects of the design, engineering, materials, and technical direction from the initial concept through to the final solution selected for production.

The key challenge for the IQOS cover manufacturing team was to keep processing time to a minimum with precision and quality to the maximum. 

Multi-cavity tooling and machine jigs met the compression moulding and CNC machining requirements before the Hypetex carbon covers then went through another inline process of overmolding with transparent PC materials. A final two coat protective lacquer was applied, keeping cycle time to a minimum.

The final part of the manufacturing operation, and a key requirement for the IQOS brand was to prove out the process for the application of IQOS logos for the new carbon cover parts. Laser etching process was used to meet PMI branding specifications.