# US 10,864,667 B2 · Molding system for preparing an in-mold decorated article

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- Number: US 10,864,667 B2
- Document ID: US10864667B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/913,102
- Filed: 2018-03-06
- Published: 2019-01-31
- Granted: 2020-12-15
- Earliest claimed: 2017-07-28
- Assignees: Coretech Systems Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Coretech System Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Chih-Chung Hsu; Tung-Huan Su; Hsien-Sen Chiu; Chia-Hsiang Hsu; Rong-Yeu Chang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10864667B2

## CPC

- B29C 45/7693: {using rheological models of the material in the mould, e.g. finite elements method}
- B29C 45/7613: {the termination of flow of material into the mould}
- B29C 45/77: of velocity or pressure of moulding material
- B29C 45/78: of temperature
- G06F 30/20: Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30)
- B29C 45/14778: {the article consisting of a material with particular properties, e.g. porous, brittle}
- G06F 2113/22: Moulding
- B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A molding system comprises a mold, a molding machine, a computing apparatus, and a controller. The computing apparatus is programmed to perform a first simulation to generate a velocity distribution and a temperature distribution of the molding material in a first portion of a simulating domain and a second simulation to generate a melting distribution of the solid decorating film in a second portion of the simulating domain, wherein the simulating domain corresponds to the mold cavity. The first molding simulation is to performed using a molding condition of the molding machine to set a boundary condition of the first portion, and the second molding simulation is performed using the velocity distribution and the temperature distribution of the molding material to set a boundary condition of the second portion.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A molding system for preparing an in-mold decorated article, comprising:
a mold having a mold cavity, wherein a decorating film is disposed in the mold cavity;
a molding machine configured to fill the mold cavity with a fluid molding material, wherein the molding machine comprises a barrel, a plurality of heat elements configured to heat the barrel, a screw positioned in the barrel, and a screw-driving motor configured to drive the screw to feed the molding fluid molding material into the mold cavity, under heat and pressure;
a controller configured to control heat and pressure of the molding machine by tuning the heat elements and the screw-driving motor; and
a computing apparatus operably communicating with the controller, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to perform operations comprising steps of:
specifying a simulating domain corresponding to a genuine domain in the mold disposed on the molding machine;
performing a first molding simulation to generate a temperature distribution and a velocity distribution of the fluid molding material in a first portion of the simulating domain, wherein the first molding simulation is performed using a molding condition of the molding machine to set a boundary condition of the first portion, corresponding to a portion of the mold cavity to be filled with the fluid molding material; and
performing a second molding simulation, using the temperature distribution and the velocity distribution of the fluid molding material in the first portion of the simulating domain, to set a boundary condition of the decorating film in a second portion of the simulating domain, thereby generating a temperature distribution of the decorating film along a thickness direction and then generating a velocity distribution of a portion of the decorating film where the fluid molding material comes into contact and transformed from a solid state at temperatures below a glass transition temperature of the decorating film to a melted state at temperatures above the glass transition temperature, the temperature distribution in the second portion of the simulating domain expresses a temperature variation of the decorating film relative to a filling time of the fluid molding material, and the velocity distribution in the second portion of the simulating domain expresses a velocity variation greater than 0 of the portion of the decorating film relative to the filling time of the molding material,
wherein the controller operates the molding machine with the molding condition to perform an actual molding for injecting the fluid molding material into the mold cavity, and the decorating film is inserted into the mold cavity before the actual molding.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to further perform a step of repeating the first molding simulation using the melting distribution of the decorating film to set the boundary condition of the first portion.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to perform the second molding simulation by setting a zero-velocity boundary condition of the decorating film in the second portion along a first direction perpendicular to a flow direction of the fluid molding material.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The molding system of claim 3, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to perform the second molding simulation by setting a zero-velocity boundary condition of the decorating film in the second portion along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and perpendicular to the flow direction of the fluid molding material.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to further perform a step of calculating a bulk displacement of the decorating film using the velocity distribution of the second portion.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to perform the first molding simulation using an initial velocity of the decorating film to set the boundary condition of the first portion.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to set an initial velocity of the decorating film to be zero.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the second molding simulation generates the velocity distribution of the portion of the decorating film transformed from the solid state to the melted state along a thickness direction with respect to the filling time of the fluid molding material.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to further perform a step of repeating the first molding simulation using the velocity distribution of the decorating film to set the boundary condition of the first portion.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The molding system of claim 1, wherein the second molding simulation generates the temperature distribution of the portion of the decorating film transformed from the solid state to the melted state along a thickness direction with respect to the filling time of the fluid molding material.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The molding system of claim 10, wherein the computing apparatus is programmed to further perform a step of repeating the first molding simulation using the temperature distribution of the decorating film to set the boundary condition of the first portion.