Valve stem actuation
AssigneeHusky Injection Molding Systems Ltd.
InventorsStephen Daniel Ferenc, William Steven Keir, Brandon Douglas White
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for actuating a valve stem between an open position and a closed position and for taking one or more valve gated nozzle out of service is disclosed. The hot runner includes a valve gated nozzle having a valve stem, the valve stem coupled to a piston that is held against an actuation plate via pressurized air. When a valve stem becomes stuck in a gate of the hot runner, the actuation plate can continue to move while the piston remains stationary. The valve stem may also be protected from an over force situation such as if the valve stem encounters an obstruction as the actuation plate is moving toward the closed position.
Claims11
A hot runner of an injection molding machine for passing melt into a mold cavity, the hot runner comprising:
- a first valve gated nozzle having a first gate configured to pass melt into the mold cavity and a first valve stem movable relative to the first gate between an open position to allow passage of melt into the mold cavity and a closed position to prevent passage of melt into the mold cavity;
- a first piston coupled to the first valve stem;
- and
- an actuation plate being movable in a first direction toward the first gate and a second direction away from the first gate, the actuation plate acting on the first piston and configured to move the first valve stem between the open position and the closed position;
- wherein the first piston is movable relative to the actuation plate, the first piston to be continuously biased in the second direction and held against at least a portion of the actuation plate via pressurized air to move with movement of the actuation plate in the first and second directions;
- wherein the actuation plate is configured to simultaneously actuate a plurality of valve stems, the first valve stem being one of the plurality of valve stems.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.