Apparatus and method for proportionally controlling fluid delivery to a mold

In an injection molding machine having at least one nozzle for delivering melt material from a manifold to a mold cavity, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzle to the mold cavity, the nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of the cavity of the mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through the nozzle;
• an actuator controller interconnected to the actuator, the actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to a sensor for receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of the actuator;
• wherein the actuator is interconnected to and controls movement of a pin having an axis slidably mounted in a channel leading to the gate for back and forth movement of the pin through the channel;
• wherein the nozzle and the manifold are both heated to a selected operating temperature and both maintained at the selected operating temperature during an injection cycle which delivers the melt material from the manifold to the mold cavity.

In an injection molding machine having at least one nozzle for delivering melt material from a manifold to a mold cavity, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzle to the mold cavity, the nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of the cavity of the mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through the nozzle;
• an actuator controller interconnected to the actuator, the actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to a sensor for receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of the actuator;
• wherein the actuator is interconnected to and controls movement of a pin having an axis slidably mounted in a channel leading to the gate for back and forth movement of the pin through the channel;
• wherein the melt flow controller increases the rate of flow of the melt material at different increasing rates by retraction of the melt flow controller away from the gate according to the algorithm at a position spaced upstream of the gate.

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a manifold to first and second gates respectively leading to one or more molds, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the gates, the nozzles having exit apertures communicating with their respective gates and each nozzle being associated with a respective actuator interconnected to a respective melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material flowing from the manifold through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to the actuator associated with the at least one nozzle, the actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to the sensor, the computer receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to the signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of the actuator associated with the at least on nozzle;
• wherein the actuator associated with the at least one nozzle is interconnected to and controls movement of a pin having an axis slidably mounted in a channel leading to the gate of the at least one nozzle for back and forth movement of the pin through the channel;
• wherein the melt flow controller of the at least one nozzle controls the rate of flow of melt material at a position spaced upstream of the exit aperture of the at least one nozzle.