Systems and methods to fabricate an injection molded piece with a weakened portion
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorJacob Alexander
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method is provided to fabricate an injection molded piece with a weakened portion in an injection molding system having a cavity defined by a fixed mold part and a moveable mold part. The method comprises injecting raw material in a liquid state into the cavity to form the injection molded piece; moving a weakening insert into the injection molded piece from a first surface of the injection molded piece; injecting a gas to the first surface of the injection molded piece with a controlled pressure, wherein moving the weakening insert into the injection molded piece and injecting the gas are performed while the injection molded piece is in the liquid state.
Claims20
A method to fabricate an injection molded piece with a weakened portion in an injection molding system, the injection molding system including a cavity defined by a fixed mold part and a moveable mold part, the method comprising:
- injecting raw material in a liquid state into the cavity to form the injection molded piece;
- moving a weakening insert into the injection molded piece from a first surface of the injection molded piece, wherein the first surface faces the moveable mold part;
- and
- injecting a gas to the first surface of the injection molded piece with a controlled pressure,
- wherein moving the weakening insert into the injection molded piece and injecting the gas are performed while the injection molded piece is in the liquid state.
A method to fabricate an injection molded piece with a weakened portion in an injection molding system, the injection molding system including a cavity defined by a fixed mold part and a moveable mold part, the method comprising:
- injecting raw material in a liquid state into the cavity of a mold to form the injection molded piece;
- pushing a weakening insert into the injection molded piece to form the weakened portion at a first molding condition;
- and
- injecting a gas to a first surface of the injection molded piece at a second molding condition, wherein the first surface faces a moveable part of the mold.
An injection molding system to fabricate an injection molded piece with a weakened portion, comprising:
- a fixed mold part;
- a moveable mold part including a core and a core pull and push device to move the core,
- a cavity defined by the fixed mold part and the core when the moveable mold part contacts the fixed mold part;
- a weakening insert disposed on the core, wherein the weakening insert is moveable by an actuator;
- an external gas system to supply a gas to the cavity;
- and
- a controller to control an insertion of the weakening insert and gas injection to the cavity in response to a molding condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.