Apparatus and method for detecting a position of an actuator piston

A control system of an injection molding system for implementing a molding process, comprising:

• a control system that controls movement of a valve pin over the course of an injection cycle in accordance with a set of predetermined process parameters, wherein during an injection cycle a nozzle feeds fluid material into a cavity of the mold and the valve pin, driven by an associated actuator, opens and closes a gate into the cavity,
• a position sensor associated with the valve pin for monitoring a plurality of actual pin positions with respect to the gate and generating an output signal indicative of the plurality of actual pin positions as the valve pin moves between gate closed and gate open positions,
• wherein, during an injection cycle, the fluid material is fed to the nozzle at one or more predetermined times, starting by opening the valve pin at an opening time and allowing the fluid material to flow into the cavity and wherein the fluid material injected from the nozzle forms a molded part in the cavity,
• the control system being configured to receive and process the output signal from the associated position sensor to determine, from the plurality of actual pin positions, one or more actual process parameters including an actual pin opening time and actual pin velocities during an injection cycle,
• a graphical display receiving and displaying the plurality of actual pin positions and the one or more actual process parameters by which a human operator can track the plurality of actual pin positions and the one or more actual process parameters in real time during the injection cycle.