Interchangeable mold for creation of injection molded components
OwnerDhruvay Jain, Carl Allen +2inventors
InventorsDhruvay Jain, Carl Allen, Adam Oranchak, Andrew Clemenson
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Abstract
An interchangeable mold for use in the manufacture of injection molded components is disclosed. An interchangeable mold can have a component mold made of one material (e.g., metal) and a base mold made of another material (e.g., polymer). Each of the base mold and the component mold can be manufactured using additive or subtractive manufacturing processes. The component mold can be attached and detached from the base mold to permit the forming of different components using the same base mold.
Claims20
An interchangeable mold for creation of injection molded components, the interchangeable mold comprising:
- a component mold comprising:
- a top portion of the component mold, and
- a bottom portion of the component mold, the top portion of the component mold and the bottom portion of the component mold defining a component profile;
- and
- a base mold comprising:
- a top portion of the base mold, the top portion of the base mold accommodating a profile of the top portion of the component mold, and
- a bottom portion of the base mold, the bottom portion of the base mold accommodating a profile of the bottom portion of the component mold,
- wherein the top portion of the component mold is configured to detachably affix to the top portion of the base mold, and
- wherein the bottom portion of the component mold is configured to detachably affix to the bottom portion of the base mold.
A method of manufacturing an interchangeable mold, the method comprising:
- manufacturing a top portion of a component mold and a bottom portion of the component mold,
- wherein the top portion of the component mold and the bottom portion of the component mold define a profile of a component;
- and
- manufacturing a top portion of a base mold and a bottom portion of a base mold,
- wherein the top portion of the base mold accommodates a profile of the top portion of the component mold,
- wherein the top portion of the component mold is manufactured to be detachably affixed to the top portion of the base mold,
- wherein the bottom portion of the base mold accommodates a profile of the bottom portion of the component mold, and
- wherein the bottom portion of the component mold is manufactured to be detachably affixed to the bottom portion of the base mold.
A method of manufacturing an injection molded component, the method comprising:
- detachably affixing a top portion of a component mold to a top portion of a base mold,
- wherein the top portion of the component mold defines a top portion of a profile of the injection molded component, and
- wherein the top portion of the base mold accommodates the top portion of the component mold;
- detachably affixing a bottom portion of the component mold to a bottom portion of the base mold,
- wherein the bottom portion of the component mold defines a bottom portion of the profile of the injection molded component, and
- wherein the bottom portion of the base mold accommodates the bottom portion of the component mold;
- assembling the top portion of the component mold, the top portion of the base mold, the bottom portion of the component mold, and the bottom portion of the base mold into an injection mold;
- and
- injecting material into the injection mold to form the injection molded component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.