Injection molding manifolds with melt connector bushing

A method of conveying melt from a central inlet to a plurality of cavities in a mold, comprising the steps of

• (a) conveying said melt through a melt passage through a central heated manifold,
• (b) conveying said melt received from the central manifold through a central bore of an elongated connector bushing having a first cylindrical portion extending from a first end, a second cylindrical portion extending from a second end, with said melt bore extending therethrough from said first end to said second end, the first portion being received in a first cylindrical opening aligned with the melt passage in the central manifold, the second portion being received in a second cylindrical opening aligned with a melt passage in a heated nozzle manifold, at least one of the first and second cylindrical portions of the connector bushing fitting in one of the first and second cylindrical openings in the heated manifolds to allow the at least one cylindrical portion of the connector bushing to slide sufficiently in said one of the cylindrical openings to allow for thermal expansion and contraction of the manifolds and connector bushing without allowing leakage of pressurized melt flowing through the melt passage,
• (c) conveying said melt received from the connector bushing through a melt passage through the nozzle manifold extending in a common plane with the central manifold and the connector bushing, the melt passage branching in the nozzle manifold into a plurality of branches, and
• (d) conveying said melt received from each branch of the melt passage through the nozzle manifold through a central bore of a nozzle mounted adjacent the nozzle manifold with the central bore of said nozzle leading to a gate extending to one of said cavities.