Injection molding system with sequential gate control
OwnerJohn Tarr, Dave Reitaninventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An injection molding machine 10! for molding plastic parts by injecting a molten plastic through a plurality of valve gates 31! into a mold cavity by reciprocation of a helical screw 16!. A linear position sensor 34! positioned on the machine to detect the position of the helical screw 16! and control the opening and closing of the gates 31! based on the detected position of the screw 16!. A computer is in communication with the valve gates and the position sensor to monitor the position and activate the opening and closing of the valve gates 31!. A pressure transducer is associated with the mold cavity and in communication with the computer 32! as an alternate or additional method for controlling the opening and closing of the valve gates 31!.
Claims16
An injection molding system, including an injection molding machine for molding plastic parts, comprising:
- a barrel for receiving a material to be used to injection mold parts;
- a heater associated with said barrel for heating said material into molten form;
- a reciprocating screw located within said barrel to transfer said molten material toward a pair of mold halves which when closed form at least one mold cavity therebetween in the shape of the part or parts to be molded;
- a plurality of valve gates distributed across a surface of one of said pair of mold halves for receiving said molten material and transferring it to said at least one mold cavity;
- a linear position transducer located on said machine in communication with said screw for monitoring the position of said screw as said screw reciprocates within said barrel;
- and
- a computer in communication with said linear position transducer for determining the position of said reciprocating screw, said computer also in communication with each of said plurality of valve gates for opening and closing said valve gates based on the position of said screw as determined by said linear position transducer.
An injection molding system, including an injection molding machine for molding a plastic part or parts, comprising:
- a pair of mold halves which when closed form at least one mold cavity in the shape of the part or parts to be molded;
- a pair of reciprocating screws each located within a respective barrel and each screw in communication with said at least one mold cavity to transfer a molten material thereto;
- a plurality of normally closed valve gates distributed across a surface of one of said pair of mold halves for regulating the flow of material from each said barrel into said cavity;
- a pair of linear position transducers located on said machine, each linear position transducer in communication with a respective screw to monitor the position thereof;
- and
- a computer in communication with each of said linear position transducers for monitoring the position of each of said screws and opening said plurality of normally closed valve gates based on the position of each of said screws.
An injection molding system, including an injection molding machine for molding a plastic part or parts, comprising:
- a pair of mold halves which when closed form at least one mold cavity in the shape of the part or parts to be molded;
- a pair of reciprocating screws each located within a respective barrel and each screw in communication with said at least one mold cavity to transfer a molten material thereto;
- a plurality of normally closed valve gates distributed across the surface of one of said pair of mold halves for regulating the flow of material from each said barrel into said cavity;
- at least one pressure transducer to measure the pressure in said mold cavity;
- and
- a computer with which said at least one pressure transducer is in communication with to open and close said valve gates based on said pressure information which is relayed to said computer by said at least one pressure transducer.
An injection molding system, including an injection molding machine for molding a plastic part or parts, comprising:
- a pair of mold halves which when closed form at least one mold cavity in the shape of the part or parts to be molded;
- a pair of reciprocating screws each located within a respective barrel and each screw in communication with said at least one mold cavity to transfer a molten material thereto;
- a plurality of normally closed valve gates distributed across a surface of one of said pair of mold halves for regulating the flow of material from each said barrel into said cavity;
- a pair of linear position transducers located on said machine, each linear position transducer in communication with a respective screw to monitor the position thereof;
- a timer located on said machine;
- a computer in communication with said timer for opening said plurality of normally closed valve gates based on a combination of time and screw position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.