Apparatus for proportionally controlling fluid delivery to a mold

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a common manifold to one or more mold cavities, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the one or more mold cavities, each nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of a cavity of a mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to each actuator, at least one actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to the sensor, the computer receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of an actuator for the at least one nozzle;
• a rotary valve having a rotatable flow channel connecting an input flow channel to the exit aperture of at least one of the nozzles, the rotatable channel being interconnected to the actuator and controllably rotatable via the actuator to selectively vary the rate of flow of plastic melt through the rotatable flow channel to the exit aperture.

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a common manifold to one or more mold cavities, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the one or more mold cavities, each nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of a cavity of a mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to each actuator, at least one actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to the sensor, the computer receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of an actuator for the at least one nozzle;
• wherein the actuator has a piston mounted within a fluid sealed housing, the piston having a stem extending outside the fluid sealed housing, the valve pin having a head wherein the stem is readily detachable interconnected to the head of the valve pin outside the fluid sealed housing.

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a common manifold to one or more mold cavities, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the one or more mold cavities, each nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of a cavity of a mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to each actuator, at least one actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to the sensor, the computer receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of an actuator for the at least one nozzle;
• wherein the actuator comprises an electrically driven motor, the motor being mechanically interconnected to a valve pin disposed in a bore of one of the nozzles such that the valve pin is reciprocally drivable within the bore of the nozzle by the motor, the motor being electrically interconnected to the algorithm, the algorithm controlling the drive of the motor.

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a common manifold to one or more mold cavities, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the one or more mold cavities, each nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of a cavity of a mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to each actuator, at least one actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to the sensor, the computer receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of an actuator for the at least one nozzle;
• wherein each actuator for each of the first and second nozzles is fluid driven, each actuator being supplied with a drive fluid flowing through a manifold which commonly delivers fluid to each of the nozzles.

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a common manifold to one or more mold cavities, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the one or more mold cavities, each nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of a cavity of a mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to each actuator, at least one actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to the sensor, the computer receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of an actuator for the at least one nozzle;
• wherein at least one gate of a mold is an edge gate extending radially outward through a mold cavity plate, the nozzle having a bore having a first portion having an inlet for the plastic melt which is not in alignment with the edge gate and a second portion extending radially outward from the first portion terminating in the exit aperture being in alignment with the edge gate.

In an injection molding machine having first and second nozzles for delivering melt material from a common manifold to one or more mold cavities, apparatus for controlling delivery of the melt material from the nozzles to the one or more mold cavities, each nozzle having an exit aperture communicating with a gate of a cavity of a mold and being associated with an actuator interconnected to a melt flow controller, the apparatus comprising:

• a sensor for sensing a selected condition of the melt material through at least one of the nozzles;
• an actuator controller interconnected to each actuator, each actuator controller comprising a computer interconnected to a sensor for receiving a signal representative of the selected condition sensed by the sensor, the computer including an algorithm utilizing a value corresponding to a signal received from the sensor as a variable for controlling operation of an actuator for the at least one nozzle;
• a plurality of enclosed heat conductive tubes containing a fluid which vaporizes and condenses within the tube and a wick disposed within and along the length of each tube, at least one of the manifold and one of the nozzles having the tubes embedded therein.