Gate for injection molding rubber compounds

Abstract

A combination rubber injection gate system (24) and method of injection molding rubber to produce desired flow patterns in the rubber is disclosed. The combination gate (24) directs rubber through a first region (26) to flow at cross angles (38, 40) through the injection gate (24), relative to the direction of flow of the rubber (22) through the injection gate (24). The rubber (22) is then directed through an adjacent region (28) to flow through the injection gate (24) at a direction parallel to the direction of flow of the rubber (22) through the entire injection gate (24). The combination gate (24) yields a highly mixed and uniform flow of rubber (22) that is particularly useful when injection molding fiber-loaded rubber where it is desired to orient the fibers in a particular direction.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.