Injection nozzle with a removable heater device having one or more heating elements

An injection molding apparatus, comprising:

• a manifold having a melt channel;
• a mold cavity plate having a mold gate and a nozzle bore therein;
• at least one nozzle including a nozzle body positioned in the nozzle bore, the nozzle body having a substantially flat outer surface and a nozzle melt channel in fluid communication with a melt channel in a manifold;
• and
• a releasably securable substantially planar film heater device releasably secured to the substantially flat outer surface of the nozzle body, the film heater device including a support device and first and second film heating elements coupled to the support device, wherein the first and second film heating elements are positioned about the nozzle body to cover substantially the same area of the melt channel;
• wherein the film heater device provides a desired amount of heat from one or both of the first and second film heating elements.

An injection molding apparatus, comprising:

• an injection molding manifold having a manifold melt channel;
• an injection molding nozzle adjacent said manifold, said nozzle having a nozzle head portion and a nozzle body portion and including a nozzle melt channel, wherein said nozzle body has a substantially flat nozzle body surface;
• and
• a nozzle heater having a substantially flat heater substrate, a first film heater element patterned on said heater substrate along a portion of said nozzle melt channel and a second film heater independent from the first film heater, wherein said second film heater is patterned on said heater substrate at least partially along the same portion of said nozzle melt channel, wherein the nozzle heater is removably attached to said substantially flat nozzle body surface such that said heater is removable without distancing the nozzle from the manifold.