Molding systems and methods

An injection plastic molding apparatus devised to mold plastic articles;

• the infection molding apparatus comprising:
• a melt flow modular assembly having a gate melt flow control apparatus to regulate the flow of material through the melt flow modular assembly, said gate melt flow control apparatus including a valve member movable between a first position in which flow through the melt flow modular assembly is permitted and a second position in which flow is prevented;
• a actuator assembly coupled to the gate melt flow control apparatus to effect movement of said valve member, said Lorentz force actuator assembly including:
• an electrical coil and a magnetic assembly having a permanent magnet, said coil and magnetic assembly being slidable relative to one another in response to current flowing in said coil;
• a controller to regulate a current supplied to the coil and thereby modulate the force generated between said coil and magnetic assembly,
• one of the electric coil and the magnetic assembly being coupled to the gate melt flow control apparatus to effect movement of the valve member between said first position and said second position in response to current supplied to said coil.

A method for controlling a gate melt flow control apparatus of a hot runner system, the hot runner system comprising

• a melt flow modular assembly having a gate melt flow control apparatus to regulate the flow of material through the melt flow modular assembly, said gate melt flow control apparatus including a valve member movable between a first position in which flow through the melt flow modular assembly is permitted and a second position in which flow is prevented;
• an actuator assembly coupled to the gate melt flow control apparatus to effect movement of said valve member, said actuator assembly including:
• an electrical coil and a permanent magnet, said coil and permanent magnet being slidable relative to one another in response to current flowing in said coil;
• a controller to regulate a current supplied to the coil and thereby modulate the force generated between said coil and permanent magnet,
• one of the electric coil and the permanent magnet being coupled to the gate melt flow control apparatus to effect movement of the valve member between said first position and said second position in response to current supplied to said coil from the controller
• wherein the method includes the steps of monitoring the position of the valve member in the second position, providing data indicative of the position to said controller, implementing iterative learning control mathematical algorithms in the controller to control the output force of the actuator assembly to facilitate Positioning of the valve member in said second position.

A flow control apparatus including a valve member to regulate flow and an actuator to operate said valve member, wherein the actuator assembly comprises:

• an electrical coil and a magnetic assembly having a permanent magnet, said coil and magnetic assembly are slidably engaged wherein one of the electrical coil or permanent magnet assembly is slidable and the other relatively fixed;
• wherein the slidable one of the electric coil or permanent magnet is coupled to the valve member;
• a controller to regulate a current supplied to the coil includes a capacitor;
• and
• wherein the electric coil and permanent magnet-interact to generate a force that moves the valve member between the first position and the second position, such that the generated force is modulated by modulating the current in the coil.