Valve gate assembly actuator
AssigneePlastic Engineering & Technical Services, Inc.
InventorsPatrick A Tooman, Bruce Casey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved actuator for a valve gate assembly is provided. The actuator includes a planetary assembly for converting rotation of an electrical motor into linear movement of a valve gate pin while also providing mechanical advantage to the motor against injection pressures from 15,000 psi to at least 25,000 psi. An internal cooling volume surrounds the motor for continuously cooling the motor with water, and an internal encoder converts an angular rotation within the actuator into an analog or digital signal for output to a controller.
Claims20
An actuator for a valve gate assembly comprising:
- a housing including a guide channel at one end portion thereof;
- a motor contained within the housing, the motor including a rotor having a threaded interior opening;
- a planetary assembly telescopically received within the motor and including:
- a plurality of planet gears intermeshed with the threaded interior opening of the rotor, such that rotation of the rotor imparts rotation of the plurality of planet gears, and
- a sun screw intermeshed with the plurality of planet gears, the sun screw including a mounting head that is non-rotatably received within the guide channel;
- and
- an encoder contained within the housing for tracking relative rotation of the planetary assembly, wherein rotation of the planetary assembly is converted by the plurality of planet gears into linear motion of the sun screw for the controlled flow of molten plastic past a valve gate.
A valve gate assembly for an injection molding system, the valve gate assembly comprising:
- a valve gate pin;
- and
- an actuator for controlling movement of the valve gate pin, the actuator including:
- a housing structure defining a guide channel,
- a motor including a rotor defining a threaded interior opening,
- a planetary assembly received within the threaded interior opening of the rotor, the planetary assembly including a plurality of planet gears intermeshed with the threaded interior opening and a sun screw intermeshed with the plurality of planet gears, the sun screw including a mounting head coupled to the valve gate pin, the mounting head being non-rotatably received within the guide channel to prevent relative rotation, and
- an encoder for tracking relative rotation within the housing, wherein rotation of the rotor is converted by the planetary assembly into linear motion of the sun screw for the controlled displacement of the valve gate pin relative to a valve gate at a desired speed, wherein the valve gate pin is displaceable by the actuator at a plurality of speeds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.