Flow control apparatus and method

A system comprising:

• a recipe storage microcontroller (MCU) storing recipe data, and a flow controller including a flow control MCU, both the recipe storage MCU and the flow control MCU being mounted to an exchangeable mold that allows for uninterrupted mold changes of an injection molding machine, the mold having a mold cavity with a plurality of gates and wherein each gate has an associated actuator-driven vavle gate pin for opening and closing the respective gate;
• the recipe data controlling the rate of flow of injection material through each gate of the mold cavity during one injection molding cycle by controlling the travel position of each actuator-driven valve pin relative to the gate;
• the flow control MCU being operative to receive the recipe data and execute instructions for controlling valve pin motion(s) in the mold according to the recipe data,
• the flow control MCU including instructions that direct one or more actuators to withdraw a corresponding interconnected valve pin from a gate closed position to an intermediate upstream position at a first reduced velocity and to subsequently withdraw the corresponding valve pin from the intermediate upstream position at a second higher velocity to a full open position;
• and
• a human operator interface remote from the mold for transmitting recipe data to and/or from at least one of the MCUs;
• wherein each MCU is a single chip data microcontroller;
• and
• wherein the recipe data includes a rate of valve pin movement and the valve pin and corresponding gate are adapted to restrict the rate of flow of injection material through the corresponding gate to a rate that is less than a maximum flow rate on travel of the valve pin from the gate closed position to the intermediate upstream position.

A method comprising:

• electronically transmitting a recipe of data from a human operator interface to a recipe storage system mounted on a mold of an injection molding machine, the recipe storage system including a recipe storage microcontroller (MCU) for storing the recipe, wherein the recipe data includes one or more profiles of data representative of one or more events or conditions during or over corresponding injection cycles that control operation of one or more valve pins to control the rate of flow of injection material to the mold over the course of the injection cycles;
• a controller, remote from the mold, including a flow control MCU executing computer instructions to control the valve pin motion(s) during a process of molding part(s) in the mold in accordance with the recipe,
• the computer instructions including instructions that direct one or more actuators to withdraw a corresponding valve pin from a gate closed position to an intermediate upstream position at a first reduced velocity and to subsequently withdraw the corresponding valve pin from the intermediate upstream position at a second higher velocity to a full open position,
• electronically transmitting feedback concerning the molding process and/or the molded part(s) to the operator interface;
• and
• electronically transmitting a modified recipe from the operator interface to the recipe storage system for a subsequent process of molding parts;
• and
• wherein the valve pin and corresponding gate are adapted to restrict the rate of flow of injection material through the corresponding gate to a rate that is less than a maximum flow rate on travel of the valve pin from the gate closed position to the intermediate upstream position.

A method comprising:

• transmitting, from a mold MCU mounted on a mold of an injection molding machine to a flow control MCU remote from the mold, a recipe of data defining process parameters for molding articles in the mold, wherein the recipe data includes one or more profiles of data representative of one or more events or conditions during or over corresponding injection cycles that control operation of one or more actuators interconnected to corresponding valve pins to control the rate of flow of injection material through one or more gates to the mold over the course of the injection cycles;
• transmitting signals from the flow control MCU to an actuating system that controls the molding of articles in the mold according to the recipe, the signals directing one or more of the actuators to withdraw a corresponding valve pin from a gate closed position to an intermediate upstream position at a first reduced velocity and to subsequently withdraw the corresponding valve pin from the intermediate upstream position at a second higher velocity to a full open position,
• operating the actuating system according to the signals to produce articles in the mold;
• and
• wherein the valve pin and corresponding gate are adapted to restrict the rate of flow of injection material through the corresponding gate to a rate that is less than a maximum flow rate on travel of the valve pin from the gate closed position to the intermediate upstream position.