Horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals
By designing a continuous material conveying path and a closed-loop control system in a horizontal injection molding machine, the problems of material contamination, deviation, and unstable tension were solved, thereby improving injection molding accuracy and product quality and reducing production losses.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-01-22
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-14
AI Technical Summary
Existing horizontal injection molding machines with embedded hardware terminals suffer from problems such as guide wheels and worktable surfaces being easily contaminated with oil and plastic debris, discontinuous conveyor belt paths leading to deviation and jamming, and unstable belt tension, all of which affect injection molding accuracy and product quality.
A continuous material conveying path including a feeding guide wheel, an in-mold guide rail, an injection mold, and a material passing guide rail was designed. Combining the traction force and gravity of the belt pulling machine, anti-contamination gaps and cleaning brushes were set up. A closed-loop control system consisting of a servo clamping belt pulling machine and a mold monitor was adopted to ensure stable conveying and positioning accuracy of the material belt.
It effectively avoids material belt contamination, ensures injection molding bonding quality, improves material belt conveying stability and injection molding precision, reduces production losses, and increases product qualification rate.
Smart Images
Figure CN121848593A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of horizontal injection molding machine technology, and more specifically to a horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals. Background Technology
[0002] Embedded metal terminal horizontal injection molding machines are key equipment in the production of electronic and automotive parts. They are mainly used for the integrated injection molding of metal terminals and plastic parts, and are widely used in the mass production of connectors, sensors, wire harness connectors, and other products. Their core advantage lies in achieving a tight bond between metal terminals and plastic, improving the structural strength and electrical performance of the product, and meeting the stringent requirements of precision components for assembly accuracy and stability. As the electronics industry develops towards miniaturization and high precision, the application scenarios of this type of equipment continue to expand.
[0003] Existing horizontal injection molding machines for embedded metal terminals typically consist of a machine body, a material rack, a feeding tray, a receiving tray, guide rollers, and a belt pulling mechanism. The material rack carries the material strip, the feeding and receiving trays release and retract the strip respectively, the guide roller assembly guides the strip's direction, the belt pulling mechanism provides the power for strip transmission, and the injection mold completes the injection molding process. The entire system uses a segmented conveyor path to transport and process the metal terminal strip. Some machines have a compact structure with a close distance between the guide rollers and the worktable, and the conveyor path is often horizontal or slightly inclined, relying on a single traction force to drive the strip forward.
[0004] The existing equipment has many shortcomings: the guide rollers and the worktable have no reasonable gap, which makes them easy to get oil stains and plastic debris, causing material belt contamination and affecting the injection molding quality; the segmented conveyor path cannot form a continuous track, and the material belt is prone to deviation and jamming, resulting in terminal positioning accuracy deviation; relying solely on the single traction force of the belt pulling machine for conveying results in unstable belt tension, which is prone to stretching deformation or slack, especially during long-distance conveying, ultimately affecting the injection molding accuracy, reducing the product qualification rate, and increasing production losses. Summary of the Invention
[0005] To address the shortcomings of the existing technology, this invention provides a horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded metal terminals, which solves the problems of easy contamination, deviation, unstable tension and deformation during the conveying of metal terminal strips, improves the stability of strip conveying and injection molding accuracy, effectively ensures product quality and reduces production losses.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: A horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded metal terminals includes an injection molding machine body and a material rack. The upper and lower ends of the material rack are respectively provided with a feeding tray and a receiving tray. The feeding tray is provided with metal terminal strips. The injection molding machine body is provided with a feeding guide roller, an injection mold, an in-mold guide rail, and a material conveying guide rail. The feeding guide roller is installed on the upper end of the injection molding machine body through a feeding bracket, and is spaced apart from the worktable of the injection molding machine body to form a contamination prevention gap. The in-mold guide rail is located on one side of the injection mold. A belt pulling machine for driving the metal terminal strip is provided between the feeding guide roller and the injection mold. The material conveying guide rail is located at the lower end of the injection molding machine body. The feeding guide roller, the in-mold guide rail, the injection mold, and the material conveying guide rail together form a continuous material strip conveying path that runs from top to bottom through the injection molding machine body, so that the metal terminal strip forms a stable spatial bending conveying trajectory under the combined action of gravity and the traction force of the belt pulling machine.
[0007] Preferably, the in-mold guide rail includes a guide rail mounting plate, positioning guide posts, and side guide plates. The guide rail mounting plate is disposed inside the injection mold. There are two side guide plates, and the two side guide plates are respectively mounted on both sides of the guide rail mounting plate through positioning guide posts. Wear-resistant strips are provided on the opposite surfaces of the two side guide plates to form a micro-friction guiding mechanism for clamping and guiding the metal terminal strip.
[0008] Preferably, the material guide rail includes a track frame, a height adjustment bracket, an angle fine-tuning knob, and a material guide wheel. The track frame is provided with a material passage, and the material guide wheel is set in the material passage. The track frame is installed at the lower end of the injection molding machine body through the height adjustment bracket. The adjustment bracket is provided with a height adjustment knob for adjusting the spatial posture of the material passage to adapt to material strips of different specifications.
[0009] Preferably, a cleaning brush is provided at the upper end of the material passage to remove impurities remaining on the surface of the metal terminal strip.
[0010] Preferably, a guide wheel is also provided between the feed guide wheel and the injection mold to further guide and stabilize the conveying of the hardware terminal strip.
[0011] Preferably, the belt pulling machine is a servo clamping belt pulling machine.
[0012] Preferably, the injection molding machine body is also equipped with a mold monitor, which is used to monitor the status of the metal terminal strip during feeding and in the mold in real time.
[0013] Preferably, the mold monitor is connected to the tape drawing machine to form a closed-loop control system. When the mold monitor detects that the relative position deviation between the positioning hole of the metal terminal strip and the mold positioning pin exceeds a preset threshold, it sends a correction signal to the tape drawing machine. The tape drawing machine dynamically adjusts the feeding parameters based on the signal to compensate for the error.
[0014] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: By setting an anti-contamination gap between the feed guide roller and the worktable, oil and debris can be effectively avoided from adhering to the material strip, ensuring the cleanliness of the hardware terminals and guaranteeing the injection molding quality; the feed guide roller, in-mold guide rail, injection mold, and material guide rail form a continuous top-down conveying path, which, in conjunction with the traction force of the belt pulling machine and gravity, forms a stable spatial curved conveying trajectory. This eliminates the need for an additional tension adjustment mechanism to maintain balanced material strip tension, preventing stretching, deformation, or slackness, while also preventing deviation and jamming, thus improving terminal positioning accuracy; the overall conveying structure is simple and requires no complex modifications. While ensuring conveying stability, it improves injection molding efficiency, reduces equipment maintenance costs, significantly increases product qualification rate, and meets the needs of mass production of precision parts. Attached Figure Description
[0015] Figure 1 : This is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention; Explanation of the labels in the attached drawings: 10-Injection molding machine body, 11-Feed guide roller, 12-Injection mold, 13-Mold monitor, 14-In-mold guide rail, 15-Material guide rail, 16-Guide roller, 17-Pulling machine, 20-Material rack, 21-Discharge tray, 22-Receiving tray, 30-Hardware terminal strip. Detailed Implementation
[0016] To more clearly illustrate the structural features, technical means, and specific objectives and functions achieved by the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments: This embodiment: as follows Figure 1 As shown, a horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals includes an injection molding machine body 10 and a material rack 20. The upper and lower ends of the material rack 20 are respectively provided with a feeding tray 21 and a receiving tray 22. The feeding tray 21 is provided with hardware terminal strip 30. The injection molding machine body 10 is provided with a feeding guide wheel 11, an injection mold 12, a mold monitor 13, an in-mold guide rail 14 and a material guide rail 15. The feeding guide wheel 11 is installed on the upper end of the injection molding machine body 10 through a feeding bracket. The feeding guide wheel 11 is installed on the injection molding machine body 10 through a feeding bracket and is spaced apart from the worktable on the injection molding machine body 10. The space can prevent injection molding debris, oil stains, cooling water, etc. on the worktable from directly contacting the material strip and prevent the material strip from being contaminated. The in-mold guide rail 14 is located on one side of the injection mold 12. The in-mold guide rail 14 includes a guide rail mounting plate, a positioning guide post, and a side guide plate. The guide rail mounting plate is located inside the injection mold and is fixed inside the mold. It is rigidly connected to the mold cavity, which can prevent the guide structure from loosening due to the impact force during injection. There are two side guide plates, which are respectively installed on both sides of the guide rail mounting plate through the positioning guide post. The side guide plates limit the lateral displacement of the metal terminal strip 30 and provide high-precision positioning. The opposite surfaces of the side guide plates are provided with wear-resistant strips, which can reduce the direct wear between the strip and the guide plate. At the same time, the surface of the wear-resistant strips is smooth, which can prevent scratching the strip. A guide wheel 16 and a strip pulling machine 17 are provided between the feed guide wheel 11 and the injection mold 12. The strip pulling machine 17 is a servo clamping strip pulling machine 17. The feed guide rail 15 is located at the lower end of the injection molding machine body 10. The feed guide rail 15 includes a track frame, a height adjustment bracket, an angle fine-tuning knob, and a feed guide wheel. The track frame is provided with a feed channel, and the feed guide wheel is located in the feed channel. The track frame is installed at the lower end of the injection molding machine body 10 through the height adjustment bracket. The adjustment bracket is provided with a height adjustment knob. The height adjustment bracket and the angle fine-tuning knob can flexibly adapt to different specifications of material strips or upstream and downstream equipment. It can be compatible with multiple product categories without replacing the guide rail body. The upper end of the feed channel is provided with a cleaning brush. The cleaning brush is made of soft nylon or microfiber material and can be used to remove impurities that adhere to the surface of the hardware terminal material strip 30 when it is ejected from the mold.
[0017] The feeding tray 21 of the material rack 20 is used to place the metal terminal strip 30, and the receiving tray 22 can recycle the processed strip. Together with the feeding guide roller 11, the strip pulling machine 17, the in-mold guide rail 14, and the material passing guide rail 15, the strip pulling machine 17 drives and the feeding guide roller 11 guides, forming a complete automatic conveying process from feeding, conveying, in-mold positioning, and finally receiving. The mold monitor 13 is used to monitor the status of the metal terminal strip 30. The mold monitor 13 is connected to the strip pulling machine 17 to form a closed-loop control system. When the mold monitor 13 detects that the relative position deviation between the positioning hole of the metal terminal strip 30 and the mold positioning pin exceeds a preset threshold, it sends a correction signal to the strip pulling machine 17. The strip pulling machine 17 dynamically adjusts the feeding parameters based on the signal to compensate for the error. This enables automatic feeding and receiving of embedded metal terminals in a horizontal injection molding machine, ensuring the production efficiency and product qualification rate of metal terminals, saving production costs, and reducing production input.
[0018] In actual production testing, this invention was used to modify a conventional 280-ton horizontal injection molding machine to produce terminals for a certain type of USB connector, wherein the material strip thickness was 0.2mm and the positioning accuracy requirement was ±0.1mm.
[0019] The system parameters are set as follows: The feed pulse equivalent of the servo clamping belt conveyor 17 is set to 0.01mm / pulse.
[0020] The mold monitor 13 sets the tolerance threshold for the deviation between the positioning hole and the mold positioning pin to ±0.05mm. When the detected deviation exceeds this threshold, the system automatically sends a correction signal.
[0021] Execution result: Statistics after 10,000 continuous production cycles: Positioning accuracy: Through sampling inspection with a coordinate measuring machine, the average positional deviation of the terminal within its cavity is 0.07mm, and the standard deviation is less than 0.02mm. The accuracy is stable and far exceeds the requirements.
[0022] Product qualification rate: The final product qualification rate reached 98.7%. The main reason for the rejection was the defects in the plastic raw materials themselves, rather than the terminal positioning problem.
[0023] Stability: Throughout the entire production process, the conveyor belt was transported smoothly without any downtime caused by unstable tension or contamination, proving the reliability and stability of the invention.
[0024] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Therefore, any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made to the above embodiments based on the technical solutions of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.
Claims
1. A horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded metal terminals, comprising an injection molding machine body and a material rack, characterized in that: The upper and lower ends of the material rack are respectively equipped with a feeding tray and a receiving tray. The feeding tray is equipped with metal terminal strips. The injection molding machine body is equipped with a feeding guide roller, an injection mold, an in-mold guide rail, and a material conveying guide rail. The feeding guide roller is installed on the upper end of the injection molding machine body through a feeding bracket, and is spaced apart from the worktable of the injection molding machine body to form a pollution prevention gap. The in-mold guide rail is located on one side of the injection mold. A belt pulling machine for driving the metal terminal strip is located between the feeding guide roller and the injection mold. The material conveying guide rail is located at the lower end of the injection molding machine body. The feeding guide roller, the in-mold guide rail, the injection mold, and the material conveying guide rail together form a continuous material strip conveying path that runs from top to bottom through the injection molding machine body, so that the metal terminal strip forms a stable spatial bending conveying trajectory under the combined action of gravity and the traction force of the belt pulling machine.
2. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to claim 1, characterized in that: The in-mold guide rail includes a guide rail mounting plate, positioning guide pillars, and side guide plates. The guide rail mounting plate is set inside the injection mold. There are two side guide plates, and the two side guide plates are respectively mounted on both sides of the guide rail mounting plate through positioning guide pillars. Wear-resistant strips are provided on the opposite surfaces of the two side guide plates to form a micro-friction guiding mechanism for clamping and guiding the metal terminal strip.
3. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material guide rail includes a track frame, a height adjustment bracket, an angle fine-tuning knob, and material guide wheels. The track frame has a material passage, and the material guide wheels are set in the material passage. The track frame is installed at the lower end of the injection molding machine body through the height adjustment bracket. The adjustment bracket has a height adjustment knob, which is used to adjust the spatial posture of the material passage to adapt to different specifications of material strips.
4. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to claim 3, characterized in that: A cleaning brush is provided at the upper end of the material passage to remove impurities remaining on the surface of the metal terminal strip.
5. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that: A guide wheel is also provided between the feed guide wheel and the injection mold to further guide and stabilize the conveying of the hardware terminal strip.
6. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that: The belt pulling machine is a servo clamping type belt pulling machine.
7. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that: The injection molding machine body is also equipped with a mold monitor, which is used to monitor the status of the metal terminal strip during feeding and in the mold in real time.
8. The horizontal injection molding machine for automatic feeding of embedded hardware terminals according to claim 7, characterized in that: The mold monitor is connected to the tape drawing machine to form a closed-loop control system. When the mold monitor detects that the relative position deviation between the positioning hole of the metal terminal strip and the mold positioning pin exceeds the preset threshold, it sends a correction signal to the tape drawing machine. The tape drawing machine dynamically adjusts the feeding parameters based on the signal to compensate for the error.