Injection Mold Tool With Angled Cavity-Slide Pairs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing injection molding tools are inefficient due to their wide and spacious design, leading to long plastic residence times and increased pressure requirements in the hot runner block, as a result of parallelly arranged mold cavities and slides, which occupy excessive space and hinder compact molding.
Innovation Solution
A tool design featuring angled cavity-slide pairs arranged around a drive ring, allowing for a more compact layout, reduced flow paths, and optimized temperature control, where slides can move between positions to facilitate the formation of one-piece molded parts with reduced space usage and improved ejection mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If mold cavities and slides are arranged in parallel rows, then the tool structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the tool becomes very wide and requires excessive space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional parallel row arrangement to a three-dimensional angular arrangement around a central drive ring. Mold cavities and their corresponding slides are distributed at different angular positions (e.g., 0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) around the drive ring, utilizing the radial dimension to reduce the tool's width while maintaining all necessary functional relationships.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the drive mechanisms for multiple slides into a single centralized drive ring that rotates to simultaneously actuate all slides. This merging of previously separate drive systems reduces the overall tool footprint while maintaining the ability to independently control each slide's movement for ejection and shaping operations.
2Ease of manufacture
If mold cavities are arranged in parallel rows, then the layout is simple, but the flow paths in the hot runner block become very long
Solution Approach 1:
The hot runner block is reconfigured to feed mold cavities radially from a central injection point rather than through long linear channels in parallel rows. This radial arrangement in the angular dimension significantly shortens the flow path length, reducing plastic residence time and improving material flow efficiency while maintaining simple cavity positioning.
3Manufacturing precision
If mold cavities are arranged in parallel rows, then the cavity spacing is large, but this results in long flow paths and increased pressure requirements
Solution Approach 1:
Mold cavities are positioned at angular intervals around the drive ring rather than being spaced linearly in parallel rows. This angular distribution allows for more compact cavity spacing in terms of flow path distance while maintaining adequate physical separation between cavities, thereby reducing the pressure required to fill the cavities through the hot runner system.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The present invention provides a tool (1) for injection molding plastic parts, comprising two tool halves (2, 3) that are movable relative to each other. One of the tool halves (2, 3) has a mold plate (9) that carries at least one mold insert (5) with a plurality of mold cavities (8), or a mold plate (9) with a mold insert support plate (10) that carries at least one mold insert (5) with a plurality of mold cavities (8), wherein the mold cavities (8) are configured to form mold parts (20) with complementary cavities present on the second tool half (2, 3). The mold insert (5) has a slide (6) associated with each mold cavity (8), which is movably arranged above or in a cavity-side surface of the mold insert (5).The slide (6) has at least one guide element (6') which engages with a counter-guide element (19) in the mold insert (5), wherein a connecting bolt (14) extends from the slide (6) towards the mold plate (9) or the mold insert support plate (10), the connecting bolt being guided in a guide groove (16) of a rotary ring (13). A plurality of connecting bolts (14) of several slides (6) are arranged circumferentially in a corresponding number of guide grooves (16) distributed along the circumference of the rotary ring (13), and the rotary ring (13) is connected to a drive ring (12) arranged on the mold plate (9) or the mold insert support plate (10). Furthermore, methods for moving the slide (6), in particular for pivoting a molded part section and for forming the mold cavity (8) in a mold half, are disclosed.