Bimetallic Injection Mold Insert for Hot-Spot Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing injection mold inserts face challenges in achieving effective cooling of complex and small-sized connector housings due to insufficient cooling channel access to hot spots, leading to prolonged molding cycles and reduced product quality.
Innovation Solution
The injection mold insert is designed with a housing made of a first material (mold steel) and an inner core of a second material (copper) with higher thermal conductivity, where the inner core is formed by filling molten copper into a steel housing, sealed with a cover part, and subjected to heat treatment and machining to enhance mechanical strength and thermal conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling channels are formed in the injection mold insert, then cooling efficiency is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases and cooling channels cannot reach hot spots in complex structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using a bimetallic structure where the inner core material has higher thermal conductivity than the housing material. This creates a localized high-conductivity zone precisely where cooling is most needed in hot spots, without requiring complex cooling channel networks throughout the entire mold insert.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining two different materials with complementary properties: the housing provides mechanical strength while the inner core provides high thermal conductivity. This composite approach achieves effective cooling in complex structures without the manufacturing complexity of forming cooling channels in difficult-to-access areas.
2Strength
If the injection mold insert is made of steel, then mechanical strength is ensured, but thermal conductivity is insufficient for effective cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials by creating a bimetallic structure where the steel housing provides mechanical strength and the copper inner core provides high thermal conductivity. This resolves the contradiction by combining materials with complementary properties rather than relying on a single material to satisfy both requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating the high thermal conductivity property in the inner core region where heat transfer is most critical, while the housing material maintains its strength function. This localized property assignment optimizes both mechanical strength and thermal conductivity without compromise.
3Temperature
If cooling channels are added to improve cooling, then cooling effectiveness increases, but molding cycle time increases due to longer cooling channel paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by fundamentally altering the thermal conductivity parameter of the mold insert through material selection. The copper inner core's inherently high thermal conductivity enables rapid heat transfer without requiring extensive cooling channel networks, thereby reducing the cooling time component of the molding cycle.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the cooling function from the traditional cooling channel system and embeds it directly into the mold insert structure through the high-conductivity inner core. This eliminates the need for long cooling channel paths and associated cooling time, as heat is conducted away rapidly through the copper core.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design significantly improves cooling efficiency, reduces molding cycle time, and maintains product quality by ensuring rapid heat transfer from hot spots, particularly in complex and small-sized structures.
Implementation Method 1
The thermal conductivity of the second material is greater than that of the first material. The inner core is formed by filling a molten liquid of the second material into an inner cavity of the housing.
Implementation Method 2
The inner core is formed by filling a molten liquid of the second material into an inner cavity of the housing.
Data Source
AI summary
An injection mold insert includes a housing of a first material and an inner core of a second material sealed in the housing of the first material. A mechanical strength of the first material is greater than that of the second material. The thermal conductivity of the second material is greater than that of the first material. The inner core is formed by filling a molten liquid of the second material into an inner cavity of the housing.