Evaporative Cooling in Injection Mold Support Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
High hardness materials used in injection molds have low thermal conductivity, leading to long cooling times and increased complexity and cost in cooling systems, while machining conformal cooling channels is difficult and expensive, resulting in uneven cooling and temperature gradients that can cause imperfections in molded parts.
Innovation Solution
The use of easily machineable materials with high thermal conductivity for injection molds and a simplified evaporative cooling system, which includes cooling channels in mold support plates and potentially uses evaporative cooling systems to enhance heat removal efficiency, reducing the need for complex cooling systems and improving uniformity of temperature distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If high hardness materials (tool steels with >30 Rc) are used for injection molds to withstand high clamping pressures and wear, then durability and resistance to wear are improved, but thermal conductivity decreases (generally less than 34.6 W/m.K), leading to long cooling times
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter (thermal conductivity) by selecting materials with higher thermal conductivity values, directly addressing the trade-off between strength and cooling efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary cooling system that acts as a heat transfer mediator between the mold and the cooling fluid, improving heat removal efficiency without requiring changes to the mold material itself
2Productivity
If complex internal cooling systems are added to reduce cycle times in high production injection molding, then productivity increases, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the cooling system design parameters by using simpler cooling channel configurations and materials with higher thermal conductivity, achieving fast cooling without complex system architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential cooling function from complex multi-component systems and implements it through simpler, more direct cooling approaches that maintain effectiveness while reducing complexity
3Manufacturing precision
If conformal cooling channels are machined close to mold cavity surfaces to improve cooling uniformity, then temperature distribution uniformity improves, but manufacturing difficulty and cost increase due to extensive machining time and expensive equipment requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter (thermal conductivity) to compensate for less optimal cooling channel positioning, allowing simpler machining while maintaining cooling uniformity through material properties
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces high thermal conductivity materials as intermediaries that facilitate more uniform heat distribution throughout the mold, reducing the need for precisely positioned conformal cooling channels
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 approach reduces manufacturing time and costs, increases cooling efficiency, and results in more uniform parts with reduced internal stresses and warp rates, while also simplifying the cooling system design and reducing the risk of cooling fluid leakage.
Implementation Method 1
heat is transferred from the molten plastic material through the high hardness material to a cooling fluid
Implementation Method 2
a simplified evaporative cooling system, which includes cooling channels in mold support plates and potentially uses evaporative cooling systems to enhance heat removal efficiency
Data Source
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AI summary
An injection mold assembly for a high output consumer product injection molding machine, the injection mold assembly having a simplified cooling system that is an evaporative cooling system or a cooling system including a hazardous, dangerous, or expensive cooling fluid. The simplified cooling system has a cooling fluid channel that is confined to a mold support plate.