Movable Mold Injection Station with Segmented Feed Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing injection stations for plastic materials are costly and inefficient, requiring long equipping times and non-productive waiting periods due to fixed molds, limiting their ability to produce different plastic articles and batches effectively.
Innovation Solution
The injection station features a movable mold system with a feed member that remains attached to the frame, allowing for quick mold changes and continuous injection operations, enabling the use of various mold sizes and shapes without disassembly, and includes movement means to optimize mold positioning and feed pipe systems with cut-off elements for efficient material flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mold is fixed to the structural bearing element, then the injection station maintains stable operation, but the equipping time increases and productivity decreases due to inability to quickly change molds
Solution Approach 1:
The feed member is divided into a first portion fixed to the frame and a second portion that moves with the mold, allowing the mold to be changed independently while maintaining the connection to the injection system
Solution Approach 2:
The mold is made movable with respect to the frame through a movement device, transitioning from a fixed state to a dynamic state that allows quick changes while maintaining operational stability during injection
2Manufacturing precision
If the mold is fixed to the structural bearing element, then the injection station maintains consistent positioning, but the equipping time increases due to substitution requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The feed member is pre-configured with a connection interface on the frame, allowing molds to be quickly connected and positioned without requiring substitution of the entire feed system
Solution Approach 2:
The first portion of the feed member serves as a universal connection interface that can accommodate different molds through the second portion, reducing the need for custom substitution setups
3Reliability
If the mold is fixed to the structural bearing element, then the injection system maintains stable material flow, but the productivity decreases due to non-productive waiting times
Solution Approach 1:
The movable mold system allows the injection unit to continuously operate by quickly replacing molds during or between injection cycles, eliminating idle waiting time while maintaining material flow stability through the fixed first portion
4Device complexity
If the feed member is completely fixed to the mold, then the injection system maintains simple structure, but the adaptability decreases for producing different articles
Solution Approach 1:
The feed member is segmented into fixed and movable portions, allowing the system to maintain simple fixed connections for structural stability while enabling flexible mold changes for producing different articles
Solution Approach 2:
The feed member transitions from a completely fixed state to a partially movable state, providing the flexibility needed for different mold configurations while maintaining structural simplicity through the fixed first portion
Data Source
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AI summary
Injection station used to inject plastic material inside a mold (17; 17a, 17b, 17c), which comprises a frame (25) constituting a structural bearing element, an injection unit (39) comprising a feed member (11) fed by a feeder (50) of plastic material, and an injection member (12) proper to the mold (17) and able to receive the plastic material from the feed member (11). The feed member (1 1) consists of two portions respectively first (111a; 13, 14) and second (111b; 115) separated from each other by a cut-off element (27). The first portion (111a) is solidly associated with said frame (25) and said second portion (111b) is solidly associated with said mold (17) and is connected to said injection member (12), and wherein said two portions (111a, 13, 14; 111b, 15) can be selectively coupled with respect to each other at least in the injection step of the plastic material when said mold (17) is associated with said frame (25).