Plastic Faucet Body With Integral Copper Pipes and Leak-Safe Molding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing faucet body manufacturing process is complex, costly, and suffers from poor sealing due to the need for secondary injection molding, which requires multiple assembly steps and additional sealing elements.
Innovation Solution
A novel plastic faucet body is created using one-time integral injection molding with a die that includes a fixed mold, movable mold, and mold-core installing seat, featuring parallel water inlet channels and copper pipes, and utilizing sealing plugs and rings for improved sealing, allowing for one-step production and reduced assembly processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If secondary injection molding process is used to form plastic faucet body, then manufacturing flexibility is improved, but process complexity increases and sealing performance deteriorates due to leakage at injection molding joint surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the water channel body and copper pipes into a single integral molded structure, eliminating the need for secondary injection molding and assembly operations. The injection molding die integrates multiple cavities and core-pulling mechanisms to produce the complete faucet body in one operation, resolving the contradiction by combining multiple manufacturing steps into a unified process.
Solution Approach 2:
The injection molding die is segmented into multiple cavities (first and second injection molding cavities) with independent core-pulling mechanisms for each cavity. This allows simultaneous production of multiple faucet bodies with complex internal water channels, maintaining manufacturing flexibility while simplifying the overall process through parallel production.
2Adaptability or versatility
If secondary injection molding process is used, then complex faucet structures can be formed, but production efficiency decreases due to multiple assembly steps and sealing element installation
Solution Approach 1:
The injection molding die incorporates pre-positioned core-pulling channels and sealing structures that are formed during the initial molding process. Sealing plugs are integrated into the mold cavity design, allowing them to be installed automatically during ejection without separate assembly steps, thereby maintaining structural complexity capability while dramatically improving production efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the formation of water channels, copper pipe integration, and sealing structures into a single injection molding operation. The multi-cavity die design allows simultaneous production of multiple complex faucet bodies, eliminating the need for sequential assembly operations and significantly increasing productivity.
3Strength
If integrally casting metal copper is used to form faucet body, then strength and durability are improved, but manufacturing cost increases and sealing performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite construction by injecting plastic material around copper pipes that are pre-positioned in the mold cavity. The copper pipes provide strength and durability for water conduction, while the plastic matrix provides structural integrity and sealing. This composite approach maintains mechanical strength while reducing manufacturing cost compared to solid copper casting, and eliminates sealing issues by creating an integral molded structure.
4Productivity
If one-time integral injection molding is used, then production efficiency and sealing performance are improved, but die complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The injection molding die is divided into multiple independent cavities, each with its own core-pulling mechanism. This segmentation allows parallel production of multiple faucet bodies while keeping each individual cavity design manageable. The modular structure of the die reduces overall complexity by distributing the molding functions across separate, standardized units.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs z-shaped offset core-pulling mechanisms that operate in three-dimensional space to extract complex water channel structures from the molded parts. By utilizing spatial dimensions and offset positioning of core-pulling rods, the die can form and eject complex internal geometries without requiring excessively complex mold cavity designs, thereby improving production efficiency while controlling die complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A plastic faucet body and a die for molding the same are disclosed in present invention. The plastic faucet body comprises a left water inlet pipe (1) and a right water inlet pipe (2), wherein a connecting cross-beam (3) is disposed between the left water inlet pipe (1) and the right water inlet pipe (2), the left water inlet pipe (1) and the right water inlet pipe (2) are embedded with a threaded copper pipe (4), respectively, the copper pipes (4) are formed integrally with the plastic faucet body by means of a single stage process and are in communication with the corresponding left water inlet pipe (1) and the right water inlet pipe (2), respectively.