Injection Molding

15 Ton Injection Molding Machine

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Injection Molding Machine

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 Equipment

• Injection Unit
Feed
hopper

Barrel heaters Nozzle

Screw drive Tool
arrangement

Screw Check valve Screw tip

 Equipment
• Injection Unit
 Injection
• Parts of the injection screw
– Screw
– Head and check ring
Material and Product Considerations

• Shapes
– Possible to do very complex shapes
• Structural features
– Pins, ribs, bosses, threads, holes
– Deep parts are possible
– Internal or external threads
– Undercuts require sliding mold sections
Sliding Mechanism
Material and Product Considerations
• Part design
– Uniform wall thickness
• Helps reduce dimples, shrink marks and distortion
– Ribs
• Save weight at given strength
– No sharp bends
• Helps to fill the mold cavity easier
– Oversize the mold
• Shrinkage amount is dependant on material and
additives/fillers
 Operations and Control
• Temperature of melt
• Temperature of mold
• Pressure of injection and hold
• Injection or fill rate and time
• Dwell time
• Freeze time
• Ejection (dead time)
 Fountain Flow
*

**

* Source: [Link] ; ** Z. Tadmore and C. Gogos, “Principles of Polymer Processing”

Where would you gate this part?
 Weld line, Sink mark
Gate

Weld line

Mold Filling Solidified part

Sink mark
Basic rules in designing ribs to
minimize sink marks
* Source: [Link]
 Injection Molding
*

* Source: [Link]
 Equipment

• Molds
Molds
 Mold Materials

• Tool steel
• Stainless steel
• Hot-work die steel
• Beryllium-copper
 Mold Materials
• Choice based on critical properties
– Machinability
– Coefficient of thermal expansion
– Specific heat capacity
– Thermal conductivity
– Density
– Hardness (abrasion resistance)
– Yield strength
– Weldability
 Mold Parts
• Bases
– Standard sizes
– Hold mold inserts
– Can decrease overall mold costs
 Mold Parts
• Guide pins
– Align mold cavities

Guide pins
 Mold Design Topics
• Basic Function of Molds
• Mold Nomenclature & Operation
• Classification
– Two-plate vs. Three-plate
– Cold runner vs. Hot runner
– Cavitation: single, multiple, family
• Ejection Mechanisms
• Gate Designs
• Venting the mold - avoid gas traps

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 Tasks of the Injection Mold
• Distribute the melt from nozzle to cavity
- sprue, runner, gate, (cavity number)
• Shape part
- cavity design (cores, side actions,…)
• Cool molten resin
- uniformly, quickly
• Eject the part
- reliably, without part damage
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 Additional Tasks for Mold
• Withstand molding forces - no deflection
- maintain cavity shape
• Maintain mold half alignment - no mismatch
- insures cavity shape
• Guide moving parts of mold - no binding
- side actions, stripper plates, twist-off

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 Sprue Bushing Basic Mold
Top Clamp Plate
Locator Ring Components
Cooling Lines Cavity, A

Leader
Pin &
Bushing
Core, B
Core
Support
Plate
Return Pin
& Spring
Parallel
KO Pin
Pillar Ejector Retainer Plate
Sprue Puller Ejector Plate 28
Bottom Clamp Plate Knockout Bar 2 Plate Mold
 Mold Nomenclature (1/4)
• Top Clamping Plate, “A support plate”
holds “A” side to stationary platen
• Locating Ring, ‘Sprue Bushing Retainer Ring’
locates mold to wrt stationary platen
• Cavity Retainer plate, “A plate”
defines cavity features, holds leader pins
• Core Retainer plate, “ B plate”
forms parting line, defines core features
• Support Plate, “B support plate”
keeps B plate from bending, aligns ejectors

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 Mold Nomenclature (2/4)
• Bottom Clamping Plate, “ Ejector Box Base”
holds ejection system to movable platen
• Parallels, “Ejector Box Rails”
bridge betw B support and Ejector Box Base
• Ejector Retainer Plate
keeps ejector pins traveling with ejector plate,
counter sunk for ejector pins
• Ejector Plate
linkage betw ejector rod and ejector pins

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 Mold Nomenclature (3/4)
• Pillars
support betw Ejector Base and B support
• Sprue Bushing
mating passage from nozzle to mold sprue
• Sprue Puller Pin
beneath cold well, grabs sprue @ demolding
• KO Pin (Knock Out Pin)
pushes part out of mold, retracts due to ejector retainer plate

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 Mold Nomenclature (4/4)
• Return Pins, safety pins, ejector return pins
forces ejector plate back @ mold closing
• Leader Pins, “guide pins”
hardened, ground, press fit into A plate
-- aligns mold halves
• Bushings
hardened, ground, press fit into B plate
-- bearing surface for leader pin
• Cooling Lines
passages for water cooling of molten plastic
-- location & number affects part warpage

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MOLD OPERATION: READY TO OPEN

Next
Shot
Ready

Part
Beginning
to Freeze

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2 Plate Mold
MOLD OPERATION: OPEN

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2 Plate Mold
MOLD OPERATION: Knock-out Bar Pushes Ejector Plate

35
2 Plate Mold
MOLD OPERATION: KO Pins retract (due to spring return)

36
2 Plate Mold
MOLD OPERATION: Mold Closing

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2 Plate Mold
MOLD OPERATION: ready for next cycle

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2 Plate Mold
 MUD: 3-D Section View 2-Plate Mold

Sprue Bushing Cavity

Plate
Leader
Pin Blind
Pocket

Blind
Pocket
Cooling
Line Holes Core
Plate

Return Ejector
Pin Retainer
Plate

K.O. Pin Ejector Plate

Holes 39
Sprue Puller
 Classification of Molds
• Processed Material
- thermoplastic vs. thermoset
- cooled mold vs. heated mold
• Basic Design
- two-plate vs. three-plate, …
• Number of Cavities
- single, multiple, family
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 Classification of Molds
• Ejector System
- pins, stripper plates, lifters, side-actions
• Runner System
– symmetry (family, H pattern, manifold)
– cross-section (round, trapezoid)
– cold vs. hot

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 DME Two Plate Mold

1) top clamping plate

2) A plate (cavity)
3) B plate (core)
4) core support plate
5) ejector housing
6) ejector retainer plate
7) ejector plate
8) locating ring
9) sprue bushing
10) return pins
11) sprue puller pin

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Plastics Engineers Handbook, Fig. 7-3
 DME Two Plate Mold with Molded Parts

Plastic melt flows

through
sprue bushing,
then into
runners,
then into
gates
before entering
part cavities.

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Plastics Engineers Handbook, Fig. 7-14
 DME Three Plate Mold (alternative)

This cup shaped

product is best filled
from the center.

A three plate mold

permits gating away
from parting plane of
mold while still using a
cold runner delivery
system.

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Plastics Engineers Handbook, Fig. 7-15
 DME Two Plate Mold Insulated Runner

This cup shaped product is

best filled from the center.

To minimize waste, an
insulated runner achieves
the gating advantage of a
three plate mold without
the higher cost of a hot
runner manifold (next
slide).

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Plastics Engineers Handbook, Fig. 7-16
 DME Two Plate Mold Hot Runner
Like a three plate mold, a
hot runner manifold
minimizes waste.
Hot tip valves or needle
valves achieve better
packing control than
insulated runners.
Hot runner manifold molds
are the most expensive of
those depicted.
Recommended for high
volume, special gating
applications.
46
Plastics Engineers Handbook, Fig. 7-17
Hot Runner Manifold
by DME

47
Valve Gated
Hot Runner Manifold
by DME

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 Part Ejection Basics
• Draft facilitates ejection of part.
• Ejectors placed on moveable half of mold
– core features should be on moveable half to promote
part sticking to this half, not the stationary half.
• Knock Out (KO) pins most common.
• Lifters used for undercuts.
• Side actions for more severe undercuts.
– Cam action or hydraulic

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 Part Ejection Issues: Draft

What is wrong with

this part design? 50
 Ejector Pin Design Detail

K.O. Land
clearance .001”

51
Part Ejection Issues: Ejector Pin Pads

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Part Ejection Issues: Cavity Orientation to Pull

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Part Ejection Issues: Undercut and Holes

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 Part Ejection Issues: Holes

Hole size depends

upon wall thickness
and draft

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Part Ejection Issues: External Threads

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 Cam Actuated Side-Action

When mold opens, cam clears

undercut, then part ejected. 57
Progressive Components, [Link]
 Gating Systems
Gating trim method
• manual - sprue, tab, disk, spoke, edge
• automatic - submarine, banana, pinpoint
• automatic - hot drop via hot runner system
Cosmetic Concerns?
- consider: banana gate or hot drop

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 Gate Design Rules
• Gate location for acceptable weld lines.
• Location and size to prevent jetting.
• Gate at thickest area of part for maximum effective
packing time.
• Gate thickness from 50% to 80% wall thickness.
Submarine and pin gates ~ 0.03” to 0.08” or 60% of
wall thickness.
• Fiber filled resins - larger gates.
• Start undersized - can always enlarge later.

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Gating: Nomenclature

60
 Sprue Gate

Sprue Gate

CORE
Sprue

CAVITY
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Gating: Disk Gate

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 Tab Gate

Cavity Runner
Tab gate

Parting Plane

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 Sub-gate
Cavity Runner

Gate Diameter Sub gate

Knife Edge:
Parting Plane
Automatic 20°
Degating

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~45°
Sub-gate Degating
“Knife-edge” cuts gate
from part during opening
Part

Mold
opens
Subgate

Pa O
rt
K
KO Pins Part already
detached

KO Pins retract
& Mold closes

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 Mold Parts
• Runner
– Layout
Conventional Improved Balanced “H” Circular
 Mold Parts
• Runner
– Layout
Conventional Improved Balanced “H” Circular
 Mold Parts
• Runner
– Cold well
 Mold Parts
• Runner
 Mold Parts
• Gates

Submarine Gate

Fan or Edge Gate

Pinpoint Gate
 Mold Parts
• Gates

Tab Gate

Sprue Gate

Flash Gate
 Mold Parts
• Gates

Internal Ring Gate

External Ring Gate
 Mold Parts
• Gate
 Mold Parts
• Gate
 Mold Parts
• Gate
 Mold Parts
• Cavity
– Where the part is made
– Layout is critical to material flow
 Mold Parts
• Cavity
– Knit/weld lines

This shows where the

weld lines (shown in
red) will most likely
occur with
the part gated in the
center (yellow cone).
 Mold Parts
• Cooling
– Reduce cycle time
– Control formation of crystalline areas
– Freeze part

Mold cavity

Cooling lines
 Mold Venting
Shut off: seals plastic in with clamp pressure

Air in cavity must be allowed

to escape during injection to
avoid defects.
Vents are placed at the last
points to fill.
CORE
Sprue

Vent gaps vary with resin:

PA 0.00075 in
CAVITY PC, ABS 0.0025 in

Vent: lets air out, not plastic 79

vent gap
Modeling and Computer-Aided Mold-
Flow Analysis
• Used to help identify
potential problems with
the mold/part design
• Models based on the
CAD part
• Adjusted by resin