Method and apparatus for controlling injection-molding systems
First Claim
1. A method of controlling the temperature of the material at least one location in a hot-half of a mold, comprising the steps of:
- coupling a system controller to the hot-half of the mold to provide a communication path therebetween and to provide power from the system controller to at least one heating element in the hot-half;
communicating to the system controller temperature data along the communication path from a memory housed at and mounted to the hot-half;
providing a controlled amount of power from the system controller to the heating element in accordance with the temperature data communicated to the system controller; and
updating the temperature data via a user input at the system controller and communicating the updated temperature data to the memory via the communication path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for providing material to a mold, such as in an injection molding system, wherein the settings for controlling the molding operation are retained in a non-volatile memory in a hot-half of the mold. When connected to a system controller, the hot-half of the mold is configured to communicate the retained information to the system controller, thereby enabling simplified set up of the molding operation. The retained information includes system information, initial settings for a plurality of heating zones, and historical information associated with that particular hot-half of the mold. Changes made to the information at the system controller are transmitted to the hot-half for dynamic updating of the non-volatile memory.
54 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of controlling the temperature of the material at least one location in a hot-half of a mold, comprising the steps of:
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coupling a system controller to the hot-half of the mold to provide a communication path therebetween and to provide power from the system controller to at least one heating element in the hot-half; communicating to the system controller temperature data along the communication path from a memory housed at and mounted to the hot-half; providing a controlled amount of power from the system controller to the heating element in accordance with the temperature data communicated to the system controller; and updating the temperature data via a user input at the system controller and communicating the updated temperature data to the memory via the communication path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
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7. An apparatus for providing material to a cold-half of a mold at a selected temperature, the apparatus comprising:
- a hot-half of the mold for mating with the cold-half, the hot-half including a flow passage for providing material to the mold when the hot-half is mated with the cold-half, a heater for elevating the temperature of the material at a selected location of the hot-half, a non-volatile memory for storing initial and historical information including data for controlling the temperature of the heater, a junction box mounted to the hot-half and including at least one connector in communication with the heater and the non-volatile memory;
a connector extending from a system controller for connecting with the at least one connector of the junction box such that the hot-half is selectively attachable to the system controller;
an input device for inputting current settings for a molding operation based on the initial historical information;
a communications controller within the system controller for communicating with the memory of the hot-half to obtain the initial and historical information therein and for writing the current settings into the non-volatile memory in order to update the historical information, and the system controller further including a heater controller for outputting power signals to control the temperature of the heater in accordance with the information. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
- a hot-half of the mold for mating with the cold-half, the hot-half including a flow passage for providing material to the mold when the hot-half is mated with the cold-half, a heater for elevating the temperature of the material at a selected location of the hot-half, a non-volatile memory for storing initial and historical information including data for controlling the temperature of the heater, a junction box mounted to the hot-half and including at least one connector in communication with the heater and the non-volatile memory;
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15. A hot-half for a mold for mating with a cold-half of the mold, the hot-half comprising:
- a substrate shaped to mate with the cold-half in registration;
a flow passageway for communicating liquefied material to the cold half;
a heating element interposed in the flow passage way for heating the liquefied material;
a junction box for coupling the heating element to an external source of power and control; and
, a non volatile memory for storing initial and historical information indicative of an appropriate temperature setting for the heating element to produce products of a molding process performed by the hot and cold halves. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
- a substrate shaped to mate with the cold-half in registration;
Specification