Injection mold with fail safe pressure mechanism

• US 9,604,398 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2012
• Issued: 03/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Imflux Inc. (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Original Assignee: Imflux Inc. (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Inventors: Davis, Walter Thomas III, Altonen, Gene Michael, Neufarth, Ralph Edwin, Breidenbach, Vincent Sean, Pratel, Dennis James, Lumpkin, Danny David
• Primary Examiner(s): Grun, Robert J
• Application Number:
  US13/672,246
• Publication Number:
  US 20140127338A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,601 Days
• Field of Search: 425/145, 425/146, 425/151, 425/153
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/1796 Moulds carrying mould related information or codes, e.g. bar codes, counters
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/2722 Nozzles or runner channels provided with a pressure sensor
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/7621 nozzle
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76498 Pressure
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76598 linear movement
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76665 screw
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76765 Moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76859 Injection
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76923 in case of emergency
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 33/0011 thin-walled moulds
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/1781 Aligning injection nozzles with the mould sprue bush
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/234 Valves opened by the pressure of the moulding material B29C45/231 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/7653 mould clamping forces
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/768 Detecting defective moulding conditions B29C45/84 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/77 of velocity or pressure of moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/84 Safety devices B29C45/7626 takes precedence

Abstract

A low pressure injection mold includes a failsafe pressure mechanism that prevents the low pressure injection mold from being subjected to excessive injection pressures or excessive clamping tonnage that could damage the low pressure injection mold.

Claims

1. An injection molding apparatus comprising:

a melt holder for pressurizing a molten material prior to injection;

an injection system for injecting the molten material from the melt holder into a mold;

a sensor for sensing a melt pressure of the molten material within the apparatus;

a controller that is;

communicatively connected to the sensor, to receive a pressure signal from the sensor, and

communicatively connected with the injection system; and

means for preventing installation of a mold into the injection molding apparatus when the injection molding apparatus is capable of injecting molten material at pressures in excess of a maximum design pressure for the mold.

2. The injection molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the failsafe device may only be overridden by an intentional action from an operator.

3. The injection molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maximum design pressure for the mold is input into the controller through an input device operatively connected to the controller.

4. The injection molding apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an electronic media connected to the mold, the electronic media storing the maximum design pressure for the mold and the controller being communicatively connected to the electronic media to receive the maximum design pressure for the mold from the electronic media.

5. The injection molding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the electronic media is one of an RFID chip and a microchip.

6. The injection molding apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one of the RFID chip and the microchip is permanently attached to the mold.

7. The injection molding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the maximum design pressure for the mold is less than 68.95 MPa (10,000 psi).