Controlled valve pin movement based on cavity sensor feedback

• US 9,873,219 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2016
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synventive Molding Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Synventive Molding Solutions Incorporated
• Inventors: Galati, Vito, Devellian, Gregory Leon, Glor, Robert William
• Primary Examiner(s): SANDERS, JAMES M
• Application Number:
  US15/233,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20160346980A1
• Time in Patent Office: 531 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76076 duration
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76277 nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76381 Injection
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76568 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76598 linear movement
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76755 nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76859 Injection
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2945/76936 The operating conditions are corrected in the next phase or cycle
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/281 Drive means therefor

Abstract

Apparatus and method for performing an injection molding cycle in an injection molding apparatus where the apparatus comprises:

• • a manifold, an actuator associated with a respective gate,
  • each gate having a downstream sensor generating a response signal upon sensing a selected condition of the injection fluid material,
  • each gate having an upstream sensor generating a response signal upon sensing the selected condition of the injection fluid material,
  • the upstream and downstream sensors sending response signals to a controller on performance of each successive injection cycle by the apparatus,
    the controller comparing a standard amount of elapsed time with a calculated amount of elapsed time and adjusting the velocity or position of each of the actuators such that the amount of time elapsed approaches or matches the standard amount of elapsed time.

Claims

1. A method of performing an injection molding cycle in an injection molding apparatus comprised of:

a manifold that receives an injection fluid material, the manifold having or communicating with a delivery channel that delivers the injection fluid mold material under an injection pressure to two or more gates each leading to an associated mold cavity,

an actuator associated with each respective gate,

each actuator being drivably interconnected to a valve pin drivable upstream and downstream along a path of travel having a selected stroke length that extends between a gate closed position, a selected maximum flow position at which the injection fluid material flows at a maximum rate through the gate into the cavity and one or more selectable intermediate positions between the first position and the maximum flow position,

each actuator being controllably drivable to position an interconnected valve pin at the first, one or more selectable intermediate and maximum flow positions over the course of an injection cycle,

a downstream sensor that senses a selected downstream physical condition of the injection fluid material at a position within an associated mold cavity that is downstream of an associated gate, the downstream sensor generating a signal corresponding to the sensed values,

an upstream sensor that senses a selected upstream physical condition of the injection fluid material at a position within an associated mold cavity that is upstream of the downstream position,

the method comprising the steps of;

recording and selecting as a standard for a selected one of the gates, the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with the selected one of the gates first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid and the time at which the downstream sensor first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated mold cavity of the selected one of the gates,

performing one or more subsequent injection cycles and for each of the other gates sensing the selected upstream and downstream physical condition of the injection fluid material at the upstream and downstream positions with the upstream and downstream sensors associated with each of the other gates, and,

recording the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with each of the other gates first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid and the time at which the downstream sensor associated with each of the other gates first senses the selected condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated cavities of each of the other gates,

comparing the recorded amounts of time elapsed associated with each of the other gates with the standard amount of time elapsed that is associated with the selected one of the gates,

adjusting position or velocity of the actuators or valve pins associated with each of the other gates during each subsequent injection cycle such that the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor first senses the selected upstream condition and the time at which the downstream sensor first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material approaches or matches the selected standard amount of elapsed time.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps of performing and adjusting are carried out automatically by an algorithm executed by a controller interconnected to and controllably driving or adjusting the drive of the actuators.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of recording and selecting comprises recording and establishing a standard profile of position of the actuator or valve pin versus time for the selected one of the gates and the step of adjusting can comprise recording and adjusting the position or drive rate of the actuators or valve pins associated with the other gates to approach or match the standard profile of position versus time.

4. Apparatus for performing an injection molding cycle in an injection molding apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a manifold that receives an injection fluid material, the manifold having or communicating with a delivery channel that delivers the injection fluid mold material under an injection pressure to two or more gates each leading to an associated mold cavity,

an actuator associated with each respective gate,

each actuator being drivably interconnected to a valve pin drivable upstream and downstream along a path of travel having a selected stroke length that extends between a gate closed position, a selected maximum flow position at which the injection fluid material flows at a maximum rate through the gate into the cavity and one or more selectable intermediate positions between the first position and the maximum flow position,

each actuator being controllably drivable to position an interconnected valve pin at the first, one or more selectable intermediate and maximum flow positions over the course of an injection cycle,

each gate having a downstream sensor that senses a selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material at a position within each associated mold cavity that is downstream of each associated gate, the downstream sensor generating a response signal upon sensing the selected condition of the injection fluid material when the injection fluid material has flowed to the downstream position of the downstream sensor,

each gate having an upstream sensor that senses a selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material at a position within each associated mold cavity that is upstream of the downstream position associated with each gate, the upstream sensor generating a response signal upon sensing the selected condition of the injection fluid material when the injection fluid material has flowed to the upstream position of the upstream sensor,

a controller containing predetermined data representing as a standard for a selected one of the gates, the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with the selected one of the gates first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material and the time at which the downstream sensor associated with the selected one of the gates first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated mold cavity,

the upstream and downstream sensors of each of the other gates other than the selected one of the gates each sensing the selected upstream and downstream conditions of the injection fluid material and sending response signals to the controller on performance of each successive injection cycle by the apparatus,

the controller receiving the response signals from the sensors associated with each of the other gates on performance of each successive injection cycle performed by the apparatus and calculating the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with each of the other gates first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material and the time at which the downstream sensor associated with the selected one of the gates first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated mold cavity,

the controller including instructions that compare the amount of standard elapsed time with the calculated amount of elapsed time associated with each of the other gates,

the controller including instructions that adjust the velocity or position of each of the actuators associated with each of the other gates to drive the valve pins associated with each of the other gates at one or more velocities or to one or more positions during one or more successive injection cycles based on the compared amounts of time such that the amount of time elapsed between the time that the upstream sensors associated with the other gates first sense the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material and the time that the downstream sensors associated with the other gates first sense the selected downstream condition approaches or matches the standard amount of elapsed time.

5. Apparatus of claim 4 further including position sensors that sense position of the actuator or valve pin associated with each of the gates, the controller including data representing a standard profile of position of the actuator or valve pin versus time during an injection cycle for the selected one of the gates, the controller including instructions that compare position versus time of the actuators or valve pins for each of the gates during one or more successive injection cycles with the standard profile and directs the position or velocity of the actuators or valve pins associated with the other gates during the course of the one or more successive injection cycles such that the position versus time of the actuators or valve pins associated with the other gates approaches or matches the standard profile.

6. A method of performing an injection molding cycle in an injection molding apparatus comprised of:

a manifold that receives an injection fluid material, the manifold having or communicating with a delivery channel that delivers the injection fluid mold material under an injection pressure to two or more gates each leading to an associated mold cavity,

an actuator associated with each respective gate,

each actuator being drivably interconnected to a valve pin drivable upstream and downstream along a path of travel having a selected stroke length that extends between a gate closed position, a selected maximum flow position at which the injection fluid material flows at a maximum rate through the gate into the cavity and one or more selectable intermediate positions between the first position and the maximum flow position,

each actuator being controllably drivable to position an interconnected valve pin at the first, one or more selectable intermediate and maximum flow positions over the course of an injection cycle,

a downstream sensor that senses a selected downstream physical condition of the injection fluid material at a position within an associated mold cavity that is downstream of an associated gate, the downstream sensor generating a signal corresponding to the sensed values,

an upstream sensor that senses a selected upstream physical condition of the injection fluid material at a position within an associated mold cavity that is upstream of the downstream position,

the method comprising the steps of;

selecting as a standard for all of the gates, the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with a gate first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid and the time at which the downstream sensor first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated mold cavity of a gate,

performing one or more subsequent injection cycles and for each of the gates sensing the selected upstream and downstream physical condition of the injection fluid material at the upstream and downstream positions with the upstream and downstream sensors associated with each of the other gates,

recording the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with each of the gates first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid and the time at which the downstream sensor associated with each of the gates first senses the selected condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated cavities of each of the gates,

comparing the recorded amounts of time elapsed associated with each of the gates with the selected standard amount of time,

adjusting position or velocity of the actuators or valve pins associated with each of the gates during each subsequent injection cycle such that the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor first senses the selected upstream condition and the time at which the downstream sensor first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material approaches or matches the selected standard amount of elapsed time.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the steps of performing and adjusting are carried out automatically by an algorithm executed by a controller interconnected to and controllably driving or adjusting the drive of the actuators.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of recording and selecting comprises recording and establishing a standard profile of position of the actuator or valve pin versus time for the selected one of the gates and the step of adjusting can comprise recording and adjusting the position or drive rate of the actuators or valve pins associated with the other gates to approach or match the standard profile of position versus time.

9. An apparatus for performing an injection molding cycle in an injection molding apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a manifold that receives an injection fluid material, the manifold having or communicating with a delivery channel that delivers the injection fluid mold material under an injection pressure to two or more gates each leading to an associated mold cavity,

an actuator associated with each respective gate,

each actuator being drivably interconnected to a valve pin drivable upstream and downstream along a path of travel having a selected stroke length that extends between a gate closed position, a selected maximum flow position at which the injection fluid material flows at a maximum rate through the gate into the cavity and one or more selectable intermediate positions between the first position and the maximum flow position,

each actuator being controllably drivable to position an interconnected valve pin at the first, one or more selectable intermediate and maximum flow positions over the course of an injection cycle,

each gate having a downstream sensor that senses a selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material at a position within each associated mold cavity that is downstream of each associated gate, the downstream sensor generating a response signal upon sensing the selected condition of the injection fluid material when the injection fluid material has flowed to the downstream position of the downstream sensor,

each gate having an upstream sensor that senses a selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material at a position within each associated mold cavity that is upstream of the downstream position associated with each gate, the upstream sensor generating a response signal upon sensing the selected condition of the injection fluid material when the injection fluid material has flowed to the upstream position of the upstream sensor,

a controller containing predetermined data representing as a standard for each of the gates, the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with a gate first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material and the time at which the downstream sensor associated with a gate first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated mold cavity,

the upstream and downstream sensors of each of the gates each sensing the selected upstream and downstream conditions of the injection fluid material and each sending response signals to the controller on performance of each successive injection cycle by the apparatus,

the controller receiving the response signals from the sensors associated with each of the gates on performance of each successive injection cycle performed by the apparatus and calculating the amount of time elapsed between the time at which the upstream sensor associated with each of the gates first senses the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material and the time at which the downstream sensor associated with each of the gates first senses the selected downstream condition of the injection fluid material flowing into the associated mold cavity,

the controller including instructions that compare the standard amount of elapsed time with the calculated amount of elapsed time associated with each of the gates,

the controller including instructions that adjust the velocity or position of each of the actuators associated with each of the gates to drive the valve pins associated with each of the gates at one or more velocities or to one or more positions during one or more successive injection cycles based on the compared amounts of time such that the amount of time elapsed between the time that the upstream sensors associated with each of the gates first sense the selected upstream condition of the injection fluid material and the time that the downstream sensors associated with each of the gates first sense the selected downstream condition approaches or matches the standard amount of elapsed time.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 further including position sensors that sense position of the actuator or valve pin associated with each of the gates, the controller including data representing a standard profile of position of the actuator or valve pin versus time during an injection cycle for the gates, the controller including instructions that compare position versus time of the actuators or valve pins for each of the gates during one or more successive injection cycles with the standard profile and directs the position or velocity of the actuators or valve pins associated with each of the gates during the course of the one or more successive injection cycles such that the position versus time of the actuators or valve pins associated with each of the gates approaches or matches the standard profile.