Machine base with hydraulic controls for injection molding machine

• US 3,988,099 A
• Filed: 05/28/1974
• Issued: 10/26/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1973
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Karl Hehl
• Original Assignee: Karl Hehl
• Inventors: Hehl, Karl
• Primary Examiner(s): Husar, Francis S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Safran, David S.
• Application Number:
  US05/473,690
• Time in Patent Office: 882 Days
• Field of Search: 425/242, 425/450.1, 425/192, 100/214
• US Class Current: 425/145
• CPC Class Codes: B22D 17/32 Controlling equipment
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/17 Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations

Abstract

A machine base for injection molding machines with a hydraulic controls arrangement in which the various hydraulic distributor units and solenoid valves are combined in a compact block assembly and mounted on the outside of the rear longitudinal wall of the base, the associated control knobs being located on the front longitudinal wall and connected to the throttle valves of the distributors by means of universally-jointed shafts.

Claims

1. In an injection molding machine which has a generally rectangular block-shaped hollow machine base with front and rear longitudinal walls, opposing side walls, and a top mounting surface for supporting thereon a die closing unit, and which has hydraulic control means for operating various, including said die closing unit which opens and closes an injection molding die and one or several injection units, as well as a parts ejector, wherein the improvement comprises, as part of said hydraulic control means, a hydraulic controls arrangement including:

a plurality of hydraulic distributor units with rotatable throttle members, said units being mounted in a vertical succession on the outside of the rear longitudinal wall of the machine base;

a corresponding number of control knobs for said throttle members arranged on the outside of the front longitudinal wall, the control knobs being journalled in said wall; and

means for rotationally linking each control knob to a throttle member across the space between the two longitudinal walls.

2. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein

the hollow machine base further includes a transverse partition wall extending between the front and rear longitudinal walls so as to divide the space inside the machine base into two compartments of which one is a hydraulic fluid reservoir and is located rearwardly with respect to said die closing unit, being bounded by the partition wall, one side wall, and length portions of the front and rear longitudinal walls, and the other compartment is laterally open and located forwardly of the partition wall between the remaining length portions of the front and rear longitudinal walls;

the distributor units and their associated control knobs are arranged on the longitudinal wall portions which bound said open forward compartment; and

said rotational linking means extend across the open forward compartment.

3. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein:

at least some of the control knobs are axially offset in relation to the axes of the associated throttle members of the hydraulic distributor units; and

the rotational linking means between the offset control knobs and throttle members are control shafts, each shaft including at least one universal joint.

4. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 3, wherein:

each distributor unit has two horizontally spaced rotatable throttle members for controlling opposite fluid flows to a machine component;

the control knobs are arranged in two vertical columns on the front longitudinal wall of the machine base at a horizontal spacing between the columns which is greater than that of the throttle members; and

the rotational axes of the control knobs in one column are aligned with the rotational axes of the associated throttle members, while the knob axes in the other column are horizontally offset with respect to the associated throttle member axes.

5. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the hydraulic distributor units are vertically attached to each other so as to form distributor cluster; and

one or two of the uppermost units of this distributor cluster are horizontally mounted to an intermediate mounting bracket on the rear longitudinal wall of the machine base.

6. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 5, wherein:

the machine base further includes a pair of cantilever arms extending horizontally at right angles from its rear longitudinal wall at either side of the distributor cluster; and

the cantilever arms support a vertically adjustable cooling controls assembly positioned above the machine base so as to be visible from the front side of the machine by a machine operator.

7. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein:

each distributor unit has a generally rectangular main body with an outer face which is substantially parallel to the rear longitudinal wall of the machine base; and

each distributor unit further includes a solenoid-operated control valve with horizontally opposing solenoids attached to the mounting faces of its main body, the control valve having a horizontally moving valve plunger.

8. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 7, wherein:

the distributor units have inlet and outlet lines connected to their main bodies, the lines of at least some of the units extending parallel to the rear longitudinal wall in the space between said wall and a plane which coincides with the mounting faces of said main bodies.

9. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the hydraulic operating means of the machine includes a hydraulic pump and a fluid supply line leading from the pump to the distributor units; and

the inlet connection of the supply line leads to the uppermost distributor unit, at a level above the fluid level inside the hydraulic fluid reservoir.

10. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 9, wherein:

the hydraulic pump is part of a rigid power unit, which unit further includes a coaxially connected electric motor located outside the rear side wall of the machine base and means for mounting it in said wall so as to position the pump inside the hydraulic fluid reservoir, below the top of the machine base and above said fluid level; and

the distributor units are likewise positioned below the top of the machine base.

11. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 9,

further including a fluid return line leading from the distributor units to the hydraulic fluid reservoir, with a fluid filter and a fluid cooler in said return line;

and

the connection for the return line is at the lowermost distributor unit.

12. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 11, wherein:

the fluid filter is arranged outside the rear longitudinal wall of the machine base, adjacent the hydraulic distributor units; and

said filter is arranged vertically, having a magnetic separator in its upper portion and a filtering screen in its lower portion.

13. A hydraulic controls arrangement as defined in claim 11, wherein:

the fluid cooler is arranged in the return line, between the filter and the fluid reservoir and is mounted inside the forward compartment of the machine base at the transverse partition wall.