Injection mold manifold arrangement

Abstract: It has been found that when layered preforms are being injection molded utilizing at least two materials, it is possible to maintain the same horizontal and vertical pitch of adjacent cavities as is possible when each mold cavity is being filled with a single material. Most particularly, it has been found that when the percentage of the material to be injected into a mold cavity is relatively high, it is possible to utilize a single metering pot (18) for four adjacent mold cavities (10). On the other hand, if one of the materials to be injected into a mold cavity constitutes a relatively low percentage of the volume of a mold cavity, it has been found that a small metering pot (40) must be provided for each of the cavities of the four cavity mold (10). Most particularly, with this combination, it is possible to maintain the pitch of the single material mold and thereby maintain the small size of existing injection systems as opposed to an increase in the pitch of the mold cavities which would increase the size of the mold structure.

Description: This invention relates in general to an injection moulding apparatus for forming injection moulded plastics resin preforms which are to be blow moulded into containers, and more particularly to an injection mould manifold apparatus for forming a preform which is of a multi-material construction. In the past, preforms have been formed of a single material by way of a single injection of material to fill the mould cavity. In such an injection moulding system, the injection manifold arrangement is quite simple with there being a single supply of the flowable molten plastic material to the numerous cavities with there being as many as 72 cavities in a mould system. However, when more than one material is to be utilized in forming the preform, the injection mould manifold arrangement becomes quite complex and includes among other supply arrangements metering (or shooting) pots. Since each mould cavity is not being filled with a single material, but with percentages of different materials, the injection manifold arrangement is not one wherein one shot filling occurs. Thus in the recent past, it has been found necessary to provide an injection arrangement separate and apart for each mould cavity. The net result is that the injection manifold is much larger than the injection manifold utilizing and injecting a single material and this has resulted in an increase in the pitch or spacing of adjacent mould cavities. The net result is that the overall mould construction is much larger than before and also much more costly. Such an injection moulding apparatus is disclosed in EP-A-0291640 which discloses the features of the precharacterizing portion of claim 1. The present invention provides an injection moulding apparatus for forming injection moulded plastics resin preforms for blow moulding into containers, the apparatus comprising an injection mould having mould cavities and a resin supply apparatus including first and second resin supply units for supplying respective resins from metering pots into mould cavities of the injection mould characterized in that at least one of the supply units includes a metering pot which is adapted simultaneously to supply a measured quantity of resin into a plurality of the mould cavities. The present invention provides the advantage over the known arrangement that the pitch or spacing between adjacent mould cavities may remain essentially the same as before when a single material is being injected into the mould cavities. Preferably, the said metering pot is included in the first resin supply unit which is adapted to inject a first resin into the said plurality of mould cavities. More preferably, the said metering pot is arranged to inject an initial measured quantity of the first resin into the said plurality of mould cavities. Still more preferably, the metering pot is arranged to inject an initial measured quantity of a first resin which fills around 50% of the volume of each of the said plurality of mould cavities. Optimally, the first resin supply unit further includes a first resin source and the first resin supply unit is arranged to inject from the first resin source a final quantity of the first resin into the said plurality of mould cavities so as to fill those cavities. More preferably, the first resin supply unit comprises valve means between the first resin source and the metering pot for selectively connecting the first resin source and the metering pot to the said plurality of mould cavities. In one preferred embodiment, the second resin supply unit includes a plurality of second metering pots, each of which is adapted to inject a measured quantity of a second resin into a respective one of the said plurality of mould cavities. In an alternative preferred embodiment the second resin supply unit includes a second metering pot which is adapted simultaneously to inject a measured quantity of second resin into the said plurality of mould cavities. Preferably, in either embodiment the second resin supply unit is arranged to inject into each of the said plurality of mould cavities a measured quantity of the second resin after an initial measured quantity of first resin has been injected into each of the said plurality of mould cavities by the first resin supply unit. Preferably, in the said one preferred embodiment each second metering pot is arranged to inject a measured quantity of second resin which fills from 2 to 5% of the volume of each of the said plurality of mould cavities and in the said alternative embodiment the second metering pot is arranged to inject a measured quantity of second resin which fills from 20 to 30% of the volume of each of the said plurality of mould cavities. Advantageously, the said plurality of mould cavities comprises from 2 to 4 mould cavities. Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic view of an injection manifold arrangement for supplying plural materials to each cavity in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic sectional view taken through the bottom end of a mould cavity and schematically shows a nozzle for directing different materials into the cavity in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 3 is a schematic view showing a modified manifold arrangement in conjunction with a four cavity mould in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. Referring now to Figure 1 in particular, it will be seen that there illustrated a typical four cavity mould which is generally identified by the numeral 10. The cavities within the mould 10 are spaced both vertically and horizontally with only the nozzle receiving openings 12 of each cavity being illustrated. It is to be understood that the cavities are elongated horizontally. In order that the invention may be understood, when a single material is to be injected into each cavity to form a preform, with a 28mm neck finish, the centers of the cavities have a horizontal pitch of 150 and a vertical pitch of 60. However, when one pot is required per cavity for each different material utilized, the horizontal pitch must be increased to 185 and the vertical pitch to 75. Also, with a single material forming the preform and the mold cavity being configurated to have a 80mm neck finish, the horizontal pitch is 200 and the vertical pitch is 125 while with the multiple materials, the horizontal pitch is 300 and the vertical pitch is 140. It will be readily apparent that when the size of the mold is increased, the cost of the injection molding apparatus is also increased. In order to reduce the tooling size (and cost) for multi-layer systems, in accordance with this invention, when the quantity to be injected into each mold cavity is relatively great, it is proposed to utilize one metering pot for that material to supply as many as four mold cavities. On the other hand, when the percentage of material to be directed into a mold cavity is relatively low, it still may be necessary to provide a single metering pot for each mold cavity. However, these metering pots could be small in size and not occupy sufficient space to require an increase in the pitch of the mold cavities. Referring once again to Figure 1, it will be seen that there is associated with the four cavity mold 10 an injection manifold arrangement which is generally identified by the numeral 14 and which is only schematically illustrated. With the arrangement of Figure 1, a mold cavity may be partially filled with a primary resin, then a small quantity of a secondary resin may be injected into the mold cavity followed by the complete filling of the mold cavity with the same primary resin. In order to accomplish this, there is provided the usual extruder 16 for the primary resin, which extruder will be considered to be a primary resin supply source. There is also a metering pot 18 of a size to inject a first quantity of the primary resin into all of the mold cavities. The metering pot 18 includes a piston 20 which is selectively positioned so as to deliver a premeasured quantity of the primary resin into a supply passage 22. The supply passage 22 is coupled to each of the mold cavities. The supply passage 22 is coupled to the primary resin supply 16 by means of a passage 24 in which there is positioned a spool valve 26 having a rotatable spool 28 with a flow passage 30 therethrough. There is also provided a supply 32 for a secondary resin which may be in the form of an extruder or other type of supply means. This supply 32 has a supply passage 34 which is coupled to spaced supply passages 36 which are further connected to supply passages 38 leading to individual small measuring pots 40 each of which is provided with a dispensing piston 42. Each supply passage 38 has incorporated therein a spool valve generally identified by the numeral 44 including a rotatable spool 46. The spool 46 has a through passage 48 which couples the second material supply 32 to a respective pot 40 in one position of the spool 46. In another position of the spool 46, a control passage 50 therein connects the metering pot 40 to a delivery passage 52. Each delivery passage 52 is coupled to a respective one of the mold cavities. In order that the operation of the injection arrangment may be understood, reference is made to Figure 2 wherein a single cavity C of the mold 10 has the base portion only thereof illustrated. The cavity C has a core 54 positioned therein so as to form a closed end tubular preform. In one of the respective cavity openings 12 of the mold 10, a resin supply nozzle, generally identified by the numeral 56, is illustrated seated therein in sealed relation thereto. The illustrated nozzle 56 is provided with a passage 58 for a first material and a concentric passage 60 for a second material. Flow through the passage 58 is controlled by the position of an axially movable gate 62 with a first gate surface 64 while flow of the second material through the passage 60 is controlled by the same gate pin 62 in conjunction with a gate 66. The gate pin 62 is positioned by a conventional control device 68. OPERATION With the metering pots 18 and 40 filled with respective resins, the gate pin 62 is retracted to open both the gate 66 and the gate 64. The piston 20 of the metering pot 18 is then actuated so as to deliver to each of the four mold cavities a similar quantity of the first material. Then the gate pin 62 is moved so as to close off the gate 64 while permitting the gate 66 to remain open. At that time the valves 44 are set so as to deliver the second material from the metering pots 40 into the respective mold cavities C. Thereafter with the valve 26 in its supply position of Figure 1 and with the gate pin 62 retracted, an additional quantity of the first material is injected into each mold cavity C to completely fill that mold cavity. Once the injection of the required material into the mold cavity C is completed, the gate pin 62 is moved to a position to close the two gates 64, 66. When this occurs, with the valve 26 in the position shown in Figure 1, the metering pot 18 is refilled. Further, when the valves 44 are positioned to communicate the supply 32 with the metering pots 40, the metering pots 40 are refilled. Although a four cavity mold has been specifically illustrated in conjunction with the injection mold arrangement 14, it is to be understood that the same injection manifold arrangement may be utilized in conjunction with a two cavity mold except that there would be only two of the metering pots 40 instead of four. With the injection manifold arrangement 14 of Figure 1, it is possible to utilize the same mold cavity pitch as that which has been utilized in conjunction with a single material preform. It is to be understood that competitive multi-layer systems do not utilize individual cavity metering pots, but rely upon temperature, pressure and flow rate balance from the extruder to control the material supplied each cavity. Cavity to cavity volume variations with these systems is excessive and for a single fill of 50%, the variation in each cavity of a 16 cavity mold is ± 20-50%, while the variation in a 16 cavity mold utilizing metering pots is ± 2%. With a two cavity mold in accordance with this invention, the variation is ± 3-5% whereas with a four cavity mold the variation is ± 4-6%. It has been found that the cavity to cavity volume variation increase for shared cavities versus dedicated metering pots will be acceptable if the volume of material injected forms at least 20-30% of the total preform weight. For very low volume percentages (i.e. 2-5%) it is necessary to utilize dedicated pots wherein the relative percentages of the first material as opposed to the second material is 96/4. In accordance with this invention, a typical preform may be made by first injecting 50% of the volume of the cavity from the metering pot 18 followed by injecting into each cavity the second material having a volume on the order 4% of the mold cavity volume. These two measured injections are followed by the filling of the individual cavity by 40% of the cavity volume of the first material directly from the extruder. In a typical formation of a layered preform, the primary material will be a polyester resin such as PET and the second material will preferably a suitable barrier material such as EVAL. At this time it must be appreciated that for shot to shot consistency and especially for cavity to cavity consistency there should be a balancing device, both mechanically and thermal incorporated in each of the passages between the shooting pots 18 and 40 and each nozzle 56. Each balancing device 70 may include suitable variable heater means and adjustable valve means not specifically illustrated. Referring now to Figure 3, there is illustrated an arrangement wherein the percentage of material to be injected into a mold cavity in each delivery step will be relatively high. Under the circumstances, in lieu of the individual metering pots 40, there can be single, much larger metering pot 140 which will deliver simultaneously the second material to each of the four mold cavities. This metering pot will be utilized in conjunction with the metering pot 18 which also simultaneously delivers a metered amount of the first material to each mold cavity. Of course, the individual mold cavities may be finally filled with the first material in the manner previously described. Balancing devices 70 may also be utilized in the embodiment of Figure 3.

Claims: An injection moulding apparatus for forming injection moulded plastics resin preforms for blow moulding into containers, the apparatus comprising an injection mould (10) having mould cavities (12) and a resin supply apparatus (14) including first and second resin supply units for supplying respective resins from metering pots (18,40) into mould cavities (12) of the injection mould (10) characterized in that at least one of the supply units includes a metering pot (18) which is adapted simultaneously to supply a measured quantity of resin into a plurality of the mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the said metering pot (18) is included in the first resin supply unit which is adapted to inject a first resin into the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the said metering pot (18) is arranged to inject an initial measured quantity of the first resin into the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the metering pot (18) is arranged to inject an initial measured quantity of a first resin which fills around 50% of the volume of each of the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the first resin supply unit further includes a first resin source and the first resin supply unit is arranged to inject from the first resin source (16) a final quantity of the first resin into the said plurality of mould cavities (12) so as to fill those cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the first resin supply unit comprises valve means (16,28) between the first resin source (16) and the metering pot (18) for selectively connecting the first resin source and the metering pot (18) to the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the second resin supply unit includes a plurality of second metering pots (40), each of which is adapted to inject a measured quantity of a second resin into a respective one of the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the second resin supply unit includes a second metering pot (140) which is adapted simultaneously to inject a measured quantity of second resin into the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the second resin supply unit is arranged to inject into each of the said plurality of mould cavities (12) a measured quantity of the second resin after an initial measured quantity of first resin has been injected into each of the said plurality of mould cavities (12) by the first resin supply unit. An apparatus according to claim 9 when appendant on claim 7 wherein each second metering pot (40) is arranged to inject a measured quantity of second resin which fills from 2 to 5% of the volume of each of the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to claim 9 when appendant on claim 8 wherein the second metering pot (140) is arranged to inject a measured quantity of second resin which fills from 20 to 30% of the volume of each of the said plurality of mould cavities (12). An apparatus according to any foregoing claim wherein the said plurality of mould cavities (12) comprises from 2 to 4 mould cavities (12).

Inventors: COLLETTE WAYNE N, KRISHNAKUMAR SUPPAYAN M, NAHILL THOMAS E, SCHMIDT STEVEN LYLE, COLLETTE, WAYNE N., KRISHNAKUMAR, SUPPAYAN M., NAHILL, THOMAS E., SCHMIDT, STEVEN LYLE
Applicants: CONTINENTAL PET TECHNOLOGIES, CONTINENTAL PET TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B29B11
IPC codes: B29C49, B29L9, B29C45, B29C31, B29L22, B29B11