Abstract:
A valve pin assembly for an injection molding apparatus comprising a valve pin capable of movement up and down in a nozzle to open and close a ring gate. An annular passage is created through the nozzle and is unobstructed and without restriction at all points up to and through the ring gate, permitting melt to flow freely to the gate and, depending on the position of the valve pin, into the mold cavity. The valve pin has a head with a diameter larger than the valve pin shaft for selectively closing the gate. The ring gate channel diameter is larger than the melt channel diameter to permit parts with large apertures therein to be formed.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to the injection molding of articles with an aperture therein and, more particularly, to an improved gating apparatus for injection molding articles having large apertures.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    Injection molding can be used advantageously to mold plastic articles of all shapes and description. Among such articles are those having an aperture therethrough, typically centrally located, such as in an audio compact disc or a lamp shade, or the like. Various apparatus are known in the art for accomplishing the molding of such articles, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,368,028 to Grish et al., 4,530,654 to Rose and 5,423,672 to Gordon and Japanese Patent No. JP10-16005, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. These references disclose an injection molding apparatus having a nozzle with a central valve pin therein, creating an annular passage for melt to flow therearound to a gated tip. The valve pin permits the flow of melt to be positively selectively controlled and, when extended from the nozzle, also causes an annular ring ‘gate’ form between the pin and the nozzle tip, thereby permitting an annular article to be formed having a central aperture therethrough.  
           [0003]    The apparatus of Grish et al., Rose, Gordon and/or JP10-16005, however, do not facilitate the forming of plastic articles having a large diameter aperture (such as a lamp shade), primarily for several reasons. Firstly, if the inner bore of the nozzle is enlarged to facilitate molding a larger diameter aperture, a greater volume of melt will remain in the nozzle after each cycle, thereby increasing the risk of melt degradation in the nozzle and increasing the difficulty in controlling the overall temperature of the melt. Also, guiding the valve pin can become a problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,353 to Mayer, incorporated herein by reference, teaches a plurality of radially outwardly and angularly spaced extending arms  76 ,  78  used to guide a valve stem  74 . These arms, however, together with flow opening  89 , represent obstructions to the incoming flow of molten resin, toward the mold cavity, which generate several melt or flow lines in the finished product, decreasing the overall attractiveness of the product.  
           [0004]    A possible solution to the problem of reducing melt volume in the nozzle is to increase the pin diameter correspondingly to reduce the overall volume of melt in the nozzle. If the pin diameter is so increased, however, the melt is exposed to an increased overall surface area in the nozzle which results in increased pressure losses in the runner system.  
           [0005]    Another solution is posed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,915 to Osuna-Diaz, incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a nozzle having an outwardly flared bore and an outwardly flared insert that define between them a flared cylindrical melt passage. A valve sleeve surrounding the nozzle controls melt flow through an annular gate at the nozzle tip. This arrangement, too, would appear to suffer from the drawback of melt exposure to an enlarged surface area and resulting pressure losses in the runner system.  
           [0006]    The prior art also proposes splitting or otherwise distributing the melt prior to delivery to the gate and injection into the mold cavity. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,190 to Frei, incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of a plurality of borings  19  through the nozzle which break up the flow in the resin, as do the spacers  17 . Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,763 to Asai, also incorporated herein by reference, discloses a plurality of passages  21  for distributing the flow in the nozzle. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,117 to Taylor, incorporated herein by reference, though a central valve pin is not used, this reference does disclose a resin passage  55  which terminates in a conical dispersion head  66  mounted on its lower portion and a sleeve valve  30  fitted and slidably cooperating to selectively prevent the molten material from flowing into the mold cavity.  
           [0007]    The devices of Frei, Asai and Taylor, however, can also result in the appearance of flow lines in the final product. To combat this problem, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,784,234 and 5,840,231, both to Teng and incorporated herein by reference, disclose an even more complex apparatus to recombine the individual streams of molten resin after they are split and prior to entering the cavity gate, so as to minimize the appearance of flow lines. The apparatuses of Frei, Asai, Taylor and Teng, however, all require careful machining and make a resin colour change a laborious and time consuming proposition, as the intricate surfaces must be carefully cleaned before a new colour resin can be introduced.  
           [0008]    Therefore it is desirable to provide an apparatus which permits improved control of the flow plastic melt from a hot runner system to a plurality of cavities to achieve more uniformity of formed articles. It is also desirable to avoid restrictions to or interferences with melt flow through the nozzle to permit the cavity to be filled with a uniform melt and receive a high quality product particularly for articles with large apertures therethrough.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    In one aspect, the present invention provides an injection molding apparatus for forming articles having a hole, comprising:  
           [0010]    at least one mold cavity formed between a cavity plate and an adjacent core;  
           [0011]    at least one injection molding nozzle having an annular gate, the nozzle connectable to a source of molten material and capable of feeding molten material from the source to the gate through at least one melt channel through the nozzle, the gate communicating with the mold cavity and having a cross-section that is wider than the cross-section of the melt channel;  
           [0012]    a valve pin disposed interior of the melt channel and the gate, the valve pin defining an unrestricted melt flow passage through the melt channel around and along the valve pin, the valve pin moveable between a closed position in which the valve pin substantially contacts the gate sufficiently to stop the flow of molten material through the gate, and an open position in which molten material can flow unrestricted to the gate.  
           [0013]    In a second aspect, the present invention provides an injection molding apparatus for forming articles having a hole, comprising:  
           [0014]    at least one mold cavity formed between a cavity plate and an adjacent core;  
           [0015]    at least one injection molding nozzle having an annular gate, the nozzle connectable to a source of molten material and capable of feeding molten material from the source to the gate through at least one melt channel through the nozzle, the gate communicating with the mold cavity and having a cross-section that is wider than the cross-section of the melt channel;  
           [0016]    a valve pin disposed interior of the melt channel and the gate, the valve pin defining an unobstructed melt flow passage through the melt channel around and along the valve pin, the valve pin moveable between a closed position in which the valve pin substantially contacts the gate sufficiently to stop the flow of molten material through the gate, and an open position in which molten material can flow unobstructed to the gate.  
           [0017]    In a third aspect, the present invention provides an injection molding apparatus for forming articles having a hole, comprising:  
           [0018]    a mold having a cavity plate and an adjacent core which enclose a mold cavity therebetween;  
           [0019]    an injection molding nozzle having a melt channel therethrough, the melt channel communicating with the mold cavity through an annular gate at the tip of the nozzle;  
           [0020]    a valve pin disposed interior of the melt channel, the valve pin and the melt channel defining a melt flow passage around and along the valve pin, the valve pin having a head portion adjacent the nozzle tip and a stem portion remote from the nozzle tip, the head portion having a wider cross-section than the stem portion; and  
           [0021]    an actuator operatively linked to the stem portion of the valve pin to move the valve pin between an open position with its head portion adjacent the gate in which molten material can flow through the gate into the mold cavity, and a closed position with its head portion blocking the gate to seal the communication between the nozzle and the mold cavity.  
           [0022]    In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides an injection molding system for forming articles having a hole, comprising:  
           [0023]    a mold cavity plate and a plurality of mold cores defining with the mold cavity plate a plurality of mold cavities;  
           [0024]    a melt distribution manifold for delivering molten material to the mold cavities;  
           [0025]    a plurality of injection molding nozzles respectively associated with the mold cavities, each nozzle having a melt channel therethrough, the melt channel communicating with its respective mold cavity through an annular gate at the tip of the nozzle;  
           [0026]    each of the nozzles having a valve pin disposed interior of the melt channel, the valve pin and the melt channel defining a melt flow passage around and along the valve pin, the valve pin having a head portion adjacent the nozzle tip and a stem portion remote from the nozzle tip, the head portion having a wider cross-section than the stem portion; and  
           [0027]    actuating means operatively linked to the stem portion of each of the valve pins to move each valve pin between an open position with its head portion adjacent the gate in which molten material can flow through the gate into the mold cavity, and a closed position with its head portion blocking the gate to seal the communication between the nozzle and the mold cavity.  
           [0028]    The valve pin preferably has a smooth transition portion between the stem portion and the head portion. The distal end of the head portion may have a guide portion which engages the core for guiding the valve pin between its open and closed positions. A core sleeve may be provided for engaging the perimeter of the head portion of the valve pin. Further, the perimeter of the head portion of the valve pin may form part of the surface of the core when the valve pin is in its closed position to at least partly define and form the hole.  
           [0029]    The shape of the annular gate (and the parts that form the gate) may be chosen to form a hole of any desired shape in the articles to be molded. Thus, e.g., the gate cross-section may be circular, oval, square, rectangular, or irregular. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0030]    For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings. The drawings show articles made according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which:  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of an injection molding apparatus according to the present invention;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 at circle A, the apparatus being shown in the “closed” position;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2, showing the apparatus in an intermediate position;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 4 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2, showing the apparatus in the “open” position;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 5 is a sectional side view of a core and molded article, namely a lamp shade, in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of a multi-cavity injection molding apparatus according to the invention;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of another multi-cavity injection molding apparatus according to the invention;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 8 is a plan view of a circular hole that can be molded into a product using apparatus according to the invention;  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 9 is a plan view of an oval hole that can be molded into a product using apparatus according to the invention;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 10 is a plan view of a square hole that can be molded into a product using apparatus according to the invention;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 11 is a plan view of a rectangular hole that can be molded into a product using apparatus according to the invention; and  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 12 is a plan view of an irregular hole that can be molded into a product using apparatus according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0043]    An injection molding apparatus according to the present invention is shown generally in the Figures at M. Apparatus M comprises a nozzle mold plate  20  and a cavity plate  13  cooperating with a mold core  10  along a parting line PL to form a mold cavity  11  therebetween. An injection molding machine (not shown) has an injection nozzle (not shown) which communicates with a heated runner system  30  via a sprue bushing  32  to provide molten plastic therethrough, under pressure. A locating ring  21  is provided to position the molding machine. Runner system  30  communicates through an inlet sleeve or body  17  with an annular melt channel  12  centrally located in an injection nozzle  7 . Injection nozzle  7  has a nozzle head  15  and is positioned in a nozzle plate  6  positioned substantially in cavity plate  13 . Runner system  30  is maintained at a desired operating temperature by inlet body heater elements  16 , nozzle heater elements  14  and a thermocouple  9  communicating with a suitable control system (not shown), as is well known in the art. Centrally disposed in melt channel  12  of nozzle  7  is a valve pin  1  which is axially movable in nozzle  7 , for reasons described in more detail below, by the cooperation of an activating cylinder  19  (which may be pneumatic or hydraulic, as is well known in the art), and a rack and pinion motion transfer gear train  18 .  
         [0044]    Referring to FIG. 2, valve pin  1  has a stem  1 ′, a neck  4 , a plate or head  2  and a guiding lug or spigot  3 . A removable nozzle tip  8  and a nozzle plate  6  cooperate with neck  4  and head  2  to selectively connect melt channel  12  with mold cavity  11  depending on the position of valve pin  1 , as will be described in more detail below. A spigot notch or bore  5  is provided in core  10  for receiving and guiding valve spigot  3 . Spigot bore  5  has a shoulder  34  for receiving valve head  2 , and a core sleeve space  23  is present between shoulder  34  and head  2  when valve pin  1  is in any position other than the “open” position, as will be described below. A core sleeve  22  surrounds core sleeve space  23  to prevent melt from penetrating therein.  
         [0045]    Nozzle tip  8  has an enlarged opening  36  in the mold end thereof which cooperates with valve pin  1  to create a nozzle tip gate  24  therebetween. Melt channel  12  communicates with opening  36  via a substantially smooth transition zone  38 .  
         [0046]    Valve pin  1 , valve stem  1 ′, valve head  2 , melt channel  12 , transition  38  and opening  36  are substantially circular in cross-section so as to give melt channel  12  an annular shape (between valve pin  1  and nozzle  7 ) and give gate  24  an annular entry into mold cavity  11 . Valve stem  1 ′ has an outside diameter D 1  and head  2  has an outside diameter D 2 , while melt channel  12  has a diameter of M 1  and opening  36  has an inside diameter M 2 . As can be seen from FIG. 2, head  2  diameter D 2  is slightly less than opening  36  diameter M 2  to permit head  2  to be inserted into opening  36  to close gate  24 , as will be described in more detail below.  
         [0047]    When in the “closed” position, as shown in FIG. 2, head  2  is positioned so as to substantially contact tip  8  at opening  36  to close gate  24 . Pressurized melt in runner system  30  is thus prevented from entering mold cavity  11 . In this position, core sleeve space  23  has a height of Δ 2 , as shown, and part of the outer annular surface of head  2  forms part of the core surface that will shape the hole in the molded part.  
         [0048]    Referring again to FIG. 1, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, cylinder  19  may be selectively actuated and controlled by an appropriate system (not shown) to activate rack and pinion gear  18  to effect an axial movement of valve pin  1  within nozzle  7 . From the “closed” position (FIG. 2), cylinder  19 , when driven, advances valve pin  1  axially in nozzle  7  through an intermediate position (FIG. 3) to a fully “open” position (FIG. 4).  
         [0049]    Referring to FIG. 4, when valve pin  1  is in the “open” position, valve pin  1  has moved axially away from nozzle tip  8 , so that gate  24  is opened between head  2  and opening  36 . Gate  24  thus provides a passage for heated melt to pass from melt channel  12  in nozzle  7  and into cavity  11 , in response to pressure from the injection molding machine (not shown). In the intermediate position (FIG. 3), core sleeve space  23  has a height of Δ 1 , but in the fully “open” position, there is essentially no core sleeve space at  23 ′ (see FIG. 4).  
         [0050]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, it will be apparent that runner system  30  is annular, unobstructed and continuous throughout melt channel  12 , gate  24  and ultimately mold cavity  11 . The melt flow path around and along valve pin  1  is unrestricted substantially up to the gate  24 , i.e., the cross-sectional area of this portion of the melt flow path does not appreciably diminish substantially up to the gate. Thus there is a simple flow path through which melt may freely flow when the gate  24  is open. This free-flow is advantageous because it assists in reducing pressure losses in the system and permits resin colour changes to be achieved more quickly in the apparatus.  
         [0051]    The enlarged opening  36  and the cooperation of transition zone  38  and valve neck  4  advantageously permit a larger aperture ring gate  24  to be achieved than is possible with the prior art and without the need for the spreading or distribution means of the prior art, such as those shown variously in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,340,353 to Mayer, 5,324,190 to Frei, 5,460,763 to Asai, 4,394,117 to Taylor, No. 5,784,234 to Teng and 5,840,231 to Teng, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. None of these references teaches the use of a transition  38  and enlarged opening  36  to permit a relatively small diameter melt channel  12  to provide melt to a larger aperture part P, as is shown in FIG. 5, while permitting the melt to flow freely, in an unrestricted manner, into the cavity, thereby permitting improved part quality.  
         [0052]    Diameter M 2  of opening  36  is chosen according to the particular application, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, and will be larger than diameter M 1  of melt bore  12  in order to achieve the benefit of an ability to mold larger aperture parts according to the present invention. As shown in the Figures, a diameter M 2  that is much larger than M 1  is preferred, and a diameter M 2  of roughly the diameter of tip  8 , or greater, is yet more preferable.  
         [0053]    One skilled in the art will understand that other modifications are possible. For example, the use of a guide spigot  3  is desirable but not necessary. Further, the actuation of valve pin  1  and its movement from the “open” to “closed” positions may be achieved by other known means. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,271 to Gellert; U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,605 to Swenson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,450 to Swenson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,661 to Vorkoper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,000 to Puri; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,357 to Steil, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0054]    One skilled in the art will understand that the present invention may be applied to single- or multi-cavity injection molds. For multi-cavity applications, melt typically flows through one or more melt distribution manifolds and is injected into each cavity through a respective nozzle, the valve pins of the nozzles being actuated simultaneously, as is well-known in the art. See, e.g., the camming mechanisms disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,627 to Gellert, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,381 to Gellert, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0055]    For example, FIG. 6 shows the multi-cavity arrangement with common valve pin actuating mechanism of the latter patent in which nozzles according to the invention can be used. In this arrangement multiple nozzles  40  are seated in a retainer plate  42  and have commonly actuated valve pins  44 . A melt distribution manifold  46  feeds melt to the nozzles via melt passages  48 .  
         [0056]    Fluid actuators that act directly on the valve pins can be used in a multi-cavity arrangement, and these can be driven simultaneously or separately. U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,381 to Gellert (incorporated herein by reference) discloses such an arrangement. FIG. 7 shows the fluid drive disclosed in this patent, which can be used in conjunction with nozzles according to the invention. Here each nozzle  50  is seated in a plate  52  and has a valve pin  54  actuated by a fluid-driven piston  56  that reciprocates within a cylinder  58 . The piston and cylinder drive  56 ,  58  are coaxial with the valve pin  54 . Melt is fed to each nozzle laterally from a melt distribution manifold  60  via melt passages  62 .  
         [0057]    As noted above in connection with the embodiment of FIGS.  1 - 4 , valve head  2 , surrounding opening  36  and core sleeve  22  have circular cross-sections and form a ring-shaped gate  24 , resulting in a molded part that has a circular hole as shown in FIG. 8. It is to be understood that apparatus according to the invention can be used to make parts having large holes of any other regular shape, e.g., oval (FIG. 9), square (FIG. 10), rectangular (FIG. 11), etc., or holes of any irregular shape (see, e.g., FIG. 12), by using mating parts of selected shape. Thus, as used in the claims, the term “annular” as applied to the gate and the mating parts that define the gate are not limited to circular shapes, and can encompass virtually any closed shape.  
         [0058]    While the above description includes the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that the present invention is susceptible to further modification and change without parting from the fair meaning of the proper scope of the accompanying claims.  
         [0059]    Canadian priority application No. 2,317,779, filed Sep. 6, 2000, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.