Patent ID: 7128566

Claim:
An injection molding apparatus, comprising: a manifold having a manifold channel for receiving a melt stream of moldable material under pressure; a mold plate adjacent said manifold, said mold plate having an opening, a mold gate, and a mold cavity; a nozzle being received in said opening in said mold plate, said nozzle having a nozzle channel in fluid communication with said manifold channel; a nozzle tip received in a downstream end of said nozzle and having a melt channel in fluid communication with said nozzle channel and a valve pin guiding portion provided at a downstream end of said nozzle, wherein a gap is present between said nozzle tip and said nozzle and wherein said nozzle tip is at least partially slidable within said nozzle channel; and a valve pin movable through said manifold channel, said nozzle channel and said melt channel to selectively open said mold gate, wherein said valve pin is aligned with said mold gate through the valve pin guiding portion.