Patent ID: 7314367

Claim:
An injection molding apparatus comprising: a manifold having a manifold channel for receiving a melt stream of moldable material under pressure; a nozzle received in an opening in a mold plate, said nozzle having a nozzle channel for receiving said melt stream from said manifold channel; a mold cavity for receiving melt from said nozzle channel through a mold gate; a collar for coupling said nozzle to an outlet surface of said manifold, a downstream surface of said collar abutting said mold plate to sandwich a head of said nozzle between an upstream surface of said collar and said outlet surface of said manifold; and a ridge protruding from an inner surface of said collar, said ridge being in contact with said nozzle to align said nozzle channel with an outlet of said manifold channel, wherein said ridge follows a substantially helical path from substantially an upstream end to substantially a downstream end of the collar.