Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – With measuring – testing – or inspecting
Patent
1995-02-17
1996-09-17
Heitbrink, Jill L.
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
With measuring, testing, or inspecting
2643288, 26432812, 425145, 425570, 425573, B29C 4522, B29C 4577
Patent
active
055565824
ABSTRACT:
The invention provides methods and apparatus in which mold material flows through a gate into a mold cavity that defines the shape of a desired part. An adjustable valve is provided that is operable to change dynamically the effective size of the gate to control the flow of mold material through the gate. The valve is adjustable while the mold material is flowing through the gate into the mold cavity. A sensor is provided for sensing a process condition while the part is being molded. During molding, the valve is adjusted based at least in part on information from the sensor. In the preferred embodiment, the adjustable valve is controlled by a digital computer, which includes circuitry for acquiring data from the sensor, processing circuitry for computing a desired position of the valve based on the data from the sensor and a control data file containing target process conditions, and control circuitry for generating signals to control a valve driver to adjust the position of the valve. More complex embodiments include a plurality of gates, sensors, and controllable valves. Each valve is individually controllable so that process conditions corresponding to each gate can be adjusted independently. This allows for great flexibility in the control of injection molding to produce complex, high-quality parts.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3535742 (1970-10-01), Marcus
patent: 3820928 (1974-06-01), Lemelson
patent: 3861841 (1975-01-01), Hanning
patent: 4932854 (1990-06-01), Matsuda et al.
patent: 5141696 (1992-08-01), Osuna-Diaz
patent: 5356576 (1994-10-01), Fischbach
patent: 5389315 (1995-02-01), Yabushita
Heitbrink Jill L.
Stanford University
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