A material dispensing device includes a material storage unit that stores a material therein and has an outlet portion at a lower portion thereof, and a dispensing unit that dispenses the material dispensed from the outlet portion to an outside with at least a part of the material being plasticized. The material dispensing device includes a remaining amount detection unit that detects a remaining amount of the material stored in the material storage unit from above the material storage unit. A three-dimensional shaping device includes the material dispensing device that dispenses a material for shaping, and a stage on which the material dispensed from the material dispensing device is stacked.

A micro moulding machine and process for forming small plastic parts for the medical device industry. The machine adds heat in two steps to a precision sized plastic pellet and then displaces the entire pellet volume into the mould cavity. A substantial amount of heat is added to the pellet by forcing it through an orifice very near the gate of the mould. The pneumatic pressure to drive the pellet through the orifice is controlled to regulate the amount of heat introduced into the pellet.

A control device for an injection molding machine is equipped with a pressure acquisition unit that acquires a pressure of a resin inside a cylinder, a reverse rotation control unit that causes a screw to be rotated in reverse based on a predetermined reverse rotation condition so as to reduce the resin pressure after having moved the screw rearward to a metering position, a compensation amount calculation unit that calculates a compensation amount to be made with respect to the reverse rotation condition, based on the resin pressure inside the cylinder acquired by the pressure acquisition unit when the reverse rotation of the screw is stopped, and a predetermined compensation function, and a compensation processing unit configured to compensate the reverse rotation condition based on the compensation amount calculated by the compensation amount calculation unit.

Resin supply system in which resin material is stored in a pouch in a degassed state ready for use. The pouch comprises a body portion forming a reservoir for resin material and a connector portion in fluid communication therewith. The connector portion includes an outlet which is configured to be connected to an injector head of an injector assembly, the injector head being connectable to a mould by means of connecting tubing to provide a resin supply thereto. The pouch is configured to be mountable in a housing of the injector assembly and is compressed by hydrostatic pressure of water surrounding the pouch in a chamber of the housing. The application of pressure by a piston moving in a direction transfers pressure to the water and then to the pouch in a controlled manner to provide the resin supply to the mould. After use, the pouch is removed and discarded thereby substantially eliminating the need for cleaning of the housing after use.

A plasticizing device includes a passage defining section that is coupled to a hopper which stores a material and that defines a supply passage to which the material is supplied from the hopper, a plasticizing section that includes an introduction portion which communicates with the supply passage, and a screw, and that plasticizes the material supplied from the introduction portion by rotation of the screw to form a molten material, and a material detection section that detects the presence or absence of the material in the supply passage.

A method is described for producing fibre-reinforced plastic moulded parts, wherein endless fibre strands are fed by a fibre braking device and/or cut fibres via a gravimetric metering device, and a plastic material to be melted, by a volumetric metering device are fed to a single-screw plasticizing unit. Plastic material which is molten and is mixed with fibre material is injected into a moulding tool by an injection stroke of the plasticizing screw. According to the application, the ACTUAL mass flow of the plastic material is calculated from the ACTUAL volume flow of the plastic material and from the ACTUAL mass flow of the fibre material. The ACTUAL mass flow of the plastic material is compared to a TARGET mass flow of the plastic material, and the rotation speed n.sub.d of the rotary drive of the metering element of the metering device is adapted.

An extruding system includes a melting unit configured to convey a polymeric material, a mixing unit configured to mix the polymeric material with a blowing agent to form a mixture, an injection unit configured to inject the mixture, a first flow control element disposed between the melting unit and the mixing unit, and a second flow control element disposed between the mixing unit and the injection unit. A method of extruding includes conveying a polymeric material from a melting unit to a mixing unit, conveying a blowing agent into the mixing unit, mixing the polymeric material with the blowing agent to form a mixture, conveying the mixture from the mixing unit to an injection unit, and discharging the mixture from the injection unit, wherein flow of the polymeric material is controlled by a first flow control element, and flow of the mixture is controlled by a second flow control element.

A method for increasing the injection speed of a melted plastic injection device for injecting said melted plastic into a molding cavity (51), said injection device comprising a first cylinder (1) provided with a tubular casing (2) defining a first inner diameter d.sub.1, and a first piston (3) slidable inside said tubular casing (2), adapted to be loaded with melted plastic and to inject said melted plastic toward the molding cavity (51); a second cylinder (21) constrained to the first cylinder (1) and provided with a second piston (23) which rod (24) is connected to the first piston (3) and is adapted to actuate said first cylinder (1) during an injection operation; the method comprising the steps of: —releasing second cylinder (21) and first cylinder (1) by extracting the first piston (3) from the tubular casing (2); —coaxially inserting a tubular body (12), defining a second inner diameter d.sub.3 which is smaller than the first inner diameter d.sub.1, into the tubular casing (2); —disconnecting the first piston (3) from the rod (24); —connecting a third piston (13) to the rod (24), said third piston (13) being sized to slide inside said tubular body (12); —constraining second cylinder (21) and first cylinder (1) by inserting the third piston (13) into the tubular casing (2).

A self-cleaning dosing apparatus includes a material hopper for containing pellets of material, a feed screw, a first material outlet through which pellets of material fall by gravity onto a first end of the feed screw for the feeding of pellets to a process machine. A second material outlet is located beneath the first end of the feed screw, with a slide gate blocking the second material outlet. A pneumatic piston is provided for pulling the slide gate to unblock the second material outlet, and a Venturi pump is located under the second material outlet for pulling pellets through the second material outlet when the slide gate is opened.

There is provided a molten resin fluidity index measuring method which can detect the fluidity of a molten resin online even during successive molding operations. The method includes: assuming that a narrow flow path, formed in a flow path for the molten resin, is a capillary or an orifice in a metering step in which the molten resin is collected in front of the screw; measuring, with an injection apparatus of the injection molding machine, the amount of the metered resin and the back pressure applied to the screw during the metering step; and calculating, based on the amount of the metered resin and the back pressure, a fluidity index which indicates the fluidity properties of the metered molten resin.