A horizontal mold clamping mechanism includes a rail disposed on a base, a slider fitted with the rail, and a pedestal placed on the slider and provided with a sub-slider guided by a sub-rail. A fixed platen secured to the base supports a fixed mold. A mold clamping cylinder is secured to the pedestal and laid parallel to the fixed platen. A mold opening/closing actuator connects to the pedestal for moving the mold clamping cylinder. A movable platen is secured to the sub-slider and disposed between the fixed platen and the clamping cylinder. A tie-bar passes through the movable platen and the clamping cylinder, and a first linking mechanism selectively links the clamping cylinder to the tie-bar. The movable platen has a through-hole with a diameter greater than an outer diameter of the tie-bar to provide a clearance preventing slide-contact between the tie-bar and an inner surface of the through-hole.

A mould-closing unit for an injection moulding machine for processing plastics has a mould support which is movable relative to a stationary mould support (10). A mould-moving device is provided to move the movable mould support into and out of closure of an injection mould. At least one force transmission element is connected to the movable mould support and at its end remote from the movable mould support has a section (14a) which is assigned to the stationary mould support (10) and can be actuated for operative engagement. The stationary mould support (10) is assigned a locking device (15), which can be moved into interlocking operative connection with the actuatable section (14a) to apply a closing force during closure of the injection mould. According to the method, these elements are used to create a method for locking a force transmission element to a mould support of the injection moulding machine. The fact that the locking device (15) has floating clamping jaws (16) which can be moved into interlocking operative connection with the actuatable section (14a) during closure of the mould to lock the force transmission element and the stationary mould support (10) and at the same time are connected to at least one piston (18) of a piston-cylinder unit (17) for applying the closing force, means that a mould-closing unit is created in which the locking mechanism for locking the tie bars to the mould support is integrated in a common unit with the unit for applying the closing force.

A clamp assembly for an injection molding machine includes (a) a clamp cylinder housing and (b) a clamp piston affixed to an end portion of a tie bar and slidable within the housing among a clamping position, a mold break position, and a meshing position disposed axially intermediate the clamping and the mold break positions. The clamp assembly further includes (c) a clamp chamber for urging the clamp piston towards the clamping position when pressurized; (d) a return device for urging the clamp piston towards the meshing position when pressure in the clamp chamber is relieved; and (e) a mold break chamber for urging the clamp piston towards the mold break position when pressurized. The mold break chamber is bounded axially by opposed surfaces of the tie bar and the return device.

A clamp assembly for an injection molding machine includes (a) a clamp cylinder housing and (b) a clamp piston affixed to an end portion of a tie bar and slidable within the housing among a clamping position, a mold break position, and a meshing position disposed axially intermediate the clamping and the mold break positions. The clamp assembly further includes (c) a clamp chamber for urging the clamp piston towards the clamping position when pressurized; (d) a return device for urging the clamp piston towards the meshing position when pressure in the clamp chamber is relieved; and (e) a mold break chamber for urging the clamp piston towards the mold break position when pressurized. The mold break chamber is bounded axially by opposed surfaces of the tie bar and the return device.

An injection molding system includes an injection station, a molding device, and a plunger. The injection station includes a platform including an opening and an injector over the platform. The molding device is disposed between the platform and the injector and over the opening, wherein the molding device includes a mold cavity and a clamping unit for clamping the molding device. The plunger under the platform, wherein the plunger includes a base and a rod extendable through the opening toward the molding device and retractable toward the base. An injection molding method includes conveying a molding device to an injection station and disposing the molding device between an injector and a platform; disposing a plunger under the platform; moving the injector towards the molding device; applying a plunging force on the molding device by extending the rod through the opening; and injecting a molding material into a mold cavity.

A molding injection pressure and a molding clamping force are determined in advance to obtain a parting opening amount, which is a predetermined gap, between a movable mold and a fixed mold of a mold during injection filling. The molding injection pressure and the molding clamping force are determined to obtain a molding injection pressure capable of molding a good product and a mold clamping force capable of molding a good product, respectively, thereby setting a specific molding condition, setting a fast injection speed from the start of injection, which is higher than the injection speed set by the specific molding condition, and setting a fast injection section for continuing the fast injection speed as a fast injection condition, mold-clamping the mold by the molding clamping force during molding, and setting the molding injection pressure to a limit pressure, injecting and filling resin into a mold by the fast injection condition from the start of injection, and injecting and filling resin by the specific molding condition when the fast injection section ends.

A molding injection pressure and a molding clamping force are determined in advance to obtain a parting opening amount, which is a predetermined gap, between a movable mold and a fixed mold of a mold during injection filling. The molding injection pressure and the molding clamping force are determined to obtain a molding injection pressure capable of molding a good product and a mold clamping force capable of molding a good product, respectively, thereby setting a specific molding condition, setting a fast injection speed from the start of injection, which is higher than the injection speed set by the specific molding condition, and setting a fast injection section for continuing the fast injection speed as a fast injection condition, mold-clamping the mold by the molding clamping force during molding, and setting the molding injection pressure to a limit pressure, injecting and filling resin into a mold by the fast injection condition from the start of injection, and injecting and filling resin by the specific molding condition when the fast injection section ends.

A hydraulic system for a cyclically operating shaping machine includes at least one hydraulic drive unit for cyclically driving a component of the shaping machine at a start time; at least one pump; and at least one hydraulic accumulator which can be discharged for driving the at least one hydraulic drive unit and which can be charged up by operation of the at least one pump. An open-loop or closed-loop control unit is also provided for control of the at least one pump. The open-loop or closed-loop control unit is adapted to operate the at least one pump continuously until the start time of the at least one hydraulic drive unit to charge up the at least one hydraulic accumulator until the start time of the hydraulic drive unit.

A hydraulic system for a cyclically operating shaping machine includes at least one hydraulic drive unit for cyclically driving a component of the shaping machine at a start time; at least one pump; and at least one hydraulic accumulator which can be discharged for driving the at least one hydraulic drive unit and which can be charged up by operation of the at least one pump. An open-loop or closed-loop control unit is also provided for control of the at least one pump. The open-loop or closed-loop control unit is adapted to operate the at least one pump continuously until the start time of the at least one hydraulic drive unit to charge up the at least one hydraulic accumulator until the start time of the hydraulic drive unit.

A mold clamping device includes a base, a stationary platen fixed to the base and supporting a stationary mold, a movable platen movable on the base and supporting a movable mold, and a mold clamping mechanism for clamping the movable mold against the stationary mold. Tie bars extend from the stationary platen completely through both the movable platen and the mold clamping mechanism. A shaft supporting plate is fixed to the base and has openings through which the tie bars slidably extend for supporting the tie bars. The shaft supporting plate terminates at its lower end portion in two spaced-apart shoes that are fixed to the base. The bottom surface of each shoe has a larger area than the cross-sectional area of the shaft supporting plate situated vertically above the shoe.