A cooling and retaining pin (1) for cooling, by air blowing, and retaining, by air suction, a plastic preform, the pin comprising a body (2), defining a longitudinal axis and having a first opening (5) at a first end thereof, coaxial to said longitudinal axis and adapted to be connected to a handling station; a movable element (3) adapted to slide at least partially inside said body; at least one air passage gap provided at a second end of the body or at said first end; wherein the movable element (3) is adapted to move from a first position, to which a first air passage section corresponds, to a second position, to which a second air passage section corresponds, which is smaller than said first section, so as to adjust a blowing air flow during the cooling step and a suction air flow during the step of retaining the preform.

A hydraulic drive system for driving a load includes a drive shaft; first and second hydraulic pumps driven by the drive shaft, and a control system that operates the hydraulic drive system in a plurality of modes including: a) a first mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from a supply line to an accumulator; b) a second mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from the accumulator to the supply line; c) a third mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from the supply line to a reservoir; and d) a fourth mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from the reservoir to the supply line. At least the second hydraulic pump is a variable displacement bidirectional pump.

A hydraulic drive system for driving a load includes a drive shaft; first and second hydraulic pumps driven by the drive shaft, and a control system that operates the hydraulic drive system in a plurality of modes including: a) a first mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from a supply line to an accumulator; b) a second mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from the accumulator to the supply line; c) a third mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from the supply line to a reservoir; and d) a fourth mode where the second hydraulic pump pumps hydraulic fluid from the reservoir to the supply line. At least the second hydraulic pump is a variable displacement bidirectional pump.

A mold clamping apparatus of the type including a mold opening/closing actuator and a mold clamping cylinder, wherein rails for guiding a movable platen are disposed on a base, and the mold clamping cylinder has a left leg and a right leg each disposed between one pair of left and right rails of the rails. The rails provided for guiding the movable platen is used also as a side guide for the mold clamping cylinder. This arrangement can obviate the need for a separate guide member.

A mold clamping apparatus of the type including a mold opening/closing actuator and a mold clamping cylinder, wherein rails for guiding a movable platen are disposed on a base, and the mold clamping cylinder has a left leg and a right leg each disposed between one pair of left and right rails of the rails. The rails provided for guiding the movable platen is used also as a side guide for the mold clamping cylinder. This arrangement can obviate the need for a separate guide member.

A hydraulic circuit for opening and closing a mould of an injection moulding machine, and an injection moulding machine system includes an operating oil cylinder and a proportional valve; by means of adjusting the proportional valve to different operating states, the operating oil cylinder can be controlled to execute different actions, so as to control mould opening, mould closing and mould differential closing of the injection moulding machine. By means of a differential proportional valve with a flow regeneration function, the present invention can effectively increase control precision in a mould opening and closing process, reduce energy consumption and the number of parts of a system, and save on space taken up by the system, with complete functions of mould opening and closing also being realizable.

A hydraulic circuit for opening and closing a mould of an injection moulding machine, and an injection moulding machine system includes an operating oil cylinder and a proportional valve; by means of adjusting the proportional valve to different operating states, the operating oil cylinder can be controlled to execute different actions, so as to control mould opening, mould closing and mould differential closing of the injection moulding machine. By means of a differential proportional valve with a flow regeneration function, the present invention can effectively increase control precision in a mould opening and closing process, reduce energy consumption and the number of parts of a system, and save on space taken up by the system, with complete functions of mould opening and closing also being realizable.

An injection molding apparatus comprising: a pneumatically driven actuator, the piston forming first and second drive chambers, a source of pressurized gas that generates gas flow to the drive chambers, a gas metering mechanism, a controller including programmable instructions that: automatically controllably positions the gas metering mechanism such that the piston or valve pin is disposed or held in one or more selected intermediate positions for a selected period of time during the course of an injection cycle where the tip end of the valve pin restricts flow of injection fluid through the gate to the mold cavity.

An injection molding apparatus comprising: a pneumatically driven actuator, the piston forming first and second drive chambers, a source of pressurized gas that generates gas flow to the drive chambers, a gas metering mechanism, a controller including programmable instructions that: automatically controllably positions the gas metering mechanism such that the piston or valve pin is disposed or held in one or more selected intermediate positions for a selected period of time during the course of an injection cycle where the tip end of the valve pin restricts flow of injection fluid through the gate to the mold cavity.

The present invention discloses a control system and method for injection molding machine. The control method comprises the following steps: establishing a work command according to a plurality of production process parameters; receiving a position information directly from an injection molding machine; and controlling a servo pump to drive the injection molding machine according to the position information and the work command.