An injection molding system includes a plurality of inspection apparatuses for inspecting molded article quality, a unit that transports a molded article molded by an injection molding machine, a molded article containment unit that is provided for each of types of post-treatment operations needed for the molded article, a transport destination designation unit that selects and designates the molded article containment unit to contain the molded article on the basis of a combination of inspection results from the plurality of inspection apparatuses, and a molded article sorting and transport unit that sorts and transports the molded article into the molded article containment unit designated by the transport destination designation unit.

An injection molding apparatus includes a support that supports a molding die including an upper die and a lower die, and an injection unit that injects a molding material toward a cavity defined by the upper die and the lower die. In the state in which the molding die is supported by the support, the injection unit, the upper die, and the lower die are arranged sequentially from above in the vertical direction. The injection unit includes a rotating flat screw having a groove forming surface in which a groove is formed, a barrel having a flat screw facing surface facing the groove forming surface and having a communication hole into which the molding material flows, and a heater that heats a material supplied to the space between the groove forming surface and the flat screw facing surface, plasticizes at least part of the material through the rotation of the flat screw and the heat produced by the heater to produce the molding material, and delivers the molding material to the communication hole.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for efficiently and economically manufacturing molded polymer products such as those that require a two-shot, two-material injection molding process, with complex geometries and incorporate metal components such as inserts. The systems and methods include compact manufacturing cells and processes of operating such manufacturing cells. The manufacturing cells include a single injection molding machine with two molds arranged to simultaneously operate both molds. The manufacturing cell is arranged to be fully automated so that it is operative without the need for intervention or management from dedicated personnel. Such automation includes the automated sorting and placement of metal inserts into the injection molding machine, the automated removal of the product after the first molding stage and second molding stage, the automated inspection of every finished product, the automated sorting of conforming and rejected products, and the automated packaging of finished product for shipment to end user.

A controller includes a mold movement control unit that moves a movable mold between a first position separated from a fixed mold and a second position at which mold closing is completed; a determining unit determines the presence of abnormalities in at least one of the movable mold and the fixed mold on the basis of inspection information acquired from at least one of the movable mold and the fixed mold and outputs a confirmation signal related to the presence of abnormalities; and a mold stopping unit that stops movement of the movable mold on the basis of whether the confirmation signal output from the determining unit is acquired while a safety confirmation condition is satisfied after the mold movement control unit starts moving the movable mold from the first position toward the second position.

In the present invention, constructed is a highly reliable system that does not allow unforeseen conditions to occur in the remote diagnosis of a clamp device. All combinations of status of a state detection switch mounted on a clamp device are anticipated in advance by a recursive method, and the states are defined with no omissions. A control unit 9 includes: a main body memory 9c that stores the ON/OFF state of a state switch together with the status of an injection molding machine main body, the clamp status and time information; and a main body communication unit 9d which is capable of short-range wireless communication. A message diagnosing a failure is stored in a smartphone 12 for all combinations of the ON/OFF state of the state detection switch for each of the following cases: whether in mold replacement mode or not; and whether a clamp device is in a clamped state or an unclamped state, or in a state other than the forgoing. The history of the ON/OFF state of the state detection switch with respect to the status of the main body and the clamp status is read from the main body memory 9c by wireless communication, and a corresponding message is displayed.

In an injection molding system, an insert formed with a cavity or an insert member for molding an insert-molded article is shot by a camera, and the insert or the insert member to be inserted into a mold is identified based on a characteristic of the insert or the insert member shot by the camera and previously stored data on the insert or the insert member.

An air ejector of a resin molding device includes air passages, air outlets through which air is injected, movable valves biased by bias members to close the air outlets, accommodation spaces in which the movable valves are movably contained, an air supply path through which air is supplied from an air supply source, and a pressure sensor to detect air pressure. After completing the mold removal, the air is supplied via the air supply path to the air passages at an air pressure smaller than the bias force of the bias members, and the air pressure is detected by the pressure sensor.

A tubular product manufacturing apparatus successively delivers an injection molded tubular shaped body in the delivery direction. The manufacturing apparatus detects a defect on the surface of the molded body passing through the detection position in the delivery direction. The manufacturing apparatus separates a tubular product from the molded body. When a portion having a predetermined length in the molded body passes the detection position without detecting a defect, the manufacturing apparatus separates a tubular product from the molded body, which contains the portion having the predetermined length. When a defect is detected before a portion having the predetermined length in the molded body BT passes through the detection position, the manufacturing apparatus separates the defective tubular product from the molded body. The length of the defective tubular product is shorter than a good product length which is the length of the tubular product including the portion of the predetermined length.

A controller for an injection molding system is in communication with a melt flow control unit, a gas assist control unit, and a gas counter pressure control unit. The controller can effect real-time adjustments to gas assist pressure and/or gas counter pressure as a function of melt pressure or flow front position.

A control method for an injection molding system including a first housing including a first accommodation space having an injection molding machine arranged therein and a first window, a second housing coupled to the first housing and having a second accommodation space having a robot disposed therein and a second window, the robot performs an operation with respect to a molded article molded by the injection molding machine, and a control device that controls driving of the injection molding machine and the robot, the control method includes in a first state in which the first window and the second window are closed, driving the injection molding machine in a first drive mode, in a second state in which the first window is open, stopping the injection molding machine, and in a third state in which the second window is open, driving the injection molding machine in a second drive mode.