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.

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 mold-clamping machine includes a pressure receiving mount, a turn table mounted on the pressure receiving mount so as to be freely turnable, a movable mount placed at a position higher than the turn table, tie bars attached to and extending downwardly from the movable mount, and which pass completely through the pressure receiving mount and a traction mount. The mold-clamping machine clamps a metal mold by moving down the traction mount with reference to the pressure receiving mount. Each of the tie bars is freely movable up and down by each of first to third cylindrical guides provided at the pressure receiving mount. The second cylindrical guide and the third cylindrical guide each include a rectangular flange portion fastened to the pressure receiving mount, and respective attachment attitudes of the second cylindrical guide and the third cylindrical guide are adjustable.