An injection molding machine includes: a screw inserted in an injection cylinder and configured to be movable in the axial direction; a motor configured to move the screw; a torque detection unit configured to detect the torque of the motor; a position detection unit configured to detect the position of the screw; a motor drive control unit configured to drive the motor while imposing torque limitation so that the motor's torque will not exceed a limit torque, to thereby advance the screw to the foremost position in the direction of injection; and a determination unit configured to determine that unmelted resin remains inside the injection cylinder if the moving speed of the screw becomes lower than or equal to a predetermined speed while the screw is advancing to the foremost position.

The present invention offers a technique for providing assistance in setting at least one of the temperature of a nozzle and the temperature of a cylinder. A control device for an injection molding machine includes a monitoring part configured to monitor, during a filling step of filling the inside of a mold device with a molding material, a change in the filling pressure acting on the molding material.

With respect to a controller of an injection molding machine, the injection molding machine includes an injection member provided inside a cylinder to heat a molding material and an injection drive source to fill the molding material into a mold device by moving the injection member forward. The controller includes a limiting part that limits a movement of the injection member forward in a pressure-holding process of controlling an injection drive source so that an actual value of a filling pressure acting on the molding material from the injection member becomes a set value, and a determining part that determines an appropriateness of a setting to be used by the limiting part based on information of a sensor provided in the mold device.

In an injection molding machine of the present invention formed to have a plurality of injection apparatuses connected via a communication channel, a first injection apparatus among the plurality of injection apparatuses includes a display apparatus, a first control apparatus included in the first injection apparatus includes an operation screen input/output unit which obtains operation screen data from another injection apparatus and a rendering attribute converting unit which converts rendering attributes of rendering elements configuring an operation screen to be rendered based on the operation screen data. When an operation screen of the other injection apparatus is displayed on the display apparatus based on the operation screen data, the rendering attribute converting unit makes all or part of the rendering attributes of the rendering elements configuring the operation screen different from rendering attributes when an operation screen of the first injection apparatus is displayed. Thus, the operation screens of the plurality of the injection apparatuses are easily distinguishable.

An injection molding machine uses a native controller and a retrofit controller to effectively control its operation. The controllers may determine and/or receive information regarding the machine's maximum load capacity, and may also determine a current operational load value of the machine. The retrofit controller may cause the machine to operate at any number of combinations of settings of operational parameters which result in the machine operating at or below the maximum load value by adjusting any number of machine parameters associated with the injection molding machine based on feedback sensors measuring real-time operating conditions of the machine.

A method of detecting and compensating for a non-operational mold cavity in an injection molding apparatus having a plurality of mold cavities and an injection molding screw or ram includes injecting, via the injection molding screw or ram, a molten thermoplastic material into the plurality of mold cavities. The method includes measuring a first process parameter of the injection molding apparatus at a pre-determined time during or after the injecting. The method also includes determining, based on the first process parameter, whether one or more mold cavities of the plurality of mold cavities are non-operational. Then, when it is determined that one or more mold cavities are non-operational, the method includes automatically adjusting the first process parameter or a second process parameter of the injection molding apparatus.

An injection molding system includes a step of determining a manufacturing condition including a combination of a first mold and a first injection molding machine, a step of confirming presence or absence of a first track record in production, in which a combination of the first mold and the first injection molding machine is used, by searching a production-track-record storage unit to, and a step of producing, in a case of the absence of the first track record in production, a corrected molding condition for injection molding by using the combination of the first injection molding machine and the first mold, based on first molding machine-specific information acquired in advance for the first injection molding machine, second molding machine-specific information acquired in advance for a second injection molding machine that is combined with the first mold and has a second track record in production, and the second track record in production acquired from the production-track-record storage unit. In the step, at least an amount of resin injected from the first injection molding machine into the first mold is corrected, and the produced corrected molding condition is inputted to the second injection molding machine.

Systems and approaches for controlling an injection molding machine having a mold forming a mold cavity and being controlled according to an injection cycle include extruding a molten polymer according to an extrusion profile and measuring at least one variable during the extrusion profile with a first sensor. At least one extrusion operational parameter is adjusted based on the measured variable. The extrusion profile is terminated upon the molten polymer exceeding a first threshold, and the molten polymer is injected into the mold cavity according to an injection profile via a screw that moves from a first position to a second position. Upon completion of the injection profile, a recovery profile commences in which the screw is moved to the first position.

A method to predict the remaining useful life of a plasticizing screw for an injection molding machine is provided. The method comprises: creating an energy-pressure ratio distribution estimate for normal operation of the screw for a mold; creating a temporally local energy-pressure ratio distribution estimate from real time data for the screw for the mold; comparing the local distribution with the distribution for normal operation; and generating an alert if the comparison of the two distributions predicts that the remaining useful life is negligible.

A system is disclosed for micro-molding articles. The system melts and pre-pressurizes thermoplastic material to a first level, within a plasticizing barrel. The melt pressure of the thermoplastic material is manipulated to a second level, within a hot runner. The melt pressure of the thermoplastic material is manipulated to an ultra-cavity packing pressure within a valve gate nozzle.