A remote controller can be provided on any apparatus that employs feedback control from a native controller to add functionality to the apparatus where the native controller is not capable of providing such functionality independently.

An injection molding method includes: a plasticizing process of feeding a resin pellet and additive components to a heating cylinder including a screw that can rotate around a rotation axis and can advance and retreat along the rotation axis, and generating molten resin by rotating the screw in a normal direction; and an injection process of injecting to a cavity the molten resin containing the additive components. In the plasticizing process, retreat operation of forcibly retreating the screw is performed at a predetermined velocity by a predetermined stroke or a predetermined time.

A method of determining a solution state of a gas in a plastic melt used in a plastic shaping method includes: (vi) providing the plastic melt together with the gas in a chamber, (vii) alteringin particular reducinga volume of the chamber to alter a pressure of the plastic melt together with the gasin particular increased from a first pressure value to a second pressure value, (viii) introducing the plastic melt into a shaping cavity, (ix) computing at least one compression parameter characteristic of the compression behaviour of the plastic melt, in particular a modulus of compression, from the first pressure value and the second pressure value, and (x) determining from the at least one compression parameter whether the gas is substantially completely dissolved in the plastic melt and/or a solubility limit of the gas in the plastic melt is determined from the at least one compression parameter.

A method of determining melt flow front travel in a molding apparatus includes setting a sensor threshold, receiving a sensor amount as an output from a sensor monitoring a nozzle of the molding apparatus, and determining that the sensor amount exceeds the sensor threshold. The method further includes receiving a screw location, calculating a travel distance of the screw from the screw location, and calculating melt flow front travel based on the travel distance of the screw. The method further includes receiving, via an interface, an operator generated value for the desired melt flow front travel to be reached, and sending, via an interface, an analog or digital output after the operator generated value has been reached. A method of detecting a leaking condition of a check valve is also included.

An injection molding machine uses a controller to effectively control its operation. The controller 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 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 remote controller can be provided on any apparatus that employs feedback control from a native controller to add functionality to the apparatus where the native controller is not capable of providing such functionality independently.

A foam molding method includes: moving a screw backward to take air into a heating barrel through a nozzle part in a state in which a shut-off nozzle is opened, the shut-off nozzle that opens or closes the nozzle part for injecting the molten resin and is disposed on a heating barrel; closing the shut-off nozzle and moving the screw forward, to diffuse the air taken into the heating barrel, in the molten resin in the heating barrel; feeding the molten resin forward while dispersing the air as the air bubbles in the molten resin by moving the screw backward while rotating it in a state in which the shut-off nozzle is closed; and opening the shut-off nozzle, to inject the molten resin containing the dispersed air bubbles into the cavity.

A control method for an injection molding machine including a measurement process of measuring molten resin by moving a screw backward while rotating the screw in a heating barrel for melting a resin material, a rotational speed of the screw is reduced from a timing when a backward movement speed of the screw is reduced at the measurement process before the measurement process is completed, for stopping backward movement of the screw when the measurement process is completed, and the rotational speed and a rotation direction of the screw are controlled such that a back pressure as a pressure of the molten resin measured at the measurement process becomes a target pressure lower than the back pressure of when the measurement process is completed, when a target time comes.

The present disclosure provides a molding system for preparing a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite article. The molding system includes: a molding machine; a mold disposed on the molding machine and having a mold cavity for being filled with a composite molding material including a polymeric resin and a plurality of fibers; a processing module configured to generate an anisotropic stress distribution of the composite molding material in the mold cavity based on a molding condition for the molding machine; and a controller coupled to the processing module and configured to control the molding machine with the molding condition to perform an actual molding process for preparing the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite article. The anisotropic stress distribution of the composite molding resin is generated based in part on consideration of an integral effect of an elongational viscosity and a shear viscosity of the composite molding material.

The present disclosure provides a molding system for preparing a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite article. The molding system includes: a molding machine; a mold disposed on the molding machine and having a mold cavity for being filled with a composite molding material including a polymeric resin and a plurality of fibers; a processing module configured to generate an anisotropic stress distribution of the composite molding material in the mold cavity based on a molding condition for the molding machine; and a controller coupled to the processing module and configured to control the molding machine with the molding condition to perform an actual molding process for preparing the fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite article. The anisotropic stress distribution of the composite molding resin is generated based in part on consideration of an integral effect of an elongational viscosity and a shear viscosity of the composite molding material.