A hot runner device includes a fixed die, a hot runner block, a valve gate, and a valve pin. The hot runner block includes a first block including a first resin passage, a second block including a second resin passage communicating with the valve gate and a hot runner pipe through which the first resin passage communicates with the second resin passage. The hot runner pipe is disposed such that a first end of the hot runner pipe is fixed to one of the first and second blocks, and a second end of the hot runner pipe is distanced from the other one of the first and second blocks by a predetermined distance in a pipe axial direction during cold time. The predetermined distance is set to be smaller than an expansion amount of the hot runner pipe at a time when a temperature is increased.

A hot runner injection molding apparatus to manufacture molded parts with a manifold having an inlet melt channel and a plurality of outlet melt channels, a plurality of injection molding cavities and a plurality of side gating nozzles coupled to the outlet melt channels and to the injection molding cavities. Each nozzle has a nozzle flange segment including a first melt channel disposed along a first axis and each side gating nozzle further includes a separate and removable nozzle head segment that is coupled to the flange segment via a sliding connector element that provides for an axial movement of the nozzle head segment or of the nozzle flange segment. Each nozzle head segment retains at least two nozzle tips that extend at least partially outside an outer surface of the nozzle head segment and each nozzle tip is surrounded by a nozzle seal element.

A drop-in hot runner system includes a first runner component having a first channel aperture extending into a first runner component sliding surface, and a second runner component having a second channel aperture extending into a second runner component sliding surface. A depressible protrusion is associated with the first runner component, and a receiver is associated with the second runner component. The depressible protrusion and the receiver are positioned such that when the first runner component and the second runner component are coupled together along the first and second runner component sliding surfaces the depressible protrusion is received in the receiver, and the first and second channel apertures are misaligned.