An injector for a plastic material injection molding apparatus whose cylindrical pin-shaped valve that is axially displaceable between an advanced fully closed position and a retracted position of maximum opening, is provided in proximity to a distal end thereof with a reduced diameter cylindrical portion which delimits with the outlet end of the tip of the nozzle terminal an annular passage having a constant cross-section. When the pin valve is between fully closed and maximum opening positions, the reduced diameter cylindrical portion can be selectively positioned in intermediate positions so as to vary the axial extension of the annular passage to adjust the pressure drop of the injected plastic material.

An injection molding apparatus comprising a manifold, an actuator having a piston that divides an enclosed actuator housing into upstream and downstream actuator drive chambers, the piston having an internal piston chamber and a piston bore that communicates flow of the drive fluid between one of the upstream or downstream actuator drive chambers and the internal piston chamber, a flow rate controller adapted to enable flow of drive fluid between one of the upstream or downstream actuator drive chambers and a source of drive fluid at a first low rate of flow over a selected first portion of the stroke length of the piston and at a second high rate of flow over a selected second portion of the stroke length of the piston.

The present invention surrounds an apparatus and method for the use in injection molding of articles of manufacture using an injection molding apparatus having a valve-gate pin or a plurality of valve-gate pins for actuation to extend and retract from a cavity within an injection mold. The valve-gate pin may have a retention feature or retention features configured for the retention of molded parts such that the retraction or extension of the valve-gate pin provides part removal from an associated injection mold. Further, the valve-gate pin may have a feature or features to facilitate the injection of fluids, gases or particles during or after the primary injection process. Additionally, a plurality of such valve-gate pins may be employed within each mold cavity, or within each valve-gate actuation system.

Injection molding of plastic materials by an apparatus comprising at least one injector including a valve pin displaceable in a controlled manner between a closed position and an open position by an electric rotary actuator. At least one step is provided of detecting the value of the torque developed by the electric rotary actuator when the valve pin is in the path from the closed position to the open position, and the torque value detected is used to pilot the molding process.

Methods and systems for co-extruding multiple polymeric material flow streams into a mold having a plurality of cavities to produce a plurality of multi-layer polymeric articles each having a consistent coverage of an interior core layer are disclosed herein. In an example method, a flow rate of a first skin material into a cavity is individually controlled for each cavity before initiation of co-injection of a second core material into the cavity, which may address inconsistent interior core layer coverage for articles from different cavities.

A method and apparatus for performing an injection molding cycle comprising drivably interconnecting a valve pin to an electric motor actuator and controllably operating the electric motor to drive the valve pin at one or more reduced rates of upstream or downstream travel based on either detection of the position of the pin or actuator or on a preselected length of time at which to drive the valve pin.

An apparatus for controlling the rate of flow of fluid mold material comprising: a manifold, a valve pin having a pin axis, a pin connector and a stem, the valve pin being drivable into and out of open and closed positions relative to the gate, an electric actuator comprising an electric motor comprised of a motor housing that houses a drive shaft having a drive gear and a drive axis, a transmission comprised of a transmission gear having a gear axis, the drive gear, the transmission gear and the valve pin being drivably interconnected and arranged such that the drive axis and the gear axis are non-coaxially mounted or disposed relative to each other and the valve pin is drivable linearly along the pin axis, wherein one or the other of the motor housing or the transmission housing are removably attached to a top clamping or mounting plate that is mounted upstream of the manifold and fixedly interconnected to a mold.

A molding apparatus for the production of articles molded through sequential injection includes a mold having a cavity, a plurality of electrically actuated injectors arranged at central, intermediate and end positions, respectively, with respect to the mold cavity, and an electronic system for controlling the injectors for the actuation thereof according to a sequential cycle which provides for opening the central injector first, followed by the intermediate injectors and then the end injectors. The electronic control system is configured so that the opening sequential cycle occurs in such a way to obtain more linear and homogeneous pressure in the mold filling step, and lower packing pressure.

Apparatus and methods for storage and transmission of recipe data (process parameters) for the molding of articles in an injection molding apparatus. A controller includes a flow control microcontroller (MCU) that receives recipe data from a recipe storage microcontroller (MCU) mounted to a mold of an injection molding machine, the recipe storage MCU storing the recipe data defining process parameters for the molding of articles in the mold. The flow control MCU executes instructions for controlling valve pin motions according to the recipe data. In one embodiment, a human operator interface is provided for transmitting data to and/or from at least one of the recipe storage and flow control MCU's, allowing the operator to monitor, modify and/or control the process parameters during a molding cycle and/or to create a modified or new recipe for subsequent storage on the recipe storage MCU.

An injection molding apparatus including:

a valve pin driven by an actuator, the valve pin extending axially through at least a portion of the channel length of the fluid flow channel, the fluid flow channel including a throat, downstream flow of the injection fluid being restricted by a bulb portion of the pin, the valve pin having an intermediate position where downstream flow of injection fluid is unrestricted and a fully downstream position where downstream flow of injection fluid is stopped at both the gate and at the throat, wherein the actuator is driven by a valve assembly comprised of a spool mechanically driven by first and second actuators or solenoids that each separately engage the spool at opposing axial ends to effect movement of the spool back and forth between the drive fluid flow positions.