An electro-hydrostatic drive for realizing a rapid movement and a force-building movement, comprising a hydro-machine with variable volume and/or rotational speed, driven by an electric motor, for providing a volume-flow of a hydraulic fluid, a first cylinder with a housing, a piston, a cylinder rod, and a first and a second cylinder chamber, a second cylinder with a piston, a cylinder rod, and a first and a second cylinder chamber, a moveable carrier plate, a pillar, and a clamping apparatus to clamp and/or unclamp the first cylinder to the pillar, where the hydraulic drive has a closed hydraulic circuit, which has, when run, a positive pressure above atmospheric pressure and which, by utilizing the hydro-machine, can pressurize either the first or the second cylinder chamber of the first cylinder and/or the first or the second cylinder chamber of the second cylinder. The moveable carrier plate is connected both to the first cylinder and to the second cylinder. For the force-building movement, the first cylinder is clamped, by the clamping apparatus, to the pillar and one cylinder chamber of the first cylinder is pressurized with the hydraulic fluid, and for the rapid movement, the first cylinder is unclamped, by the clamping apparatus, from the pillar and one cylinder chamber of the second cylinder is pressurized with the hydraulic fluid.

A mold clamping device includes a base, a stationary platen fixed to the base and supporting a stationary mold, a movable platen movable on the base and supporting a movable mold, and a mold clamping mechanism for clamping the movable mold against the stationary mold. Tie bars extend from the stationary platen completely through both the movable platen and the mold clamping mechanism. A shaft supporting plate is fixed to the ends of the tie bars and terminates at its lower end portion in two spaced-apart shoes that have flat bottom surfaces in direct sliding contact with the base. The flat bottom surface of each shoe has a larger area than the cross-sectional area of the shaft supporting plate situated vertically above the shoe.

A pull or push rod for a molding machine having a groove. The groove is suitable for forming a positive-locking connection with a locking nut, by which positive-locking connection forces are transmittable between the locking nut and the pull or push rod. The groove has a groove cross-section, has at least two groove flanks, and has a groove base. The at least two groove flanks, viewed in the groove cross-section, each transition with at least one transition curvature into the groove base. The groove base in the groove cross-section is at least partially formed as a curvature, and the curvature of the groove base differs from the transition curvatures of the groove flanks.

A pull or push rod or locking nut for a molding machine has an undercut, and the undercut has an undercut cross-section, a side wall, and an undercut ramp. The side wall transitions via a first transition curvature into an undercut base, and the undercut base transitions via a second transition curvature into the undercut ramp. The undercut base, viewed in the undercut cross-section, is at least partially curved, and the curvature of the undercut base differs from the first transition curvature and/or the second transition curvature.

A mold clamping device includes a base, a stationary platen, a movable platen, a mold clamping mechanism, a tie bar, and a half nut. This mold clamping device further includes a shaft supporting plate supporting a tip of the tie bar. This shaft supporting plate is fixed to the tip of the tie bar, and is mounted on the base so as to be freely movable.

A closing unit for a shaping machine includes mutually moveable mold mounting plates suitable for carrying mold tool portions, a first hydraulic cylinder adapted to apply a closing force to the mold mounting plates, a second hydraulic cylinder, and a pressure storage device connected to the first hydraulic cylinder and adapted to store a pressure prevailing in the first hydraulic cylinder upon pressure relief at a storage device pressure. A hydraulic interconnection of the pressure storage device with the second hydraulic cylinder allows the storage pressure stored in the pressure storage device to be used for locking and/or unlocking the locking device.

A mould-closing unit for an injection moulding machine for processing plastics has a mould support which is movable relative to a stationary mould support (10). A mould-moving device is provided to move the movable mould support into and out of closure of an injection mould. At least one force transmission element is connected to the movable mould support and at its end remote from the movable mould support has a section (14a) which is assigned to the stationary mould support (10) and can be actuated for operative engagement. The stationary mould support (10) is assigned a locking device (15), which can be moved into interlocking operative connection with the actuatable section (14a) to apply a closing force during closure of the injection mould. According to the method, these elements are used to create a method for locking a force transmission element to a mould support of the injection moulding machine. The fact that the locking device (15) has floating clamping jaws (16) which can be moved into interlocking operative connection with the actuatable section (14a) during closure of the mould to lock the force transmission element and the stationary mould support (10) and at the same time are connected to at least one piston (18) of a piston-cylinder unit (17) for applying the closing force, means that a mould-closing unit is created in which the locking mechanism for locking the tie bars to the mould support is integrated in a common unit with the unit for applying the closing force.

In an injection molding machine in which intermediate molds are disposed movably in a mold opening/closing direction between a movable platen attached with a movable mold and a stationary platen attached with a stationary mold, setting is simplified when individually setting a setting value related to molding using the movable mold and the intermediate mold and a setting value related to molding using the stationary mold and the intermediate mold. In a method for controlling an injection molding machine in which intermediate molds are disposed movably in a mold opening/closing direction between a movable platen attached with a movable mold and a stationary platen attached with a stationary mold, single setting enables setting of both of a setting value related to molding using the movable mold and the intermediate mold and a setting value related to molding using the stationary mold and the intermediate mold.

In a mold clamping apparatus according to the present disclosure, a mold clamping mechanism is provided with a half nut, and a tie bar is provided with a circumferential groove to be meshed with the half nut. A forceful mold opening mechanism that opens molds at an initial stage of mold opening is provided across a movable platen and the mold clamping mechanism. The forceful mold opening mechanism is set so as to have greater axial force and shorter stroke than those of a mold opening and closing mechanism. A control unit controls opening and closing of the half nut, controls the forceful mold opening mechanism, and also controls the position of the half nut in such a way that the half nut is synchronized with the circumferential groove by the forceful mold opening mechanism.

A mold clamping device (20) includes a traction platen (29) disposed below a pressure-receiving platen (22), a movable platen (28) disposed above the pressure-receiving platen (22) and configured to be moved up and down by a mold opening and closing mechanism (27), and tie bars (31) extending downward from the movable platen (28) and penetrating the pressure-receiving platen (22) and the traction platen (29). The mold clamping device (20) is configured to clamp molds (12) disposed between the pressure-receiving platen (22) and the movable platen (28). A saw tooth portion (36) is formed at a lower end of each of the tie bars (31), and a half nut (26) that engages with the saw tooth portion (36) is provided under the traction platen (29).