An injection molding apparatus having a hot runner including a plurality of thermocouples and a plurality of heaters, a temperature controller remote from the hot runner, and a communication box attached to the hot runner. The communication box being configured to form a fieldbus, via a wireless communication link, with the temperature controller, and the communication box including a communication card connecting the thermocouples to the fieldbus.

The present disclosure relates to a hot runner control device for a hot runner assembly and a method of operating a hot runner controller, which comprises a signature element, the hot runner control device comprises a processor configured to receive a signature from the signature element, the signature being characteristic for the signature element of the hot runner assembly, the processor is further configured to access a database comprising at least one reference signature being characteristic for at least one of the signature elements, and the processor is further configured to identify the signature element of the hot runner assembly, by comparing the received signature with the at least one reference signature.

Disclosed herein is apparatus and methods for separating plastic runners in a cold runner system between injection cycles of an injection molding process. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus is a heated runner separator that includes a heated melt disc with a central aperture, a heating band positioned around the heated melt disc, a first insulator ring positioned proximate to a first end of the central aperture of the heated melt disc, and a second insulator ring positioned proximate to a second and opposite end of the central aperture of the heated melt disc. The heated runner separator further includes a first terminal and second terminal extending from the heating band and arranged to couple to a heating source to heat the heating band. The heated runner separator further includes a thermocouple in contact with the heated melt disc and arranged to measure the temperature of the heated melt disc.