SLIDE ASSEMBLY FOR INJECTION MOLDS

Abstract

A slide assembly for injection molds includes a closing wedge, a slide body provided with a hole for at least partially housing said closing wedge, and a figure insert coupled to the slide body. The figure insert in the use position is vertically and horizontally movable with respect to the slide body. The slide assembly is both economical and simple.

Claims

1. A slide assembly for injection molds, comprising: a closing wedge; a slide body provided with a hole for housing, at least partially, the closing wedge; and a figure insert engaged to the slide body; wherein the figure insert, in the use position, is vertically and horizontally movable with respect to the slide body.

2. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein said figure insert, in the use position, is pivotable around a horizontal axis, with respect to the slide body.

3. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the figure insert comprises a projection which is housed in a complementary hole of the slide body.

4. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 3, wherein the slide body comprises at least one magnet, located adjacent to said complementary hole.

5. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1 further comprising a sliding base on which the slide body is placed, the slide body sliding on the sliding base.

6. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the sliding base is magnetic.

7. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the sliding base comprises a sliding layer positioned between the sliding base and the slide body.

8. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 7, wherein the sliding layer is made of filled polytetrafluoroethylene resin.

9. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the closing wedge comprises a main portion and a protruding portion, which is housed in the hole of the slide body.

10. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 9, wherein the protruding portion forms an acute angle with the main portion, defining inclined surfaces, complementary with inclined surfaces defined by the hole.

11. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the closing wedge comprises an adjustment plate located at its farthest part from the slide body.

12. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1 further comprising a screw passing through the closing wedge.

13. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the sliding base comprises a positioning ball.

14. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the sliding base comprises a dismounting hole.

15. The slide assembly for injection molds according to claim 1, wherein the figure insert comprises beveled side portions.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] In order to complement the description being made and in order to assist in a better understanding of the features of the invention, according to a preferred example of a practical embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached hereto as an integral part of the said description, in which the following is illustratively and non-limitingly depicted:

[0032] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the injection mold slide according to the present invention;

[0033] FIG. 2 is a sectioned side elevation view with the injection mold slide body according to the present invention;

[0034] FIG. 3 is a sectioned side elevation view with the closing wedge of slide for injection molds according to the present invention;

[0035] FIGS. 4 to 6 are perspective views showing different positions of the figure insert in relation to the slide body, where it can be seen that the figure insert is vertically and horizontally movable, and is also tiltable; and

[0036] FIGS. 7 and 8 are plan views of the figure insert as it is being inserted into its cavity in the mold.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0037] The slide assembly according to the present invention comprises a slide body 5 provided with a hole 51 for housing a closing wedge 1, a figure insert 4 being attached to said slide body 5.

[0038] The closing wedge 1 comprises a main portion 14, in a parallelepiped shape, and a protruding portion 15, which is the one that is housed in the hole 51 of the slide body 5. This protruding portion 15 preferably forms an acute angle with the main portion 14, defining inclined surfaces, complementary with inclined surfaces defined by the hole 51.

[0039] This slide assembly is designed to perform the function of moving a figure insert 4 attached to the slide body 5 by actuation of the closing wedge 1 when the mold is opened and closed.

[0040] The closing wedge 1 is attached to a part of the mold called the injection side by means of a housing adjusted to the dimensions of the closing wedge 1 and a screw 3.

[0041] Furthermore, the closing wedge 1 comprises an adjustment plate 2, which is positioned on the closing wedge 1, in particular, on the part of the main portion 14 away from the protruding portion 15, and which allows the height position inside the mold housing to be adjusted to the exact position at the moment of closing the mold.

[0042] In this way, the inclined surfaces of the protruding portion 15 of the sealing wedge 1 contact the inclined surfaces of the hole 51 of the slide body 5, causing it to be in exactly the right position so that the figure of figure insert 4 also fits into position with the figure insert of the mold and no leaks appear when the plastic is injected.

[0043] The assembly of the slide body 5 and the figure insert 4 moves over a sliding base 6, which is magnetic by means of built-in magnets 8. This makes it possible to keep this sliding base 6 attached to the mold, also during the translation process when the mold is opened and closed.

[0044] Furthermore, this sliding base 6 comprises a sliding layer 7 placed between the sliding base 6 and the slide body 5. This sliding layer 7 is made of a low-friction material, e.g. Turcite®, i.e. PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) resin with added fillers, e.g. bronze.

[0045] This material with a very low friction characteristic prevents wear of the slide body 5 when sliding on the sliding base 6. In addition, the sliding layer 7 has the property that no lubrication is necessary, i.e. it is self-lubricating.

[0046] In the sectional view of FIG. 3, it can be seen how the screw 3 passes through the slide body 5 and fixes the closing wedge 1 with the adjustment plate 2. For this purpose, the closing wedge 1 has a threaded hole in the part where it is inserted into the closing wedge 1, which prevents it from coming out freely when it is unscrewed for disassembly. This offers the advantage of not having the possibility of losing it.

[0047] The slide assembly according to the present invention also comprises a slide stop 9, which is shown in FIG. 1. This slide stop 9 has the main function of preventing the slide body 5 from slipping out of the mold in the event that, due to some anomaly during the injection process, the slide assembly becomes incorrectly positioned and the ejection from the mold advances, pushing it towards the outside of the mold and with the risk of causing it to fall.

[0048] For this purpose, the slide stop 9 is bolted to the mold and has a flange that acts as a stop.

[0049] As noted above, movement of the slide assembly occurs each time the mold is opened and closed. When the mold is closed, the engagement of the components together and their fit with the mold figure inserts ensures that this slide mechanism is not displaced by the injection pressure when the plastic enters the mold cavity.

[0050] But when the mold is opened, it is very important that the position of the slide assembly in its open mold position is precise and repeatable in each cycle. For this purpose, the magnetic sliding base 6 enables this function to be fulfilled.

[0051] Another technical advantage of the slide assembly of the present invention is the freedom of movement of the figure insert 4 with respect to the slide body 5.

[0052] For this purpose, the figure insert 4 comprises an L-shaped projection 13 which is housed in a complementary hole 16 of the slide body 5 with a gap, which allows the figure insert 4 to move vertically and horizontally, and also to tilt. In other words, the slide body 5 can be moved from left to right and up and down and tilted. These movements of the figure insert 4 can be seen in FIGS. 4 to 6, where three positions of the figure insert 4 in relation to the slide body 5 are shown.

[0053] Furthermore, the slide body 5 comprises one or more magnets 10, located next to said complementary hole 16. This magnet or magnets 10 cause the figure insert 4 to remain in a certain position thanks to the magnetic attraction thereof, and it is precisely this position which prevents friction between the figure insert 4 and the mold cavity during movements thereof, thus avoiding any possible friction that could generate imperfections and generate burrs in the injected part.

[0054] The reason for this freedom of movement is to focus the adjustment of the figure insert 4 of the slide assembly on the figure insert of the mold through a 10° taper lock, which ensures the exact position of the figure insert 4 of the slide assembly. In this way, the slide assembly is freed from the need for precise and exact positioning, as is usually the case with conventional slide assemblies, thus reducing the need for precision machining and, therefore, eliminating the side guides that in conventional slide assemblies allow the slide assembly to maintain positional accuracy for the subsequent adjustment and assembly of the figure insert.

[0055] The sliding base 6 also comprises a spring-loaded positioning ball 19 to facilitate positioning of the sliding base 6, and a disassembly hole 12 for easy removal with a spanner, which also serves to unscrew a screw located in the sliding stop 9.

[0056] As can be seen in FIG. 1 and in particular FIGS. 7 and 8, the figure insert 4 comprises beveled side portions 17 and a stop surface 18.

[0057] In this way, when the figure insert 4 is assembled inside the mold cavity, and due to the tolerances, once they are fitted together, angular sliding between them is allowed, while also allowing transversal sliding, without losing the security of coupling in the axial direction.

[0058] Seen in this way we can see that thanks to their manufacturing tolerances we achieve the “chain link” effect, i.e. the two parts together form a single element, however, they can be self-centering to a limited extent, with vertical, horizontal and slightly oscillating movements without losing their intrinsic axial connection.

[0059] That is, in the assembly, first a beveled side portion 17 will contact a complementary side wall of the cavity (FIG. 7), allowing transverse displacement to fit snugly inside the cavity, contacting the stop surface 18 with the inside wall of the cavity (FIG. 8).

[0060] Although reference has been made to a specific embodiment of the invention, it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the slide assembly described is susceptible to numerous variations and modifications, and that all the details mentioned can be replaced by technically equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.