DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FEEDING MOLTEN PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO A MOLDING CAVITY

Abstract

The device for feeding molten plastic material into a molding cavity (30) includes a melting chamber (20) in which metered solid plastic material is introduced, a sonotrode (10) provided for tightly inserting a portion thereof into said melting chamber (20), causing the plastic material to melt by means of vibration, and relative movement of the sonotrode (10) and melting chamber (20) allows driving the molten plastic material inside a molding cavity (30) communicated with said melting chamber (20), the device including resistance sensors (40) allowing an electronic control device (50) to know the resistance that the plastic material has against the movement of the sonotrode (10).

Claims

1. A device for feeding molten plastic material into a molding cavity, said device comprising a melting chamber communicated with: a portion, susceptible to vibrating, of a sonotrode of an ultrasonic transducer; an access for loading a solid plastic material; and at least one outlet opening of the melting chamber for supplying molten plastic material to said molding cavity; said device including translation means for providing relative movement between the portion of the sonotrode and the melting chamber, regulating the position of a tip of the portion of the sonotrode within the melting chamber; wherein the device furthermore has: resistance sensors provided for detecting the resistance against movement which a plastic material, loaded by way of metering in said melting chamber through said access, has against the relative movement between the portion of the sonotrode and said melting chamber; and a programmable electronic control device for regulating said translation means based at least on the information provided by said resistance sensors.

2. The device according claim 1, wherein it furthermore has: feed sensors provided for detecting and measuring the amount of solid plastic material and/or the weight of the solid plastic material fed in the melting chamber; and/or ambient sensors provided for detecting ambient temperature and/or humidity; and/or operation sensors provided for detecting one or several of the following parameters: relative position of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; temperature of the sonotrode; temperature of the portion of the sonotrode; temperature of the melting chamber; temperature of the molding cavity; temperature of the plastic material.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein the mentioned electronic control device controls actuators which allow regulating, based at least on the data provided by at least one of said resistance sensors, feed sensors, ambient sensors or operation sensors, one or several of the following operating parameters of the device: activation of the sonotrode; relative position of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber upon activating vibration of the sonotrode; activation time of the sonotrode; vibration frequency of the sonotrode; vibration amplitude of the sonotrode; relative movement speed of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; acceleration of the relative movement of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; pressure applied on the plastic material contained in the melting chamber by the relative movement of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; activation of cooling means.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic control device has a user interface allowing an operator to enter in said electronic control device information relating to the type of plastic material and/or the format of the plastic material to be used; and in that the electronic control device regulates the variables and operating parameters of the device also based on the information entered by the operator.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the electronic control device has a memory in which there are stored variables and operating parameters relating to one or several of the following elements: types of plastic material, different usable formats of said solid plastic material, the geometry of said outlet opening providing an inlet into said molding cavity, or the geometry of the molding cavity, and wherein the electronic control device links and regulates the variables and operating parameters of the device also based on the information contained in said memory.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the mentioned translation means are electrically actuated, and the resistance sensors detect the power consumption of said translation means during actuation thereof.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein it integrates cooling means for cooling the portion of the sonotrode, including a coolant gas diffuser arranged around the inlet of the portion of the sonotrode in the melting chamber, provided for diffusing said coolant gas over a portion of the sonotrode extracted from said melting chamber.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein it integrates cooling means for cooling the portion of the sonotrode, including a coolant fluid circuit arranged around at least one portion of the melting chamber, provided for allowing the flow of a coolant fluid therethrough, cooling at least one portion of the melting chamber in thermal contact with the portion of the sonotrode.

9-15. (canceled)

16. A method for feeding molten plastic material into a molding cavity by means of a device comprising: a melting chamber communicated with: a portion, susceptible to vibrating, of a sonotrode of an ultrasonic transducer; an access for loading a solid plastic material; and at least one outlet opening of the melting chamber for supplying molten plastic material to said molding cavity; translation means for providing relative movement between the portion of the sonotrode and the melting chamber, regulating the position of a tip of the portion of the sonotrode within the melting chamber; resistance sensors provided for detecting the resistance against movement which a plastic material, loaded by way of metering in said melting chamber through said access, has against the relative movement between the portion of the sonotrode and said melting chamber; and a programmable electronic control device for regulating said translation means based at least on the information provided by said resistance sensors. the method comprising the following steps forming a production cycle: a) loading metered plastic material in said melting chamber through said access for feeding solid plastic material; b) activating the sonotrode, causing the plastic material to melt; c) actuating the translation means providing relative movement between the portion of the sonotrode and the melting chamber, inserting the tip of the portion of the sonotrode further into the melting chamber and pushing the molten plastic material inside the molding cavity through the outlet opening; wherein before performing step b), a first relative movement is produced between the portion of the sonotrode and the melting chamber, inserting a tip of the portion of the sonotrode into the melting chamber until said resistance sensors detect that the plastic material inserted into the melting chamber resists against forward movement of the portion of the sonotrode, thereby detecting contact of the portion of the sonotrode with said plastic material, and providing an indication relative to the volume of the melting chamber occupied by the plastic material; and the electronic control device regulates, based at least on the data provided by said resistance sensors, activation of the sonotrode and actuation of the translation means of step c).

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the electronic control device performs said regulation of the operating parameters also based on information supplied by: feed sensors provided for detecting the amount of solid plastic material units and/or the weight of the solid plastic material fed into the melting chamber; and/or ambient sensors provided for detecting ambient temperature and/or humidity; and/or operation sensors provided for detecting one or several of the following parameters: relative position of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; temperature of the sonotrode; temperature of the portion of the sonotrode; temperature of the melting chamber; temperature of the molding cavity; temperature of the plastic material.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the electronic control device regulates, based at least on the data provided by said resistance sensors, one or several of the following operating parameters: relative position of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber upon activating vibration of the sonotrode; activation time of the sonotrode; vibration frequency of the sonotrode; vibration amplitude of the sonotrode; relative movement speed of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; acceleration of the relative movement of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; pressure applied on the plastic material contained in the melting chamber by the relative movement of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber; and in that the electronic control device calculates the energy that must be applied on the plastic material by means of said operating parameters and calculates the adjustment of said operating parameters so that said applied energy is enough to cause the plastic material to melt properly and not enough to cause the plastic material to degrade, based on the information obtained by the different sensors and based on a suitable minimum and maximum energy range stored in said electronic control device.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein at least one of the different sensors takes measurements and supplies information at different times of the production cycle, and the electronic control device performs different regulations of said operating parameters at different times of the production cycle, adjusting them at least according to the information provided by said at least one sensor.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein when the electronic control device determines that the plastic material has reached a pre-established degree of fluidity by means of the information supplied by at least one of said sensors, it applies vibration parameters or vibration amplitude parameters of the sonotrode according pre-established data in the electronic control device, depending on specific profiles.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein when the electronic control device determines that the molten plastic material has completely or almost completely filled the molding cavity by means of the information supplied by at least one of said sensors, vibration of the sonotrode is activated and/or pressure applied on the plastic material contained in the melting chamber due to the speed or acceleration of the relative movement of the portion of the sonotrode with respect to the melting chamber is increased.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein between a first production cycle and a second production cycle, the electronic control device determines if the temperature of the portion of the sonotrode obtained from the operation sensors exceeds pre-established temperature ranges, performing a cooling cycle in that case which includes: placing the portion of the sonotrode in thermal contact with the cooling means; activating said cooling means.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0086] The foregoing and other advantages and features will be better understood based on the following detailed description of an embodiment with reference to the attached drawings which must be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

[0087] FIG. 1 schematically shows a device for feeding molten plastic material into a molding cavity in an initial step, in which solid plastic material has been supplied by way of metering into a melting chamber, located adjacent to and communicated with a molding cavity, showing a sonotrode with a portion facing said melting chamber, next to the inlet thereof, communication of sensors with the electronic control device being indicated with a dotted line;

[0088] FIG. 2 is a view equivalent to FIG. 1 with the portion of the sonotrode moved until contacting the mentioned plastic material;

[0089] FIG. 3 shows a later step of melting the plastic material by means of activating the sonotrode;

[0090] FIG. 4 shows introduction of the molten plastic material into the molding cavity by means of moving the sonotrode in said melting chamber;

[0091] FIG. 5 shows a position of the sonotrode outside the melting chamber and subjected to a coolant fluid by blowing; and

[0092] FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a coolant fluid distributing element of the sonotrode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

[0093] According to a non-limiting embodiment shown in the attached drawings, the device for feeding molten plastic material into a molding cavity 30 consists of a hollow melting chamber 20, which is cylindrical in the example, said melting chamber 20 being open at its upper end and closed at its lower end except for an outlet opening 22 provided at said lower end, which communicates said melting chamber 20 with a molding cavity 30.

[0094] In this embodiment, the melting chamber 20 also has an access 21 in the upper portion thereof for loading solid plastic material, communicating a side wall of said melting chamber 20 with a metered solid plastic material feeder. An automatic metering device controlled by an electronic control device 50 and equipped with feed sensors 41 allows performing said metered feeding in a precise manner.

[0095] A sonotrode 10 is arranged above said melting chamber 20 and is equipped with a projecting portion 11 having a size and shape that are complementary to those of the melting chamber 20, allowing said portion 11 to be introduced into said melting chamber 20 up to the lower end thereof, thereby coming into contact with any amount of solid plastic material arranged in said melting chamber 20 and thereby melting and driving any amount of molten plastic material from said melting chamber 20 to the molding cavity 30 through the mentioned outlet opening 22.

[0096] The mentioned molding cavity 30 can be open (see FIG. 5) to allow extracting the molded plastic parts after solidification, being ready for a new production cycle.

[0097] In this preferred embodiment shown in the attached drawings, the sonotrode 10 is mounted on a linear guide system allowing the guided vertical movement thereof, the portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 being aligned with the melting chamber 20, and electrically actuated translation means 12 allow performing vertical movement of the sonotrode in a controlled manner, the translation means 12 depicted in this embodiment being an electric motor.

[0098] As shown in the diagram of FIG. 1, the mentioned electric motor has a resistance sensor 40 based, for example, on control of the power consumption of the motor, connected with the electronic control device 50, allowing detection of the resistance which the plastic material deposited in the melting chamber 20 has against the movement of the portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 within the mentioned melting chamber 20, thereby deducing when the tip of the sonotrode 10 comes into contact with the solid plastic material and also the reaction generated by fluidity of the molten plastic material.

[0099] The mentioned electronic control device 50 also optionally has ambient sensors 42 provided for measuring ambient parameters such as ambient temperature and humidity, and operation sensors 43 provided for measuring different parameters of the device, such as the temperature of its components, or of the plastic material, or the relative position of the elements.

[0100] All these parameters can affect the melting and molding process of the plastic material, so it is important for the electronic control device 50 to obtain all the necessary information from said sensors 40, 41, 42, 43.

[0101] The electronic control device 50 can also act on different actuators of the proposed device, such as, for example, the sonotrode 110, the translation means 12, the cooling means 60, or the metering device feeding the melting chamber 20 with solid plastic material by way of metering.

[0102] Regulation of the actuation parameters of all these actuators is performed by the electronic control device 50 based on the information provided by the different sensors 40, 41, 42, 43.

[0103] Said electronic control device 50 can also regulate said operating parameters based on other information, for example, information contained in a memory of the electronic control device 50, or data relating to the type or format of the solid plastic material used, and said data could be stored in the memory and/or be entered by an operator through an interface.

[0104] Said memory will preferably store operation ranges that will indicate acceptable regulation maximums and minimums for each of the parameters, these ranges being able to be related and be variable, depending on some variable parameters, such as ambient temperature, the type of plastic material, geometry of the molding cavity 30 or of the outlet opening 22, etc. Said ranges can also be related and be variable depending on the time of the production cycle.

[0105] The electronic control device 50 additionally receives information about the minimum amount of energy necessary for causing the solid plastic material to melt (depending on type and format) and also about the maximum tolerable energy so as to not cause said plastic material to degrade (also depending on type and format), and it is able to know the amount of energy applied on said plastic material by actuation of the different actuators regulated by said electronic control device 50. This allows performing said regulation of the operating parameters to assure that the energy applied on the plastic material does not exceed the maximum limit at any time of the production cycle, thereby preventing the plastic material from degrading.

[0106] FIG. 1 schematically shows an initial step of the production cycle in which the electronic control device 50 has supplied a solid granular plastic material by way of metering to the melting chamber by means of the regulation of an automatic feeder.

[0107] Feed sensors 41 provide precise information to the electronic control device 50 about the weight and amount of granules introduced in the melting chamber 20.

[0108] FIG. 2 shows the following step of the production cycle in which the translation means 12 are activated by the electronic control device 50, causing the portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 to be introduced in the melting chamber 20. When the tip of said portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 comes into contact with the plastic material, the resistance sensor 40 (resistance against the forward movement of the sonotrode) detects it and transmits said information to the electronic control device 50. This information makes it possible to know the volume of the melting chamber 20 occupied by the solid plastic material, and combined with the information received from the feed sensors 41, and optionally with information entered by an operator referring to the type and format of the solid plastic material that is fed, the electronic control device 50 is able to deduce if the plastic granules are more or less compacted upon being deposited in the melting chamber, which allows regulating the operating parameters in accordance with this information.

[0109] FIG. 3 shows a later step of the production cycle in which vibration of the sonotrode has been actuated together with an additional movement of the sonotrode, causing the plastic material in the melting chamber 20 to melt and be compacted. At this state, resistance sensors 40 can determine the fluidity attained by the plastic material, but this information could also be deduced from a mean temperature of the molten plastic material provided by an operation sensor 43.

[0110] Based on this information, the electronic control device 50 can make additional adjustments both to the vibration and to the speed and acceleration of the movement of the sonotrode 10 in order to achieve and/or maintain desired fluidity conditions of the molten plastic material and for causing optimal introduction of the molten plastic material into the molding cavity 30.

[0111] FIG. 4 shows a final step of the production cycle in which the molding cavity 30 is already full or virtually full. At this time, the electronic control device 50 modifies vibration conditions and/or increases pressure, speed or acceleration of the sonotrode 10 in order to compact the molten plastic material inside the molding cavity 30.

[0112] After this step ends, the molded plastic material is cooled, causing it to harden, and then it is removed from the mold, the molding cavity 30 once again being ready to start production cycle again.

[0113] After the production cycle ends, the electronic control device 50 determines if the temperature of the portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 is below a pre-established parameter based on the data provided by the operation sensors 43. If it is below said pre-established parameter, a new production cycle can begin, but if it is not, a cooling cycle is required.

[0114] Said cooling cycle is shown in FIG. 5, where it can be seen how the portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 has been extracted from the melting chamber 20, facing cooling means 60 which in this embodiment (see the detail in FIG. 6) consist of a diffuser provided for driving a coolant gas over said portion 11 of the sonotrode 10 from a region located around same.