1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing procedure of preforms, and more particularly to a cooling fetch method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditional preform injection molding machine forms a plurality of airtight closed mold cavities when a mold is clamped, and fills up the mold cavities with a melted plastic liquid after the melted plastic liquid is injected into the mold cavities. The preforms are condensed and shaped after a predetermined time of sitting still and lowering the temperature, and then the mold is opened, and an ejector is used for ejecting the preforms from the mold cavities to complete the whole manufacturing procedure of the preforms.
To cool and shape the injected preforms and prevent damaging the shape of the preforms due to collisions among the preforms during a demolding process, the manufacture of the aforementioned traditional preform injection molding machine requires condensing and shaping the injected preforms after sitting still and lowering temperature for a predetermined time, and produce a complete shape after further cooling the preforms for predetermined cooling and shaping time. However, the longer cooling time of the preforms in the mold will take up the next injection molding time of the mold, and thus causing a delay to the whole injecting process and lowering the yield rate.
At present, there is another cooling device installed next to the preform injection molding machine as shown in
However, if this type of cooling device 4 is coupled with the movable mold 1 and each air nozzle 5 is used for performing air cooling to each preform 3, cool air is blown from each air nozzle 5 into each preform 3, and thus an airflow space 6 is disposed between each preform 3 and each air nozzle 5. If air is blown from each air nozzle 5 into each preform 3 for the cooling action, the cooled air blown from each air nozzle 5 will flow disorderly in each airflow space 6 to cause a whirl phenomenon, so that the cooling effect of the internal wall of each preform 3 is uneven, the internal wall of each preform 3 is deformed, and the overall yield rate of each preform 3 is affected. In addition, since the preform cooling method of this sort extends the nozzle 5 into the preform 3, therefore the cooling action is effective at the internal brink of the preform 3 only, and a good cooling effect at a bottle mouth of the preform 3 cannot be obtained. As a result, the bottle mouth of each preform 3 may be deformed easily, and the airtightness will be affected adversely when the bottle mouth and the bottle cap of each preform 3 are engaged with each other.
Further, the movable mold 1 in the mold 2 has three different fetch positions 1A, 1B, 1C as shown in
However, the volume of the movable mold 1 and the cooling device 4 for this fetch method is very large, and thus occupying much space in a factory. When the mold 2 the movable mold 1 is fetched, the movable mold 1 still carries the previously fetched but still unloaded preform 3, so that the whole overall load of the movable mold 1 is large, and the efficiency of fetching each preform 3 is affected seriously, when the fetching speed of the movable mold 1 is very slow.
In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention provides a slide braking apparatus to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional braking structure.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a cooling fetch method, wherein the preform injection molding process is separated from the preform cooling process, so that the injection molding machine can continue the injection molding without interruptions, so as to effectively improve the production efficiency of the preform.
Another objective of the present is to provide a cooling fetch method, wherein the invention provides a plurality of stages of the cooling action to each preform and assure that the preforms are cooled to improve the yield rate of each preform effectively.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a cooling fetch apparatus of preforms and a cooling fetch method thereof, wherein the second clamp portion of the second fetch mechanism completes three stages of cooling to each unloaded preform and extends the cooling time of each unloaded preform to provide a better cooling effect.
Another objective of the preset invention is to provide a cooling fetch method, wherein the external brink of each cooling pipe on the second fetch mechanism is attached precisely with the internal brink of each fetched preform, such that each preform is attached closer to the cooling source for a quick cooling effect, and the internal brink of each preform is attached onto the cooling pipe, such that the bottle mouth of each preform can have a better support to prevent the bottle mouth of each preform from being deformed due to the thermal contraction and expansion, so as to assure the circularity of the bottle mouth and a good airtightness when a bottle cap is connected to the bottle mouth of the preform.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a cooling fetch method, wherein the first fetch mechanism removes the preform from the mold to the second fetch mechanism for cooling, so that the volume of the first fetch mechanism and the load can be reduced effectively, and the first fetch mechanism can move in a high speed. Therefore, the speed of removing each preform can be quicker, and the overall efficiency of the manufacturing procedure can be improved effectively.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a cooling fetch method, wherein the weight carrying capacity of the first fetch mechanism is reduced significantly, and the power source for driving the first fetch mechanism is reduced accordingly, so as to achieve the effects of saving energies and lowering costs.
To achieve the foregoing objectives, the present invention provides a cooling fetch apparatus of preforms, and the apparatus is installed on a side of an injection molding machine for fetching preforms formed by a mold of the injection molding machine, and the cooling fetch apparatus of preforms comprises:
a first fetch mechanism, having a first transmission arm and a first clamp portion, and the transmission arm being moved back and forth, and the first clamp portion being disposed at an end of the transmission arm and moved synchronously with the first transmission arm, and the first fetch mechanism using the first clamp portion to fetch each preform formed by a mold of the injection molding machine from the mold, and the first clamp portion performing a cooling effect of a first stage to the preform external brink, and after each preform is removed from the injection molding machine, an injection molding process is performed to the preform and the first fetch mechanism is ready for the next fetching process;
a second fetch mechanism, having a second transmission arm and a second clamp portion, and the second transmission arm being moved back and forth, and the second clamp portion being disposed at an end of the second transmission arm, and moving synchronously with the second transmission arm, and the second fetch mechanism using the second clamp portion to fetch each preform on the first clamp portion of the first fetch mechanism, such that when the first clamp portion of the first fetch mechanism and the second clamp portion of the second fetch mechanism simultaneously fetch each preform, a cooling effect of a second stage is performed to the internal brink, and a cooling effect of a third stage is performed continuously to the internal brink of each preform, and after the second clamp portion fetches a predetermined quantity of preforms, the second clamp portion sequentially unload the preforms one by one on the second clamp portion.
The objective, technical measures and performance of the present invention will become apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Referring to
The first fetch mechanism 31 includes a rail 32, a first transmission arm 33 and a first clamp portion 34, and the first transmission arm 33 can be moved back and forth along the rail 32 at a start position A, a target position B and a cooling position C, wherein the target position B is situated in the mold 12, and the cooling position C is situated at a corresponding side of the second fetch mechanism 41, and the start position A is situated between the target position B and the cooling position C. In this embodiment, the start position A is adjacent to a side of the mold 12, such that if the mold 12 has not been formed by injection molding, the first clamp portion 34 will be situated at the start position A to wait for the time of opening the mold 12, and the first clamp portion 34 is situated at an end of the first transmission arm 33 for synchronously moving the first transmission arm 33.
In
When the mold 12 of the injection molding machine 11 is opened, the first transmission arm 33 drives the first clamp portion 34 to move from the start position A to the target position B, and the opening 353 of each preform suction pipe 35 is sheathed and embedded into the preform 21. Now, the vacuum produced by air suction at the first air nozzle 38 results in an airtight attachment of the preform 21 into the opening 353 of each preform suction pipe 35. In the meantime, the cooling effect produced by the cooling liquid circulated in the spiral groove 357 of the preform suction pipe 35 performs a cooling effect of a first stage to an external brink of the preform 21 that are attached to the opening 353 of each preform suction pipe 35, and then the first clamp portion 34 moves the preforms 21 to the cooling position C, and the cooling position C is further divided into a first fetch position C1, a second fetch position C2 and a third fetch position C3. After each preform 21 is removed from the mold 12 of the injection molding machine 11, the injection molding is performed to the preforms 21 again to prepare the first clamp portion 34 of the first fetch mechanism 31 for the next fetch.
Referring to
Further, the cooling pipes 45 have a penetrating hole 451 along their axes respectively, and the penetrating hole 451 is interconnected with the third channel 46, and the cooling pipe 45 includes a cooling channel 452 disposed therein, and the cooling channel 452 is interconnected with the fourth channel 47, so that the cooling liquid circulated in the fourth channel 47 can be circulated to the cooling channel 452 of the cooling pipe 45, and the shape of the external brink of the cooling pipe 45 corresponds to the shape of the internal brink of the preform 21.
When the first clamp portion 34 moves the preforms 21 to a first fetch position C1 of the cooling position C of the first transmission arm 33, the second transmission arm 42 is also moved from the material collection position D to the material fetch position E, and the cooling pipe 45 of the second transmission arm 42 is sheathed and connected with the preform 21 of the first clamp portion 34. As shown in
After a predetermined quantity of preforms 21 are fetched sequentially by the second clamp portion 43 of the second fetch mechanism 41, the second clamp portion 43 is rotated from the material collection position D to the material unload position F by a revolving cylinder 44. Now, the second air nozzle 48 stops sucking air and the second clamp portion 43 at a corresponding cooling position C of the first clamp portion 34 is pushed by an ejecting element 49, and the cooled preforms 21 fetched by the first fetch position C1 are removed sequentially in batches. It is noteworthy to point out that vacuum loop design comprised of the first air nozzle 38 and the second air nozzle 48 is a prior art structure, and thus its structure will not be described here.
The conveying mechanism 51 is installed at the bottom of the second fetch mechanism 41, and the conveying mechanism 51 of this embodiment is a conveyor belt structure provided for carrying the cooled preform 21 removed by the second clamp portion 43 of the second fetch mechanism 41 to a next manufacturing process.
To improve the cooling speed of the preforms 21, a demister (not shown in the figure) can be installed next to the second fetch mechanism 41 for blowing cool air 61 (as shown in
Referring to
(a) clamping the mold 12 of the injection molding machine 11, and performing an injection molding operation to each preform 21 in each mold cavity 14 (as shown in
(b) opening the mold 12 of the injection molding machine 11 after a predetermined shaping time, and forming a plurality of finished goods of the high-temperature preform 21 (as shown in
(c) moving the first clamp portion 34 of the first fetch mechanism 31 from the start position A to the target position B (as shown in
(d) moving the first clamp portion 34 of the first fetch mechanism 31 from the target position B to a first fetch position C1 of the cooling position C, such that each preform 21 is moved out of the mold 12, and the first clamp portion 34 of the first fetch mechanism 31 preforms a cooling effect of a first stage to the external brink of the preforms 21 by the circulated cooling liquid, and after the first fetch mechanism 31 removes the preforms 21 from the mold 12, the injection molding machine 11 closes the mold 21 to perform the injection molding manufacture process for the next stage (as shown in
(e) moving the second clamp portion 43 of the second fetch mechanism 41 from the material collection position D to the material fetch position E, and connecting to each preform 21 on the first clamp portion 34, such that the first clamp portion 3 and the second clamp portion 43 perform the cooling action of a second stage to the internal brink of each preform 21 (as shown in
(f) repeating Steps B to E, wherein the first clamp portion 34 carries each preform 21 to the second fetch position C2, and then uses the second clamp portion 43 to fetch each preform 21 (as shown in
(g) moving the second clamp portion 43 of the second fetch mechanism 41 from the material collection position D to the material unload position F by a revolving cylinder 44 for unloading the material (as shown in
(h) using an output mechanism 51 to retain the cooled preforms 21 removed from the second clamp portion 43, and outputting the preforms 21 (as shown in
(i) repeating Steps B to E, wherein the first clamp portion 34 is moved to the first fetch position C1 again, and the second clamp portion 43 removes a portion of preforms 21 fetched by the first clamp portion 34 as described in Step (g) (wherein if the first clamp portion 34 is moved to the first fetch position C1 in accordance with this embodiment, the preforms 21 on the first clamp portion 34 correspond to the first and fourth rows of cooling pipes of the second clamp portion 43, for fetching the preforms 21 disposed on the first clamp portion 34 as shown in
(j) moving the second clamp portion 43 of the second fetch mechanism 41 from the material collection position D to the material unload position F for unloading the material, and removing a portion of preforms 21 from the second clamp portion 43 onto the conveying mechanism 51 (wherein this embodiment uses the second and fifth rows of cooling pipes to remove the preforms (as shown in
(k) moving each preform 21 fetched by the first clamp portion 34 from the mold 12 to the second fetch position C2 in this embodiment, such that the preforms 21 on the first clamp portion 34 correspond to the second and fifth rows of cooling pipes 45 on the second clamp portion 43 to fetch each preform 21 onto the second clamp portion 43 (as shown in
Steps (i) to (k) are repeated according to the principle of the invention, so that the preforms 21 on the second fetch mechanism 41 can be removed sequentially in batches. Since the fetched preform 21 will not be removed immediately, therefore the cooling time of the preforms 21 situated on the second fetch mechanism 41 is extended to achieve a better cooling effect.
In addition, the method of fetching preforms in accordance with the present invention is not limited to the method having a cooling effect at three stages, but the method of the invention can be used for a cooling effective at four or more stages for the preforms fetched in batches according to the quantity of preforms carried by the second fetch mechanism 41.
Before the invention is put into practice, and the injection molding machine 11 carries out the injection molding operation of a first time, there are impurities remained in the mold cavities 14 of the mold 12 from the previous operation, and thus the preforms 21 produced by the injection molding machine 11 for the first time of injection molding are discarded in order to prevent affecting the overall yield rate of the manufacturing procedure.
With the cooling fetch apparatus and the cooling fetch method of preforms, the present invention has the following advantages:
1. In the invention, the preforms are removed from the molds for the cooling process, and thus the injection molding process of the preforms is separated from the cooling process of the preforms, so that the injection molding machine can continue the injection molding process without interruptions in order to improve the production efficiency of the injection molding machine.
2. Since the cooling fetch apparatus of the invention performs a cooling action of a first stage to the external brink of each preform when the preforms of the first clamp portion are fetched, therefore when the preforms of the second clamp portion and the first clamp portion are coupled, the first clamp portion and the second clamp portion perform a cooling action of a second stage to the preforms as well as the external and internal brinks of the preforms, and then the second clamp portion carries the preforms to the material collection position to continue the cooling effect of a third stage to the internal brink of the preforms. Therefore, the present invention can provide a multi-stage cooling action for each preform to assure the cooling effect of the preforms, and improve the yield rate of each preform effectively.
3. In the invention, three stages are adopted for completing the cooling action to each preform removed sequentially from the second clamp portion of the second fetch mechanism, so that the cooling time for each remaining preform can be extended to provide a better cooling effect.
4. Since the external brink of each cooling pipe on the second fetch mechanism corresponds precisely to the internal brink of each fetched preform, therefore each preform can be attached closer to the cooling source for a quick cooling effect, and the internal brink of each preform is attached onto the cooling pipe for providing a supporting effect on the bottle mouth of each preform to prevent the bottle mouth of each preform from being deformed by the thermal contraction caused by the cooling effect, in order to assure the circularity of the bottle mouth, such that when the bottle cap is attached to the bottle mouth of the preform, a good airtightness can be achieved.
5. The invention uses the first fetch mechanism to remove the preforms from the mold and then transfer the preforms to the second fetch mechanism for cooling, so that the volume of the first fetch mechanism can be reduced effectively, and the weight carrying capacity of the invention can be reduced greatly, and the first fetch mechanism can be moved in a high speed, and the speed of removing each preform can be faster, so as to improve the overall efficiency of the manufacturing process.
6. The invention can greatly reduce the weight carrying capacity of the first fetch mechanism and the power source for driving the first fetch mechanism to achieve the effect of saving energies and lowering costs.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
The application is a Divisional application of Ser. No. 12/068,646, filed Feb. 8, 2008, and entitled “Cooling fetch apparatus of performs and cooling fetch method thereof”, now pending.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12068646 | Feb 2008 | US |
Child | 12977687 | US |