This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 107112325, filed on Apr. 10, 2018. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
The disclosure relates to a molding apparatus and a molding method, and particularly relates to an injection molding apparatus and an injection molding method.
Injection molding is a process of manufacturing parts made of thermoplastic plastic or thermosetting plastic. A plastic material in a cylinder of an injection molding machine is heated and melted to be in a flowing state. Then under the pressure of a plunger or a screw stem, the plastic material is compressed and moved forward so as to pass through a nozzle at the front of the cylinder to be rapidly injected into a closed mold with a lower temperature. After a period of cooling and setting, the mold is then opened, and thus is obtained an injection molding product.
In the process of injection molding, factors such as an injection pressure, a temperature of the mold, a pressure holding time and an environmental temperature all affect the specific volume of the plastic material in the mold, and the quality of the injection molding product depends on whether or not the specific volume of the plastic material may measure up to expectations. In the case of an existing injection molding machine, the quality of the injection molding product may be roughly estimated through sensing the pressure of the plastic material and the temperature of the mold, and an injection parameter may accordingly be adjusted based on the operator's experiences. However, if the actual specific volume of the plastic material cannot be known for sure, it would be impossible to accurately perform the aforementioned adjustment.
This disclosure provides an injection molding apparatus and an injection molding method that improve the quality of injection molding products.
The injection molding apparatus of this disclosure includes a mold, an injection device and a specific volume sensing module. The injection device is adapted to inject a material into the mold. At least parts of the specific volume sensing module are disposed at the mold, wherein the specific volume sensing module is adapted to sense an actual specific volume of the material in the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the specific volume sensing module includes at least one pressure sensing component and at least one temperature sensing component, the at least one pressure sensing component is disposed at the mold and is adapted to sense a pressure of the material in the mold, and the at least one temperature sensing component is disposed at the mold and is adapted to sense a temperature of the material in the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the specific volume sensing module includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the at least one pressure sensing component and the at least one temperature sensing component, and is adapted to calculate the actual specific volume of the material in the mold according to the pressure of the material in the mold and the temperature of the material in the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one pressure sensing component is plural in number and the at least one temperature sensing component is plural in number. The plurality of pressure sensing components respectively correspond to a plurality of positions of the mold so as to respectively sense the pressure of the material in the mold that correspond to the plurality of positions, and the plurality of temperature sensing components respectively correspond to the plurality of positions of the mold so as to respectively sense the temperature of the material in the mold that correspond to the plurality of positions.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, an inner surface of the mold faces the material in the mold, and the at least one temperature sensing component is disposed at the inner surface of the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, an inner surface of the mold faces the material in the mold, the mold has a through-hole extending from an outer surface of the mold to the inner surface of the mold, and the at least one pressure sensing component is disposed at the outer surface of the mold and corresponds to the through-hole.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, an inner surface of the mold faces the material in the mold, and the at least one temperature sensing component and the at least one pressure sensing component are integrated into a sensor that is disposed at the inner surface of the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the injection molding apparatus includes a controller. The controller is coupled to the specific volume sensing module, and is adapted to adjust at least one injection molding parameter of the injection molding apparatus according to the actual specific volume of the material in the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one injection molding parameter includes an injection pressure of the injection device, a temperature of the mold, and a pressure holding time performed by the injection device.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, during the process in which the injection device injects the material into the mold, the specific volume sensing module is adapted to sense the actual specific volume of the material in the mold many times at a predetermined time interval.
The injection molding method of this disclosure is provided hereinafter. A material is injected into a mold by an injection device, and an actual specific volume of the material in the mold is sensed by a specific volume sensing module.
The injection molding method in an embodiment of the disclosure is provided hereinafter. A pressure of the material in the mold is sensed by at least one pressure sensing component, and a temperature of the material in the mold is sensed by at least one temperature sensing component.
The injection molding method in an embodiment of the disclosure is provided hereinafter. The actual specific volume of the material in the mold is calculated by a processor according to the pressure of the material in the mold and the temperature of the material in the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one pressure sensing component is plural in number and the at least one temperature sensing component is plural in number, and the injection molding method herein is provided hereinafter. The pressure of the material in the mold that correspond to a plurality of positions is respectively sensed by the plurality of pressure sensing components, and the temperature of the material in the mold that correspond to the plurality of positions is respectively sensed by the plurality of temperature sensing components.
The injection molding method in an embodiment of the disclosure is provided hereinafter. At least one injection molding parameter is adjusted by a controller according to the specific volume of the material in the mold.
In an embodiment of the disclosure, the at least one injection molding parameter includes an injection pressure of the injection device, a temperature of the mold, and a pressure holding time performed by the injection device.
The injection molding method in an embodiment of the disclosure is provided hereinafter. During the process in which the injection device injects the material into the mold, the specific volume of the material in the mold is sensed by the specific volume sensing module many times at a predetermined time interval.
Based on the foregoing, in the case of the injection molding apparatus of this disclosure, by the specific volume sensing module that obtains the actual specific volume of the material in the mold, the injection parameter is accurately adjusted accordingly, thereby improving the quality of the injection molding product.
To make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
Hereinafter, the primary process of an injection molding method according to an embodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to the drawings.
In detail, as shown in
With reference to
In this embodiment, during the process in which the injection device 120 injects the material into the mold 110, the specific volume sensing module 130, for example, senses the actual specific volume of the material in the mold 110 many times at a predetermined time interval. For example, the pressure sensing component 132 may be set to sense the pressure of the material in the mold 110 every 0.04 seconds, and the temperature sensing component 134 may be set to sense the temperature of the material in the mold 110 every 0.04 seconds. Accordingly, the processor 136 may calculate the current actual specific volume of the material in the mold 110 every 0.04 seconds, and may continuously and instantly transmit these actual specific volume values to the controller 140 so that the controller 140 may continuously adjust the injection pressure of the injection device 120, the temperature of the mold 110 and the pressure holding time performed by the injection device 120 during the process in which the injection device 120 injects the material into the mold 110. In other embodiments, the time interval may be of a different time length, and the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the controller 140 may further adjust the parameter of the next injection molding process according to the actual specific volume of the material in the mold 110. In addition, in other embodiments, the injection molding apparatus 100 may not have a controller, and after the processor 136 calculates the actual specific volume of the material in the mold 110, the operator may manually adjust the parameter accordingly.
The shape of the mold cavity 110a of the mold 110 and the configuration of the pressure sensing component 132 and the temperature sensing component 134 as shown in
Specifically, the parameter may be adjusted to achieve a desired value according to the specific volume of the material at the position 110a3, and it is then determined accordingly whether the material at the position 110a3 has solidified or not. After the material at the position 110a3 solidifies, the parameter is adjusted to achieve a desired value according to the specific volume of the material at the position 110a2, and it is then determined accordingly whether the material at the position 110a2 has solidified or not. After the material at the position 110a2 solidifies, the parameter is adjusted to achieve a desired value according to the specific volume of the material at the position 110a1, and it is then determined accordingly whether the material at the position 110a1 has solidified or not. As described above, the parameter is adjusted sequentially and segmentally in correspondence to the material at different positions in the mold 110, thereby ensuring that the specific volumes of the injection molding product at these positions are the same to further improve the quality of the product.
Although the embodiments are already disclosed as above, these embodiments should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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107112325 | Apr 2018 | TW | national |