Claims
- 1. An injection molding cooling core comprising:
an elongated, hollow core pin having an inner surface and an outer surface, the core pin being open at one end, and having an end cap at an opposite end, an elongated, hollow insert having an inside surface and an outside surface, the insert having a plurality of protrusions on the outside surface, and extending radially outwardly from the insert, the insert designed to fit within the core pin whereby the protrusions contact the inner surface of the core pin, and are metallurgically joined to the core pin whereby there is a continuous metallurgical path for heat transfer between the outer surface of the core pin and the insert, and provide strength to the core pin, and the inside surface of the hollow insert defining a conduit for a heat exchanging fluid, such that the heat exchanging fluid flows in a direction from the open end of the core pin, through the conduit, towards the end cap, exiting the conduit near the end cap and contacting the end cap, then flowing between the outside surface of the insert and the inner surface of the core pin, the heat exchanging fluid further achieving turbulent flow around the protrusions, then flowing out of the open end of the core pin, or the fluid flow is in the opposite direction thus providing heat transfer to or from the outer surface of the core pin.
- 2. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein the end cap is semi-spherical.
- 3. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein the protrusions have a curved end designed to maximize the surface area contact between the protrusions and the inner surface of the core pin.
- 4. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein there are at least four of the protrusions projecting radially outwardly on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the insert, thus forming a row of protrusions, and wherein there is a succession of these rows of protrusions on level planes proceeding down the insert, wherein each succeeding row of protrusions is staggered so that the flow of the heat transfer fluid is caused to go around the protrusions thus enhancing the turbulent flow of the heat transfer fluid as it moves through the core pin.
- 5. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein there are at least four of the protrusions projecting radially outwardly on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the insert, thus forming a row of protrusions, and wherein there is a succession of rows of protrusions on level planes proceeding down the insert, each succeeding row being rotated at least 30° from the row above, thus enhancing the turbulent flow of the heat transferring fluid.
- 6. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein the protrusions are on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the insert, thus forming a row of protrusions wherein succeeding rows and each row has a random degree of rotation from each succeeding, thereby providing improved heat transfer performance.
- 7. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein the core pin and the insert are comprised of any one or a mixture of the following metals: copper beryllium, stainless steel, tool steels, titanium alloys or nickel alloys.
- 8. The cooling core of claim 1 wherein the core pin and the insert are comprised of a copper beryllium alloy.
- 9. The cooling core of claim 7 wherein the copper beryllium alloy is comprised of 2% beryllium.
- 10. The cooling core of claim 4 wherein the four protrusions around the circumference of each row are spaced at an equal distance from each other and each succeeding row is rotated 45° from the row above.
- 11. An injection molding cooling core comprising:
an elongated, hollow core pin having an inner surface and an outer surface, the core pin being open at one end, and having an end cap at an opposite end, the core pin having a plurality of protrusions extending radially from the inner surface towards the axis of the core pin, an elongated, hollow insert having an inside surface and an outside surface, the protrusions contacting the outside surface of the insert, thus providing strength to the cooling core, and the inside surface of the hollow insert defining a conduit for a heat exchanging fluid, such that the heat exchanging fluid flows in a direction from the open end of the core pin, through the conduit, towards the end cap, exiting the conduit near the end cap and contacting the end cap, then flowing between the outside surface of the insert and the inner surface of the core pin, the heat exchanging fluid further achieving turbulent flow around the protrusions, then flowing out of the open end of the core pin, or in the opposite direction thus providing heat transfer to or from the outer surface of the core pin.
- 12. The cooling core of claim 11 wherein the end cap is semi-spherical.
- 13. The cooling core of claim 11 wherein the protrusions have a curved end designed to increase the surface area contact between the protrusions and the outside surface of the insert.
- 14. The cooling core of claim 11 wherein the protrusions are on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the insert, thus forming a row of protrusions wherein succeeding rows and each row has a random degree of rotation from each succeeding, thereby providing improved heat transfer performance.
- 15. The cooling core of claim 11 wherein the core pin and the insert are comprised of any one or a mixture of the following metals: copper beryllium, stainless steel, tool steels, titanium alloys or nickel alloys.
- 16. The cooling core of claim 11 wherein the core pin comprises a copper beryllium alloy.
- 17. The cooling core of claim 16 wherein the copper beryllium alloy is comprised of 2% beryllium.
- 18. The cooling core of claim 11 wherein the insert is comprised of stainless steel.
- 19. A method of molding a product comprising the steps of:
a) providing a mold having a molding surface, b) inserting the injection molding cooling core of claim 1 into the mold to define a cavity between the molding surface and the outer surface of the core pin, c) inserting a material to be molded into the cavity of the mold, d) molding the product, and e) recovering the product.
- 20. The method of claim 19 including the step of circulating a heat transferring liquid through the core immediately after molding the product and prior to recovering the product.
- 21. The method of claim 19 including the step of circulating a heat transferring liquid through the core immediately before the material to be molded is inserted into the cavity to preheat the core.
- 22. The method of claim 19 wherein the molded product is a thermoplastic product.
- 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the thermoplastic product is polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
- 24. The method of claim 19 wherein the molded product is a thermoset product.
- 25. The method of claim 19 wherein the molded product is an elastomeric product.
- 26. A method of molding a product comprising the steps of:
f) providing a mold having a molding surface, g) inserting the injection molding cooling core of claim 11 into the mold to define a cavity between the molding surface and the outer surface of the core pin, h) inserting a material to be molded into the cavity of the mold, i) molding the product, and j) recovering the product.
- 27. The method of claim 26 including the step of circulating a heat transferring liquid through the core immediately after molding the product and prior to recovering the product.
- 28. The method of claim 26 including the step of circulating a heat transferring liquid through the core immediately before the material to be molded is inserted into the cavity.
- 29. The method of claim 26 wherein the molded product is a thermoplastic product.
- 30. The method of claim 29 wherein the thermoplastic product is polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
- 31. The method of claim 25 wherein the molded product is a thermoset product.
- 32. The method of claim 25 wherein the molded product is an elastomeric product.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application makes reference to provisional application 60/232,300 filed on Sep. 12, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60232300 |
Sep 2000 |
US |