1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an injection molding equipment and an injection molding method and, more particularly, to an injection molding equipment and an injection molding method for continuously manufacturing a plurality of mats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Injection molding is a common process for manufacturing plastic products, often used for manufacturing thermoplastic products, and it can be used to manufacture complicated components. Accordingly, the product can be designed freely and the production time can be shortened. That is to say, the injection molding process is suitable for mass production. During the injection molding process, the cooling time is a significant issue for product quality and production speed. However, in the prior art, no matter which type of a mold base is used, the plastic material has to be cooled for a span of time after being injected into the mold base and then the product can be taken out only. Therefore, the cooling time will reduce the production efficiency. In general, the cooling time occupies 40% to 90% of the production time. It is quite serious for a large-sized product (e.g. mat) if the cooling time is too long. If the product is taken out too early, it may deform the product or even damage the product or equipment.
An objective of the invention is to provide an injection molding equipment and an injection molding method for continuously manufacturing a plurality of mats, so as to solve the aforesaid problems.
According to an embodiment of the invention, an injection molding equipment for continuously manufacturing a plurality of mats comprises a conveying mechanism, a plurality of molds, an injection mechanism and a mold opening mechanism. The molds are disposed on a conveying path of the conveying mechanism. The injection mechanism is disposed on the conveying path. The conveying mechanism drives the molds to move along the conveying path and aligns the molds with the injection mechanism sequentially. The injection mechanism injects an injection material into each of the molds, so as to form a mat in each of the molds. The mold opening mechanism is disposed on the conveying path. The conveying mechanism drives the molds to move along the conveying path and aligns the molds with the mold opening mechanism sequentially. The mold opening mechanism opens each of the molds, so as to take out the mat from each of the molds.
According to another embodiment of the invention, an injection molding method for continuously manufacturing a plurality of mats comprises steps of disposing a plurality of molds on a conveying path of a conveying mechanism; actuating the conveying mechanism to drive the molds to move along the conveying path; aligning the molds with an injection mechanism sequentially and driving the injection mechanism to inject an injection material into each of the molds, so as to form a mat in each of the molds; and aligning the molds with the mold opening mechanism sequentially and driving the mold opening mechanism to open each of the molds, so as to take out the mat from each of the molds.
According to another embodiment of the invention, an injection molding equipment for continuously manufacturing a plurality of mats comprises a conveying mechanism, a plurality of molds, a mold changing mechanism, a plurality of first upper covers, a plurality of second upper covers, a first injection mechanism, a first mold opening mechanism, a second injection mechanism and a second mold opening mechanism. The molds are disposed on a first conveying path of the conveying mechanism. The mold changing mechanism is adjacent to the conveying mechanism. The first upper covers are disposed on a second conveying path of the mold changing mechanism. The second upper covers are disposed on a third conveying path of the mold changing mechanism. Each of the molds comprises one of the first upper covers or one of the second upper covers. The first injection mechanism is disposed on the first conveying path. The conveying mechanism drives the molds to move along the first conveying path and aligns the molds, which comprise the first upper covers, with the first injection mechanism sequentially. The first injection mechanism injects a first injection material into each of the molds, so as to form a semi-finished product of a mat in each of the molds. The first mold opening mechanism is disposed on the first conveying path. The conveying mechanism drives the molds to move along the first conveying path and aligns the molds, which comprise the first upper covers, with the first mold opening mechanism sequentially. The first mold opening mechanism opens each of the molds, so as to change the first upper cover with the second upper cover. The second injection mechanism is disposed on the first conveying path. The conveying mechanism drives the molds to move along the first conveying path and aligns the molds, which comprise the second upper covers, with the second injection mechanism sequentially. The second injection mechanism injects a second injection material into each of the molds, so as to form the mat in each of the molds. The second mold opening mechanism is disposed on the first conveying path. The conveying mechanism drives the molds to move along the first conveying path and aligns the molds, which comprise the second upper covers, with the second mold opening mechanism sequentially. The second mold opening mechanism opens each of the molds, so as to take out the mat from each of the molds and change the second upper cover with the first upper cover.
According to another embodiment of the invention, an injection molding method for continuously manufacturing a plurality of mats comprises steps of disposing a plurality of molds on a first conveying path of a conveying mechanism, disposing a plurality of first upper covers on a second conveying path of a mold changing mechanism, and disposing a plurality of second upper covers on a third conveying path of the mold changing mechanism, wherein the mold changing mechanism is adjacent to the conveying mechanism and each of the molds comprises one of the first upper covers or one of the second upper covers; actuating the conveying mechanism to drive the molds to move along the first conveying path; aligning the molds, which comprise the first upper covers, with a first injection mechanism sequentially and driving the first injection mechanism to inject a first injection material into each of the molds, so as to form a semi-finished product of a mat in each of the molds; aligning the molds, which comprise the first upper covers, with a first mold opening mechanism sequentially and driving the first mold opening mechanism to open each of the molds, so as to change the first upper cover with the second upper cover; aligning the molds, which comprise the second upper covers, with a second injection mechanism sequentially and driving the second injection mechanism to inject a second injection material into each of the molds, so as to form the mat in each of the molds; and aligning the molds, which comprise the second upper covers, with a second mold opening mechanism sequentially and driving the second mold opening mechanism to open each of the molds, so as to take out the mat from each of the molds and change the second upper cover with the first upper cover.
As mentioned in the above, the invention utilizes the conveying mechanism to drive the molds to move along the conveying path and align each of the molds with the injection mechanism and the mold opening mechanism sequentially. When the mold is aligned with the injection mechanism, the injection mechanism injects the injection material into the mold, so as to form the mat in the mold. After the injection material is injected into the mold, the conveying mechanism drives the mold to move along the conveying path from the injection mechanism to the mold opening mechanism. The injection material in the mold can be cooled while the mold is moving. When the mold is aligned with the mold opening mechanism, the mold opening mechanism opens the mold, so as to take out the mat form the mold. Accordingly, the invention can utilize the conveying mechanism to drive the molds to move along the conveying path and between the injection mechanism and the mold opening mechanism continuously, so as to continuously manufacture a plurality of mats. Since the injection material in the mold can be cooled while the mold is moving, the invention can avoid reducing the production efficiency, resulting from the cooling time. Furthermore, the invention can utilize at least two injection mechanisms and at least two mold opening mechanisms to cooperate with each other to inject different injection materials into the mold in different processes, so as to manufacture the mats with various material characteristics, shapes, patterns, colors and so on. Therefore, the mats manufactured by the invention can satisfy different requirements.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Referring to
As shown in
When the conveying mechanism 10 drives the molds 12 to move along the conveying path P1 and aligns the molds 12 with the injection mechanism 14, the injection mechanism 14 can inject an injection material (not shown) into each of the molds 12, so as to form a mat 3 in each of the molds 12. In this embodiment, the injection mechanism 14 may comprise a feeding section 140, a processing section 142 and an injecting section 144, wherein the processing section 142 is connected to the feeding section 140 and the injecting section 144. The aforesaid injection material is injected into the processing section 142 through the feeding section 140. The processing section 142 processes the injection material by melting, mixing and other processes and then the injecting section 144 injects the injection material into the mold 12.
In this embodiment, the aforesaid injection material may be a compound of styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene block copolymer (SEBS), styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS), polypropylene (PP) and functional additive, wherein a weight percentage of the SEBS may be between 20 wt % and 30 wt %, a weight percentage of the SBS may be between 40 wt % and 50 wt %, a weight percentage of the PP may be between 20 wt % and 30 wt %, and a weight percentage of the functional additive may be 20 wt %. Furthermore, the aforesaid functional additive may comprise light stabilizer, antioxidants, calcium carbonate and processing oil, wherein the light stabilizer can improve aging crack and light fastness and the antioxidants can prevent the injection material from being affected by the processing temperature. It should be noted that the invention may also take other materials to be the aforesaid injection material according to practical applications, so the invention is not limited to the aforesaid embodiment.
As shown in
In this embodiment, the invention may utilize the auxiliary mechanism 18 shown in
After the injection mechanism 14 injects the injection material into the mold 12, the conveying mechanism 10 will drive the mold 12 to move along the conveying path P1 from the injection mechanism 14 to the mold opening mechanism 16 and align the mold 12 with the mold opening mechanism 16. The injection material in the mold 12 can be cooled while the mold 12 is moving. When the mold 12 is aligned with the mold opening mechanism 16, the mold opening mechanism 16 opens the mold 12, so as to take out the mat 3 form the mold 12.
As shown in
Accordingly, the invention can utilize the conveying mechanism 10 to drive the molds 12 to move along the conveying path P1 and between the injection mechanism 14 and the mold opening mechanism 16 continuously, so as to continuously manufacture a plurality of mats 3. Since the injection material in the mold 12 can be cooled while the mold 12 is moving, the invention can avoid reducing the production efficiency, resulting from the cooling time.
Referring to
Referring to
The main difference between the injection molding equipment 1′ and the aforesaid injection molding equipment 1 is that the injection molding equipment 1′ further comprises a mold changing mechanism 11, a plurality of first upper covers X1, a plurality of second upper covers X2, a first injection mechanism 14a, a first mold opening mechanism 16a, a second injection mechanism 14b and a second mold opening mechanism 16b. The mold changing mechanism 11 is adjacent to the conveying mechanism 10. The molds 12 are disposed on a first conveying path P1 of the conveying mechanism 10, the first upper covers X1 are disposed on a second conveying path P2 of the mold changing mechanism 11 and the second upper covers X2 are disposed on a third conveying path P3 of the mold changing mechanism 11. In this embodiment, each of the molds 12 comprises one of the first upper covers X1 or one of the second upper covers X2. Furthermore, each of the molds 12 further comprises the aforesaid mold base 122 (not shown in
In this embodiment, the conveying mechanism 10 can drive the molds 12 disposed thereon to move along the first conveying path P1 and the mold changing mechanism 11 can drive the first upper covers X1 and the second upper covers X2 disposed thereon to move along the second conveying path P2 and the third conveying path P3, respectively. In this embodiment, the first conveying path P1 is, but not limited to, circular and the second conveying path P2 and the third conveying path P3 are, but not limited to, fan-shaped. In another embodiment, the first conveying path P1 may also be oval-shaped, rectangular or polygonal, and the second conveying path P2 and the third conveying path P3 may also be polygonal according to practical applications. Furthermore, the first injection mechanism 14a, the first mold opening mechanism 16a, the second injection mechanism 14b and the second mold opening mechanism 16b all are disposed on the first conveying path P1 of the conveying mechanism 10. Accordingly, when the conveying mechanism 10 rotates, it can drive the molds 12 disposed thereon to move along the first conveying path P1 and align each of molds 12 with the first injection mechanism 14a, the first mold opening mechanism 16a, the second injection mechanism 14b and the second mold opening mechanism 16b sequentially.
When the conveying mechanism 10 drives the molds 12 to move along the first conveying path P1 and aligns the molds 12, which comprise the first upper covers X1, with the first injection mechanism 14a sequentially, the first injection mechanism 14a injects a first injection material (not shown) into each of the molds 12, so as to form a semi-finished product of a mat 3′ in each of the molds 12. Afterward, when the conveying mechanism 10 drives the molds 12 to move along the first conveying path P1 and aligns the molds 12, which comprise the first upper covers X1, with the first mold opening mechanism 16a sequentially, the first mold opening mechanism 16a opens each of the molds 12, so as to change the first upper cover X1 with the second upper cover X2. Then, when the conveying mechanism 10 drives the molds 12 to move along the first conveying path P1 and aligns the molds 12, which comprise the second upper covers X2, with the second injection mechanism 14b sequentially, the second injection mechanism 14b injects a second injection material (not shown) into each of the molds 12, so as to form the mat 3′ in each of the molds 12. Then, when the conveying mechanism 10 drives the molds 12 to move along the first conveying path P1 and aligns the molds 12, which comprise the second upper covers X2, with the second mold opening mechanism 16b sequentially, the second mold opening mechanism 16b opens each of the molds 12, so as to take out the mat 3′ from each of the molds 12 and change the second upper cover X2 with the first upper cover X1 for next injection molding process.
It should be noted that the operation principles of the first injection mechanism 14a and the second injection mechanism 14b are substantially the same as the operation principle of the aforesaid injection mechanism 14, the operation principles of the first mold opening mechanism 16a and the second mold opening mechanism 16b are substantially the same as the operation principle of the aforesaid mold opening mechanism 16, the first injection material and the second injection material can be obtained according to the aforesaid injection material, so those will not be depicted herein again. The invention can utilize the first injection mechanism 14a and the second injection mechanism 14b along with the first upper cover X1 and the second upper cover X2 to inject the first injection material and the second injection material with different characteristics, colors and/or structures, such that the mat 3′ can satisfy different requirements.
As shown in
Referring to
As mentioned in the above, the invention utilizes the conveying mechanism to drive the molds to move along the conveying path and align each of the molds with the injection mechanism and the mold opening mechanism sequentially. When the mold is aligned with the injection mechanism, the injection mechanism injects the injection material into the mold, so as to form the mat in the mold. After the injection material is injected into the mold, the conveying mechanism drives the mold to move along the conveying path from the injection mechanism to the mold opening mechanism. The injection material in the mold can be cooled while the mold is moving. When the mold is aligned with the mold opening mechanism, the mold opening mechanism opens the mold, so as to take out the mat form the mold. Accordingly, the invention can utilize the conveying mechanism to drive the molds to move along the conveying path and between the injection mechanism and the mold opening mechanism continuously, so as to continuously manufacture a plurality of mats. Since the injection material in the mold can be cooled while the mold is moving, the invention can avoid reducing the production efficiency, resulting from the cooling time. Furthermore, the invention can utilize at least two injection mechanisms and at least two mold opening mechanisms to cooperate with each other to inject different injection materials into the mold in different processes, so as to manufacture the mats with various material characteristics, shapes, patterns, colors and so on. Therefore, the mats manufactured by the invention can satisfy different requirements.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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103110564 | Mar 2014 | TW | national |