EJECTOR PINS The molded part is cut (by the mold) from the runner system on ejection from

the mold. Ejector pins, also known as knockout pin, is a circular pin placed in either half of the mold (usually the ejector half), which pushes the finished molded product, or runner system out of a mold. COOLANT The standard method of cooling is passing a coolant (usually water) through a series of holes drilled through the mold plates and connected by hoses to form a continuous pathway. The coolant absorbs heat from the mold (which has absorbed heat from the hot plastic) and keeps the mold at a proper temperature to solidify the plastic at the most efficient rate.

Tool materials Tool steel or beryllium-copper are often used. Mild steel, aluminum, nickel or epoxy are suitable only for prototype or very short production runs. Modern hard aluminum (7075 and 2024 alloys) with proper mold design, can easily make molds capable of 100,000 or more part life

Machining Molds are built through two main methods: standard machining and EDM. Standard Machining, in its conventional form, has historically been the method of building injection molds. With technological development, CNC machining became the predominant means of making more complex molds with more accurate mold details in less time than traditional methods. The electrical discharge machining (EDM) or spark erosion process has become widely used in mold making. As well as allowing the formation of shapes that are difficult to machine, the process allows pre-hardened molds to be shaped so that no heat treatment is required. Changes to a hardened mold by conventional drilling and milling normally require annealing to soften the mold, followed by heat treatment to harden it again. EDM is a simple process in which a shaped electrode, usually made of copper or graphite, is very slowly lowered onto the mold surface (over a period of

many hours), which is immersed in paraffin oil. A voltage applied between tool and mold causes spark erosion of the mold surface in the inverse shape of the electrode.[29]

For More Details About The Different Types Injection Processes.

Process troubleshooting Optimal process settings are critical to influencing the cost, quality, and productivity of plastic injection molding. The main trouble in injection molding is to have a box of good plastics parts contaminated with scrap. To have a constant filling rate in the cavity the switch over from injection phase to the holding phase can be made based on a cavity pressure level. Having a stable production window the following issues are worth to investigate: The Metering phase can be optimized by varying screw turns per minute and backpressure. Variation of time needed to reload the screw gives an indication of the stability of this phase. Injection speed can be optimized by pressure drop studies between pressure measured in the Nozzle (alternatively hydraulic pressure) and pressure measured in the cavity. Melted material with a lower viscosity has less pressure loss from nozzle to cavity than material with a higher viscosity. Varying the Injection speed changes the shear rate. Higher speed = higher shear rate = lower viscosity. Pay attention increasing the mold and melt temperature lowers the viscosity but lowers the shear rate too. Gate seal or gate freeze / sink mark / weight and geometry studies have the approach to prevent sink marks and geometrical faults. Optimizing the high and duration of applied holding pressure based on cavity pressure curves is the appropriate way to go. The thicker the part the longer the holding pressure applied. The thinner the part the shorter the holding pressure applied.

Cooling time starts once the injection phase is finished. The hotter the melted plastics the longer the cooling time the thicker the part produced the longer the cooling time.

Moulding trial When filling a new or unfamiliar mold for the first time, where shot size for that mold is unknown, a technician/tool setter usually starts with a small shot weight and fills gradually until the mold is 95 to 99% full. Once this is achieved a small amount of holding pressure will be applied and holding time increased until gate freeze off (solidification time) has occurred. Gate freeze off time can be determined by increasing the hold time and then weighing the part when the weight of the part does not change we then know that the gate has frozen and no more material is injected into the part. Gate solidification time is important as it determines cycle time and the quality and consistency of the product, which itself is an important issue in the economics of the production process. Holding pressure is increased until the parts are free of sinks and part weight has been achieved. Once the parts are good enough and have passed any specific criteria, a setting sheet is produced for people to follow in the future. The method to setup an unknown mold the first time can be supported by installing cavity pressure sensors. Measuring the cavity pressure as a function of time can provide a good indication of the filling profile of the cavity. Once the equipment is set to successfully create the molded part, modern monitoring systems can save a reference curve of the cavity pressure. With that it is possible to reproduce the same part quality on another molding machine within a short setup time.

Molding defects
Injection molding is a complex technology with possible production problems. They can be caused either by defects in the molds or more often by part processing (molding)

Molding Defects Blister

Alternative name

Descriptions Raised or layered zone on surface of the part

Causes Tool or material is too hot, often caused by a lack of cooling around the tool or a faulty heater

Blistering

Burn marks

Air burn/gas burn/dieseling

Black or brown burnt areas on the part located at furthest points from gate or where air is trapped

Tool lacks venting, injection speed is too high

Color streaks (US)

Colour streaks (UK)

Localized change of color/colour

Masterbatch isn't mixing properly, or the material has run out and it's starting to come through as natural only. Previous colored material "dragging" in nozzle or check valve.

Delamination

Thin mica like layers formed in part wall

Contamination of the material e.g. PP mixed with ABS, very dangerous if the part is being used for a safety critical application as the material has very little strength when delaminated as the materials cannot bond

Flash

Burrs

Excess material in thin layer exceeding normal part geometry

Mold is over packed or parting line on the tool is damaged, too much injection speed/material injected, clamping force too low. Can also be caused by dirt and contaminants around tooling surfaces. Particles on the tool surface, contaminated material or foreign debris in the barrel, or too much shear heat burning the material prior to injection Injection speeds too slow (the plastic has cooled down too much during injection, injection speeds must be set as fast as you can get away with at all times) Poor tool design, gate position or runner. Injection speed set too high.

Embedded contaminates

Foreign particle (burnt material or Embedded particulates other) embedded in the part

Flow marks

Flow lines

Directionally "off tone" wavy lines or patterns

Jetting

Deformed part by turbulent flow of material

Knit lines

Weld lines

Small lines on the backside of core pins or windows in parts that look like just lines.

Caused by the melt-front flowing around an object standing proud in a plastic part as well as at the end of fill where the melt-front comes together again. Can be minimized or eliminated with a mold-flow study when the mold is in design phase. Once the mold is made and the gate is placed, one can minimize this flaw only by changing the melt and the mold temperature.

Polymer degradation

Polymer breakdown from hydrolysis, oxidation etc.

Excess water in the granules, excessive temperatures in barrel

Sink marks

[sinks]

Short shot

Non-fill / Short mold

Splay marks

Splash mark / Silver streaks

Holding time/pressure too low, cooling time too short, with sprueless hot Localized depression runners this can also be (In thicker zones) caused by the gate temperature being set too high. Excessive material or thick wall thickness. Lack of material, injection speed or pressure too low, Partial part mold too cold, lack of gas vents Moisture in the material, usually when hygroscopic resins are dried Circular pattern improperly. Trapping of around gate caused by gas in "rib" areas due to hot gas excessive injection velocity in these areas. Material too hot. String like remain from previous shot transfer in new shot Nozzle temperature too high. Gate hasn't frozen off

Stringiness

Stringing

Voids

Empty space within part (Air pocket)

Weld line

Knit line / Meld line / Transfer line

Discolored line where two flow fronts meet

Warping

Twisting

Distorted part

Lack of holding pressure (holding pressure is used to pack out the part during the holding time). Filling too fast, not allowing the edges of the part to set up. Also mold may be out of registration (when the two halves don't center properly and part walls are not the same thickness). Mold/material temperatures set too low (the material is cold when they meet, so they don't bond). Point between injection and transfer (to packing and holding) too early. Cooling is too short, material is too hot, lack of cooling around the tool, incorrect water temperatures (the parts bow inwards towards the hot side of the tool) Uneven shrinking between areas of the part

Tolerances and surfaces Molding tolerance is a specified allowance on the deviation in parameters such as dimensions, weights, shapes, or angles, etc. To maximize control in setting tolerances there is usually a minimum and maximum limit on thickness, based on the process used. Injection molding typically is capable of tolerances equivalent to an IT Grade of about 914. The possible tolerance of a thermoplastic or a thermoset is 0.008 to 0.002 inches. Surface finishes of two to four microinches or better can be obtained. Rough or pebbled surfaces are also possible. Molding Type Thermoplastic Typical [in] 0.008 Possible [in] 0.002

Thermoset

0.008

0.002

Lubrication and cooling Obviously, the mold must be cooled in order for the production to take place. Because of the heat capacity, inexpensiveness, and availability of water, water is used as the primary cooling agent. To cool the mold, water can be channeled through the mold to account for quick cooling times. Usually a colder mold is more efficient because this allows for faster cycle times. However, this is not always true because crystalline materials require the opposite: a warmer mold and lengthier cycle time.

Power requirements The power required for this process of injection molding depends on many things and varies between materials used. Manufacturing Processes Reference Guide states that the power requirements depend on "a material's specific gravity, melting point, thermal conductivity, part size, and molding rate." Below is a table from page 243 of the same reference as previously mentioned that best illustrates the characteristics relevant to the power required for the most commonly used materials. Material Epoxy Phenolic Nylon Polyethylene Polystyrene Specific gravity 1.12 to 1.24 1.34 to 1.95 1.01 to 1.15 0.91 to 0.965 1.04 to 1.07 Melting point (F) 248 248 381 to 509 230 to 243 338

Inserts Metal inserts can also be injection molded into the workpiece. For large volume parts the inserts are placed in the mold using automated machinery. An advantage of using automated components is that the smaller size of parts allows a mobile inspection system that can be used to examine multiple parts in a decreased

amount of time. In addition to mounting inspection systems on automated components, multiple axial robots are also capable of removing parts from the mold and place them in latter systems that can be used to ensure quality of multiple parameters. The ability of automated components to decrease the cycle time of the processes allows for a greater output of quality parts. Specific instances of this increased efficiency include the removal of parts from the mold immediately after the parts are created and use in conjunction with vision systems. The removal of parts is achieved by using robots to grip the part once it has become free from the mold after in ejector pins have been raised. The robot then moves these parts into either a holding location or directly onto an inspection system, depending on the type of product and the general layout of the rest of the manufacturer's production facility. Visions systems mounted on robots are also an advancement that has greatly changed the way that quality control is performed in insert molded parts. E.g: A mobile robot is able to more precisely determine the accuracy of the metal component and inspect more locations in the same amount of time as a human inspector.

GATE
The narrow and shallow portion of the runner as it enters the cavity is called the gate. Listed here are the different types of gate with their characteristics.

Side gate: This is the most commonly used gate type and is commonly used for mold structures with 2 or more cavities. It is placed at the side of the plastic product. The gate has to be cut manually by a cutter.

Submarine gate: The positioning of this gate is flexible thoughout the sides of the plastic product. It can be placed on the fixed or movable side of the mold but the design has to be thought about carefully so that the product will not be left inside the fixed cavity. The gate automatically cuts itself as the mold opens.

Fan gate:

 It is commonly used for large and flat plate products. It is placed at the side of the product same as the side gate. The gate has to be cut manually by a cutter.

Film gate: Similar to fan gate except that it is commonly used for thin and flat plate products.

Pin gate:

 This is possible for molding multiple cavities or parts. The gate positioning is relatively flexible at the top side of the product. The runner layout is very flexible as well. The mold base structure is complicated because it uses a 3plate method.

Banana gate: This is not a very common gate. It is used when the visible surface of the product requires no trace of the gate. The gate automatically cuts itself as the mold opens.

Direct gate:

 The sprue serves as the gate. It is placed on the top side of the product. The gate has to be cut manually by a cutter. This gate type can only produce one part per shot. The molding cost is low because the material from the runner was ellimenated. The injection pressure was reduced due to direct cavity filling. The simple mold structure makes the mold cost lower.

Design of Cooling Channels for Moulds Introduction Injection moulding process is cyclic in characteristic. Cooling time is about 50 to 75% of the total cycle time. Therefore, optimising cooling time for best performance is very important from quality and productivity point of view. Cooling time is proportional to square of wall thickness. Therefore part design should ensure more or less uniform wall thickness through out the part. Part design should also ensure that the melt flow is uniform in all direction from the gate and melt should reach the boundary of the part more or less at the same time. Cooling channel design - location and size and type - should ensure that melt freezes uniformly inside the mould. Cooling channel design can be perfected with the help of MOLDFLOW analysis. It is necessary to understand Heat Exchange and Cooling Channel design in the mould.

Heat Exchange in mould During every injection moulding cycle following heat transfers take place:

from the hot melt to mould steel (heat input to the mould) and from mould steel to coolant flowing through cooling channel of the mould. (heat removal from the mould) If heat input is more than heat removal, then the mould temperature would keep

on increasing from cycle to cycle. Therefore moulding quality would not be constant from cycle to cycle. The moulding quality would be erratic- i.e. varying from cycle to cycle. There is a need to balance between the heat input and heat removal in the mould after the desired mould surface temperature is reached. In other words, removal of heat by circulating coolant through the mould cooling channel would arrest the rise of mould temperature above the desired value. In practice, it may not be possible maintain constant mould temperature with respect to time. However, the mould temperature would fluctuate between two values around the desired value. During injection moulding cycle heat flow takes place from polymer melt to mould steel by

effective thermal difusivity of polymer melt and conduction. This heat is to be removed by circulating cooling fluid through the cooling

channels in core as well as cavity during cooling period in order to maintain the desired temperature. Uneven temperature of the mould surface results (uneven shrinkage) in parts with moulded-in stresses, warped sections, sink marks, poor surface appearance and varying part dimensions from cycle to cycle and even cavity to cavity.

Cooling Channel Design for Mould- Design tips Moulds are usually built with cooling channels. These channels are usually connected in series with one inlet and one outlet for water flow. The water flow rate may not be enough for turbulent flow because the water pump capacity itself may not be adequate. This obviously leads to random temperature variation on the mould surface. With the result, uncontrolled temperature drift, varying part dimensions and irregular warped surface appears on mouldings. The mould designer should take care of following points:

Thermal conductivity of mould steel influences the rate of heat transfer though mould steel to cooling channel.

Pure Ethylene glycol can be used as Primary fluid transfer medium in closed loop cooling system. Ethylene glycol does not produce rust and mineral deposits in cooling channels. Mixture of water and Ethylene glycol can also be used for circulation through the cooling channel.

Cooling channel diameter should be more for thicker wall thickness: For wall thickness upto 2mm, channel diameter should be 8 - 10 mm., For wall thickness upto 4 mm, channel diameter should be 10 - 12 mm., For wall thickness upto 6 mm, channel diameter should be 10 - 16 mm. Cooling channels should be as close as possible to the mould cavity / core surfaces. The distance of cooling channel from mould surface should be permissible by the strength of mould steel against possible failure under clamp and injection forces. It could be 1.2 to 2 times diameter of cooling channel.

Cooling system of the mould should have adequate number of cooling channels of suitable size at equal distance from each other and from cavity walls. The center distance between adjacent channel can be 1.7 to 2 times diameter of the channel. This is also governed by the strength of mould steel.

The difference between the inlet and outlet water temperature should be less than 2 to 5 degrees C. However, for precision moulding, it should be 1 C or even 0.5 C.

Cooling circuits should be positioned symmetrically around the cavity. There can be sufficient number of independent circuits to ensure uniform temperature along the mould surface.

The coolant flow rate should be sufficient to provide turbulent flow in the channel. There should be no dead ends in the cooling channels. It could provide opportunity for air trap.

Many a times it is difficult to accommodate cooling channels in the smaller cores or cores with difficult geometry. In such case the core should be made of Beryllium copper which has high thermal conductivity. These core inserts should be located near the cooling channel.

The seals of coolant system should not leak inspite of application of frequent clamping force and mould expansion / contraction due to thermal cycle during moulding. The O-ring should be positioned so that there is no chance of them being damaged or improperly seated during mould assembly. Seal and O-ring grove should be machined to closely match the contour of the seal. It should ensure that seal is slightly compressed when the mould is assembled.

Mould temperature above 90 degree C normally requires oil as the heating medium. Heat transfer coefficient of oil is lower than that of water.

There is enough scope for confusion while giving water connection to mould when there are more number of cooling circuits particularly on bigger moulds. A sketch indicating cooling circuits should be available during mould set up.

Hot runner mould should be provided with compression resistant insulating plate between back plate and machine platen. This is to prevent the heat flow from mould to machine platen, which can create an unbalanced heat flow in the mould. With out insulating plate machine platen will act like a big heat sink, there by destabilising the possible balance between heat given to the mould by the hot melt, and heat taken away by circulating water through mould.

The cooling channel layout is suitable when the isothermal i.e. the equi-potential lines, are at a constant distance from surface of the mouldings. This ensures that heat flow density is same everywhere.

Provision for thermocouple fixing should be available at specific one or two places in core as well as cavity to monitor the temperature of mould.

Use efficient sealing methods and materials to eliminate cooling leaks. Poor mould surface temperature control can cause following quality problems:
o o o o o o

Axial eccentricity Radial eccentricity Angular deviation Warpage Surface defects Flow lines

The mould has to be heated or cooled depending on the temperature outside mould surface and that of environment. If heat loss through the mould faces is more than the heat to be removed from moulding, then mould has to be heated to compensate the excess loss of heat. This heating is only a protection for shielding the cooling area against the outside influence. The heat exchange takes place during cooling time. The design of cooling system has to depend on that section of part, which requires longest cooling time to reach demoulding temperature. Cooling Channel layout depends on :

part geometry, number of cavities, ejector and cam systems, part quality, dimensional precision, part surface appearance, polymer etc. The sizing of cooling channels is dependent on the rate of cooling and

temperature control needed for controlling part quality. CAE software like MOLDFLOW or C-Mold can be used to determine the optimised dimension of cooling channel and distance from mould surface, distance between cooling channel, and flow rate. Fluid flow in a mold cooling system Fluid dynamics assert that fluid will travel the path of least resistance, and that is the case with coolant flowing through a mold cooling system. Coolant will use the gaps between the baffle blades and the coolant channel as the preferred route of travel, rather than flowing all the way to the top and over the baffle blade as the mold designer intended. This is commonly referred to as blow-by.

When blow-by occurs, the coolant tends to stagnate past the area of the blowby. At a minimum, the coolant flow on the other side of the blow-by will be greatly reduced. This stifles the thermal transfer capabilities of the mold cooling systema fundamental drawback of the brass baffle blade. A Basic Custom Plastic Injection Molding Machine Custom Plastic Injection Molding Ejection and Core Pull Systems

Ejector System The sole purpose of your ejection system is to remove the finished custom injection molded parts from the mold or die. The ejection system is comprised of a hydraulically driven ejector plate, sometimes referred to as the butterfly plate, and some type of ejector rod or bar, which is used to drive the mold ejector plate forward, releasing the part from the cavity or core of the mold, or so that it can be removed by an operator or a robot. Depending entirely on your mold and its requirements, there could be anywhere from 1 to 4 or more rods required to perform this task. One critical thing to remember is that if you are using more than 1 rod, it is necessary that these rods are exactly the same length. The reason for this is so that the ejector plate is moved forward in a uniform manner, to avoid causing the ejector pins to become scored and bound up. If you are using one rod, it usually is placed in the very center of the mold. If two or more are ejector rods are used, it is important that they a installed symmetrically into the mold, such as opposite corners, directly above each other, all four corners, or similar. These rods can be installed as loose or floating components or tied-in. As the term indicates when tied-in, the rods are attached at both the mold and machine ends of the rods, usually with bolts or threaded rod stubs in the rod. Molds that have return springs can be used with loose or floating rods, as the springs are intended to provide the return stroke of the mold ejector plate when the machine ejector plate is retracted, allowing the rods to also be retracted out of the way. This is especially useful if you run smaller molds with multiple ejection strokes and little or no actions built into the mold. With more complex molds, the tie-in method is more appropriate and more often used. The difference in using this method is that the machine is controlling the

entire stroke and it allows you to safely control the ejection of parts from molds that have actions built into them such as slides, suicide core pins, or both. This also helps prevent damage to the tool, should something go wrong with the injection molding process or machine. When coupled with a robot or operator removal, the rods can maintain the ejector plate in the forward position until the robot or operator has removed the finished injection molded part from the mold.

Core Pulls Core pulls do exactly what they sound like they would do, and that is to pull cores out of parts which otherwise could not be molded any other way. For example, If you wanted to create a hole in the top flange of a part and the hole was not in die draw, you would be able to use a movable core to create this hole. Just to clarify, die draw is anything that lies in the direction of mold opening, with sufficient draft for the part to be removed. In the case of a rectangular box, by adding some amount of draft, you can mold this box without the aide of anything special besides the ejector system to remove it from the cavity. But, If you would like to put a hole in the side of the box, we need to use a core pull mechanism to do this. The process is simple in the case of creating a hole. Once the mold is closed, we will use the core pull system to drive a pin into the core wall, creating an area that plastic must flow around during the filling of the cavity. This now creates a hole in the side of the plastic part. Now if we were simply to open the mold up, we would rip or tear away all the plastic behind this core pin during ejection, leaving us with a useless part. But, if we pull that core back up out of the way before we open the mold, we can safely eject the part with no damage to our hole. This is just one of the myriad of uses of the core pull mechanism on the machine. It can if desired, be used in certain mold design configurations be used as a hydraulic ejector system addition as well.