ONE Basic of Injection Molding

Plastic injection molding, by definition, is the process of injecting plastic

into a mold (or mould in European circles), cooling the plastic, ejecting it
from the mold, and packing the finished product for sale to the customer.
This sounds simple and in its basic form it is, but the process involved with
making all this happen is actually quite complicated. Plastic can be injected
into the mold with low pressure, but typically is done under high pressure
upwards of 30,000 PSI cavity pressure.
There are many diverse types of injection molding and as many different
types of plastic injection molding machines to go with it. Some of the
more common types of plastic molding are standard mold injection, insert
molding, plastic extrusion, blow molding, multi-color or material
molding, stack molding, and rotary molding just to name a few. There
are custom plastics as well, from common every day plastic resins
to the more exotic engineering grade resins used in most automobiles
today. There is even injection molding grade "metals" being experimented
with and used these days.
There are many types of injection molding machines all made for specific
purposes.
There are the standard horizontal injection molding
machines which range in size from a few tons all the way up to 9000 tons
and more. You could drive car between the platens of a press that large.
Vertical injection molding machines are often used for insert molding
(although this can also be done horizontally) and share a common cover with
two ejection halves of the mold. This allows for de-molding and loading of
inserts in one half, while the other half is producing the next shot of parts.
There are also two and three shot injection molding machines for
producing multi-color or multi-material parts such as lenses for tail lights
and gear shift knobs with hard plastic inner core and a soft vinyl out
covering. The newest machines are "all electric versions" which stray from
the standard hydraulic injection machines used now for years. These
injection molding machines are much more efficient and repeatable then
their hydraulic cousins are.
Common injection molding machine
manufacturers are Toshiba, Husky, Cincinnati, DeMaag, Engel, Nissei,
UBE, Arburg and Boy, just to name a few.
The basic steps to producing a plastic injection molded part on a stand
injection molding machine are:
Heating the plastic resin to the required range of the product being
used.

Developing the shot size through use of a reciprocating screw which

conveys the melted plastic to the front of the screw.
Injecting the plastic into the mold under pressure to fill the cavity of
the mold.
Packing the plastic to create a full part inside the mold.
Cooling the plastic in the mold through the use of cooling channels
most commonly with water.
Ejecting the cooled part from the mold.
Repeating the process over and over again.
TWO Choosing a Machine

Common injection molding machine manufacturers are: Husky, Toshiba,

Nissei, Mitsubishi, Engel, Van Dorn, Demaag, Cincinnati, HPM, UBE ,
Nigata, Sandretto, Reed, Arburg, and Boy. There are also others, but
these listed cover of the most common injection molding machine
manufacturers. Each of these manufacturers supply the standard horizontal
hydraulic or toggle clamp injection molding machines, and may also supply
co-injection, multi shot, and the more recently desired all electric
injection molding machines.

What type of machine is best for you? This depends entirely on what you
are planning to do with it. First you need to decide what your Niche market
is going to be. You then should research what types of products these
markets will require and what types of injection molding processes will
be required to create them. You can do this yourself or have it done by a
consulting or research service. Based on what the research tells you, you
will then need to decide what type of machine you will need to perform those
services for your customers. For example, if you decided to get into the
Niche market of automobile lenses, you will likely need a machine capable of
multi shot or co-injection molding. If you are going to produce simple one
shot type molding products, or products that do not require any special
needs, you will be looking for standard toggle or hydraulic clamp
machines. If your market will require some type of insert molding, you
could be looking for vertical shuttle presses.

You will also need to decide if you will need new or used injection
molding equipment. This depends entirely on the level of consistency and
complexity of the products you are molding. There are pros and cons to
both avenues. Older used injection machines can fill a service if less
complexity and repeatability are required. Newer used machines often
become available do to someone going out of business or simply changing
directions within the company, and these machines will be more current and
have more current technology. They will also typically be more reliable from
a maintenance point of view. Used equipment will be less expensive than
new and often fill the needs of the molder.

If your business is cutting edge, or may be on the larger size, keeping up

with your competition becomes more of an issue. In this case, purchasing
new equipment is probably the most common way to go. This will keep you
competitive with your competition and also maintain the average age of your
machines to something more desirable. Again this just depends on your
niche and business requirements. Many businesses try to maintain around a
10 year average machine age to remain competitive in their fields.

Lastly, if you want the latest technology for your plant, the "all electric"
injection molding machines employing electric servo controls are the latest
to hit the market. In the earlier years of their development, only small size
electric machines (up to around 400 ton) were available, but now you can
easily find machines in the 1000 ton class and above that are "all electric".
There are also Hybrid versions with electric injection units and hydraulic
clamp ends. The consistency and "shot to shot" repeatability of these
machines is currently unmatched in this area.

THREE - How to Reduce Setup Times Using Quick Mold Change OR SMED or
Single Minute Exchange of Dies
SMED for injection molding machines - There has been a lot of discussion
heard lately on reducing mold set-up times throughout the injection
molding industry by using quick mold change methods. Even though many

companies are not at full utilization of their equipment, management would

love and often pushes for the achievement of one minute changeovers on
all molds so they do not loose any machine time. What management does
not always do is to support the idea with money saving devices or studies to
help the process technician and set-up people to achieve quicker mold
change over's. This often produces frustration in with the technicians and
die setters who are trying to do a faster change over without some of the
fancy tools to do it with. Quick mold change is simple in its basic form.

When asked about how to best perform "Quick Mold Change", the first things
we have to discuss is the involvement manage wants or is willing to take in
the project. Once this is established, the team can set some goals and move
forward with the project. We need to understand our roles in the lean
manufacturing process. What is management's definition of lean? Is it
reduced personnel and increased work load on the remaining people?
Reduce personnel, reduce overhead, do not spend a dime on time saving
devices or any type of training or consulting - and then demand that they
have to change molds faster or risk the job being transferred to China or
Mexico. This is often the case but not always. The work "smarter, not harder
rule" often applies here very well. It might actually be a more intelligent
decision to add personnel and create a team to do the die change-over, and
then it is to reduce staff and expect more from them. I subscribe to the
latter choice.

Many shops with good relationships with their floor personnel realize the
need to equip their set-up people with even the simplest tools to make life
easier and do the job right. Sometimes when you're not busy (ha-ha), get
your video camera and film the guys (or gals) doing a mold change. Watch
them go back and forth, down the aisles, into the corners, on top of work
benches, into the maintenance area dozens of times just to get parts, tools
etc to do the mold change. My opinion on hydraulic clamps and magnetic
platens is that they are great tools albeit very expensive and sometimes
difficult to justify, but the real time spent on mold changes is in the cooling
lines, valve gate lines, ejector rods, and plumbing the tool. Being prepared
for the mold change which includes no interruptions from production

personnel is paramount to the success of the mold change team and

reducing your setup times.

Sometimes when you're not busy (ha-ha), get your video camera and film
the guys (or gals) doing a mold change. Watch them go back and forth,
down the aisles, into the corners, on top of work benches, into the
maintenance area dozens of times just to get parts, tools etc to do the mold
change. The first step is to separate your die set into two areas and those
are "internal and "external" components. Internal components are things
that have to be done "during" the die set. External components are your pre
preparation and post cleanup operations. A very simple way to get started is
to do "before and after" video tapes. Tape a setup as you would normally do
them and then review these with your die setup team. Note each time that
someone leaves the frame of the picture and where they went at the time or
what they got, and how long they were gone. Watch for any repetitive or
wasted steps and note them down. Brainstorm ideas as a team on how to
eliminate these time losses. Preparation and practice is the key to success,
just like in the NASCAR pits.

One of the easiest and most cost effective things you can do to aide quick
mold change is to manifold your dies. Then all your set-up people need to
do is run the larger water feed lines to the manifolds, one in and out for
each half, and then the mold is ready to run. This can also be done for valve
gate hoses if you have them as well. This removes minutes, and in some
severe cases, hours of set-up time depending on your particular set up and
mold sizes. Store your molds at the machine when practical. Install mold
racks right at the machine to reduce fork lift travel in the plant and to keep
handy the mold at the machine if at all possible. This can reduce time of
quick mold changes, as well as keep the molds from getting lost behind
gaylords of material, stacked up high on a heavy duty rack or lost
somewhere in the shop. A well organized storage area can be a great help
in optimizing your die setup times.
Then there are other simple yet very important ideas that help the set-up
people. Color coding of all the waterlines to be blue & red for "in" & "out".

Use of colored wire ties and a unique molder invented product of waterline
safety tags for the disconnect fittings with a corresponding colored cap that
is installed on the tool under the water line plug assures proper hook-up. All
these items ultimately help the process technician or set up person to
perform proper water hook-up's.
FOUR - The Basic Injection Molding Process
The basic injection molding process, which is the process taking a polymer
or generically a plastic resin from a solid state, heating it and changing it
to a semi-liquid state, forming it into something, and cooling it back to a
solid state. Injection molding is an extremely versatile and popular form of
molding. Other processes include extrusion, thermoforming, and blow
molding. This process can be used to create untold types of products
including toys, everyday items we use, medical items, and car parts. Its
uses are almost limitless and are ever expanding day by day, as new
technologies for both injection molding machines and engineered resins
are developed and implemented.
But, thats not why you are here visiting this page. We could spend all day
discussing the different types or resins, their uses and applications, the
various types of machines and their processes but we wont at this time. I
hope that you are here because you want to understand the basic injection
molding process and how it works. Based on that, we are going to take a
very simplistic approach to this process and keep everything very generic.
You can get training through most of the injection molding machine
manufacturers and it can often be done as onsite training vs. offsite, but if
you choose to do onsite training, it is important that you can create an
environment where the staff that is being trained, can do so uninterrupted
by their normal daily tasks. I have seen many failed attempts at using
onsite training because proper arrangements were not made to cover the
personnel involved in the training, and interruptions rendered the training
useless. If you are looking for a more advanced explanation of injection
molding, you will need to take some classes, seminars, workshops, or other
more advanced training in the area of injection molding. You would then
learn about basic polymer chemistry all the way through advanced
polymerization and processing conditions and much more.
The basic injection molding machine is comprised of a few unique major
components. The major components of an injection molding machine are:
the feed hopper or hopper, the screw and barrel, the barrel heaters

, the nozzle and nozzle tip, the platens, the tie bars, the clamp, or clamping
mechanism (usually toggle type or hydraulic), the mold, and a whole lot of
electronics, hydraulics, and/or servo motors and controls, to make it all do
what it is designed for, over and over again. You also will have a number of
external auxiliary equipment units, such as material dryers, mold heater or
thermolators units for temperature control, hot runner controllers, valve gate
controllers, and other items required for your unique processes.
FIVE - Basic Plastic Injection Molding Machine Process
Material Drying and Material Hoppers
Material Drying
Depending on the resin you are using and whether or not it is a
hydroscopic resin (absorbs moisture form the air), you may have to first
dry the resin. This is a process of removing any moisture from the individual
plastic pellets, so as to make them usable in the injection molding process.
This is done with a material dryer, which is provided my many different
manufactures, and its sole purpose is to remove moisture from plastic. This
is accomplished by circulating heated dry air through the resin inside a
drying hopper at a manufacturer specified temperature. This causes the
plastic resin to release its moisture and most commonly this moist air is run
through the material dryer through a bed of molecular sieve (desiccant)
which retains the moisture inside the dryer bed and sends dry heated air
back out to the hopper. This air needs to be maintained at a dew point level
somewhere between -10 and -40 degrees F. Any higher than this and you
run the risk of having wet material. The material can be checked for
moisture using a couple of glass slides and a hot plate, looking for small
pockets of gas in the pellet. This is done by heating the slides on the hot
plate to a high enough temperature to soften or melt the plastic you are
checking, laying a few pellets on one of the heated slides and sandwiching
the pellets between the plates. You can then inspect the flattened pellets
between the plates for small gas bubbles which would indicate moisture. The
other method involves a lab device called a moisture analyzer, which is
considerably more expensive but much more accurate. Once the plastic resin
is dry, which usually is anywhere from 2 -4 hours on average, it is ready for
processing and we are going to feed the resin into the machine hopper to
begin the molding process.
The Machine Hopper

These can be very small (shot hoppers) to very large in size but they all
serve the same purpose and that is to hold plastic pellets or resin, which will
be used in the injection molding process. The smaller shot hoppers, are
typically used when you are drying resin either in a mezzanine or machine
side drying hopper. These small hoppers only bring a small amount of resin
each cycle to the screw feed area, thus controlling the likely hood of the
pellets regaining moisture while waiting to be fed to the screw as can be the
case with small shot sizes and larger machine hoppers that are not being
dried on very humid days. The other very common method, but will require
some reinforcement of the hopper mount, is to mount a sufficiently sized
drying hopper directly over the feed throat of the machine. This method is
commonly used but presents its own challenges as they are much more
difficult to move out of the way when you have to inspect the feed throat.
Some machine makers have added an air assisted hopper slide option to
aide in the process of moving the hopper out of the way as needed. All of
these options, should be mounted on a magnetic drawer base. The purpose
of this unit is to try and eliminate any metal objects that may have gotten
into the material, virgin or regrind, and yes this does happen from time to
time. Sometimes its a malicious act but most of the time its carelessness
or disrepair that causes this to occur. Metal and screws dont mix and it can
make a mess out of your molding process depending on where the metal
ends up. It can get lodged in the screw, nozzle or nozzle tip, in your gates,
or simply scratch your beautiful mold surfaces should it make its way
through the entire system. Each case has its related costs to repair and
these magnetic bases can prevent much of it from ever happening.

Barrel, Screw, & Barrel Heaters

The Screw and Barrel

The reciprocating screw in injection molding or just screw resides
inside the barrel. It is made up of two components which are the injection
molding screw and screw tip assembly. It serves two purposes, the first
being to convey material forward in the barrel to the front of the injection
unit for each new shot, and two, inject the plastic under high pressure into

the mold. It is very important that these components are inspected for wear
at least yearly as they are very high tolerance components and very critical
to the injection molding process. One way you measure your screw and
barrel performance is to record your recovery time and screw RPMs, when
the screw and barrel are both new, and also note which resin that
measurement was performed with. Then at 6 month intervals, check your
recovery times, and make sure that they remaining relatively the same. If
you start noticing a longer recovery time (20% or more), there is a chance
that you are starting to get some wear. The only way to know that for sure
is to remove the screw from the barrel, inspect them both and measure
them with micrometers and compare the size to the print. The manufacturer
can give you the recommended maximum where for your particular screw
and barrel but usually its around .006 - .010 of an inch. There are three
main zones to most standard injection molding screws and these are the
feed, transition, and metering zones. You can also get specialty injection
molding screws with mixing sections or other sections built to your own
specifications as needed. Mixing or barrier wave injection molding screws
would be an example of a different flight options for a screw. The screw,
during the rotation phase, can also provide heat to the melting process
through friction, improving the quality of your melt. The injection pressure
applied by the screw is the heart of your process.
Barrel Heaters
The purpose of the barrel heaters is somewhat self-explanatory, and that is
to heat the barrel. The reason we need to do this is provide an
environment in which to begin the plastic processing portion of our cycle. It
is imperative that your barrel temps are up to your set temperature for the
type of resin you are using, before turning the screw. You will also want to
add some soak time to this to be sure that all of the solidified resin in the
barrel and on the screw has fully softened or melted. The result of not doing
this is usually a broken screw tip assembly or in some extreme cases, even a
snapped of screw. You'll notice I dont mention how much time your soak
time will need to be, and that is because it will vary by the material you are
using and the efficiency of your barrel heaters. Normally, at least a half hour
of soak time is recommended for most plastics and this is commonly a
standard feature on most machines made in the last 10 -15 years. If you
have the ability on your machine to bypass this part of the process, my
recommendation is dont and that is from experience with seeing the results

of people who have tried that and failed. At upwards of $1500 for a screw
tip assembly and upwards of $15,000 or more depending on the size of your
screw.

Barrel Temperature Control, Nozzles & Nozzle Tips

Custom Injection Molding - Barrel Temperature Control

Each zone of barrel heat is individually controlled and range from a couple of
zones to 6 or more depending on machine and barrel size. They are
controlled through the use of thermocouples which are attached in a central
location of each heating zone and provide feed back to a controller which
turns electricity on and off to the heater bands, maintaining a constant
stable temperature for your process. Thermocouples come in two types on
most injection molding machines, types J & K. It is always important to
make sure you have the correct type of thermocouple when replacing these
or you can have process issues due to inaccurate temperature readings.
Same thing goes for heater band replacement. If you replace a 400 watt
band with one half the size or double the size, it can dramatically affect your
processing. You also need to pay attention to the voltage of the heater
bands you are replacing as they typically will be one of three voltages which
are 120, 240, or 480 volt. These bands are not simply interchanged. I have
seen 120v heater bands hooked up to 240 volt circuits, and turn cherry red
before they failed, which can be very dangerous. The opposite can also be
the case where a 220 volt band is used in place of a 120 volt band and
though these will not turn cherry red, you might never get enough heat to
move plastic through it.
Nozzles and Nozzle Tips
The nozzle and nozzle tip are the exit point for the plastic resin from the
screw and barrel on its way into the mold. Nozzles come in a multitude of
lengths and designs and you will need to know which is right for you and
your process. The most commonly used are the two piece nozzle which
incorporates a separate body and tip. The reason for this is that you have
more versatility for use between the most common sprue bushing radii,

which are and , and also different material types which may require
different tip styles such as a continuous taper or reverse taper for nylons
resins and other high crystalline materials. It also allows you to easily
change the tip opening size which can vary from mold to mold. You always
want to use a tip orifice size that is equal to or slightly less than the sprue
bushing orifice in the mold to aide in leak prevention between these two
areas. If you use a nozzle tip that has a larger orifice size than your sprue
bushing, or is damaged, be ready to replace some heater bands as at some
point you will likely leak plastic between the tip seat and the sprue bushing
sea. This will then leak back over and cover your nozzle and eventually the
barrel if its not caught in time, which causes unnecessary down time and
cost to replace destroyed heater bands and thermocouples. It is very easy to
change tips during production with this type of nozzle either due to a radius
change or if the tip has been damaged in any way. Nozzles and nozzle tips
come in a variety of flow through styles as well, such as general purpose,
continuous taper, and a few others.
FIVE - A Basic Custom Plastic Injection Molding Machine
The Platens & Tie Bars
Platens
On most machine there are two platens, referred to as the movable and the
stationary platens. Most commonly you will have two stationary platens,
one front and one rear, and one moveable platen. The platens serve a couple
of functions. The first thing that it does is provide a place to attach your
mold. The platens will normally be drilled and tapped with threaded holes,
which in turn are used to attach clamps to the mold, holding it in place
during the entire molding process. Some platens in less common cases, are
built with slots in them instead of drilled and tapped holes, and this is
actually a more versatile way to attach clamps to the mold. This was more
commonly used with European machines then it is on Japanese or American
machines. The placement of these holes are usually determined by an
industry standard unless otherwise specified by you for a given platen and
machine size. The sizes of the holes in the platens are typically determined
by the platen and machine size as well. The larger the machine, the larger
the bolt sizes required to clamp the molds into them. Ive often been asked
how many clamps are required for a given mold. While Ive not really found
a hard rule about this, I can tell you from experience that if you have one
clamp for every 18 inches of mold length, you will not drop a mold on the

floor as long as it is properly attached. So, on a mold of 36 in length, you

would have a total of 12 clamps, 3 per side, and 6 each per mold half. Now
this will vary some in different molding facilities and is meant only to be a
guideline. You should follow whatever rules your company has set forth for
this procedure in your injection molding facility. There are also some
through holes in the platen in a number of pattern options for ejector
rods. The use of these will be explained in a later section. These holes are
also laid out as per a specific standardized location as with the threaded
holes for the clamps. There are multiple patterns available, which will
handle 99% of all standard molds.
The second function of the platen is to provide the steel to develop a
uniform force on the mold and move the mold halves or cover and ejector,
either to the open or closed position. In the open position, parts can be
ejected and removed from the mold by means of an operator or by some
other robotic means. In the closed position, tonnage is applied to the mold
halves via the platens and this is when the plastic under high pressure is
injected into the mold. The term platen deflection is derived from the
amount of movement that is exerted on and results from this injection
pressure being applied. A hydraulic clamp machine usually will resist the
platen deflection issue better than toggle clamp press because in a hydraulic
clamp press, the tonnage is developed by a large hydraulic ram located in
the very center of the movable platen. On a toggle press, the attachment
location of the toggles to the platen are more towards the outside edges and
deflection in the center of the platen is more common place. This can make
a difference when you are close to the press tonnage threshold on a given
mold, and puts the mold at risk for flash problems along the parting line
edges.
Tie Bars
The tie bars are the mechanism that actually develops the tonnage of the
press. Tie bars are made of steel. The size will vary from a few inches in
diameter on small machine up to well over 20 in diameter on the very large
presses and the length is determined also by the type and size of the press.
The rods will be attached most typically with a very large nut on the outside
of both the front and rear stationary platens. There will be four tie bars in
the case of most common injection molding machines. The only place this
wont really apply is with some of the C type clamp mechanisms, which
arent very common in most standard injection molding machines. The way

this tonnage is developed is by moving the movable platen forward until the
two mold halves contact each other and then high pressures are applied
causing the tie bars to stretch. It is this stretch and the force being
applied that will determine the final tonnage capability of an injection
molding machine. Often, this stretch is measured with a strain gage that is
located on the end of one or even all 4 tie bars, and this stretch or strain is
measured to deliver an output back to injection molding machine controller
in order to get a tonnage reading from the machine. This is tie in with
safety mechanisms to avoid over stressing the bars which can literally cause
them to crack or snap, as well as feed back for the process itself. This
information can also be used by many newer machines that have the option
for auto tonnage setting of the machine, which takes most of the setup or
technician requirement out of the function as it is automatic.
Plastic Injection Molding Mold Clamping Systems

Mold Clamping Systems

Clamping your molds on the platens for the injection molding process is a
fairly basis principle and the methods used to accomplish this task are not all
that different from each other. The most common method is the use of
mold clamps. These clamps are usually made of forged or cast steel and
look like the picture shown here. While this is a fairly common clamp style,
you can find a number of variations of this type of clamp. It consists of the
clamp, an adjustment bolt, an attachment bolt, and a spacer or washer for
use on the attachment bolt.
The alignment of these clamps is critical to their
function and they must be used properly. The result
of not using these clamps properly, could mean the
difference of a mold remaining in your machine and
lying on the ground beneath it. The safety hazard of
this is self explanatory, not to mention the damage
that could be done to the mold or machine. It is very important that the
clamp adjustment bolt is set the correct height which is level with the
clamping surface of the mold. You can measure the clamp plate thickness
and if its 1 , set you adjustment bolt for 1 height. This provides the most
surface contact with the clamp plate and results in the best clamping forces

being applied. A small amount of error can exist without serious issues, but
level is still the desired and safest approach.
Another important factor in proper attachment of a clamp is the depth of
the attachment bolt into the platen hole. The best rule of thumb used to
calculate this is one and a half times the diameter of the bolt being used
should be used as a depth into the platen hole. In other words, if you are
using a inch attachment bolt, you should use a bolt length that will get
you at least one and one eighth of an inch into the platen. .75 x 1.5 =
1.125 or 1 1/8. The formula applies to all bolt sizes being used. Make sure
you also account for the height of the spacer or washer you are using to
determine the bolt length needed. Lets assume the spacer is in
thickness. We already know we need to get 1 1/8 depth into our platen. To
determine the length of the bolt required you need to make some
measurements. First measure the height of your clamp plate. Then you
need to know the thickness of your clamp and add the spacer thickness to
that. Lets assume our mold clamp plate thickness is 1. Our clamp
thickness is also 1. Our spacer is . We total these amounts and then add
the thread depth needed to determine our bolt length or, 1 + 1 + + 1
1/8 = 3.625 or 3 5/8 bolt length required for our task.
This is important for a couple of reasons. The first is that if we are using
too short of bolts, we will likely strip the threads right out of the platen holes
when the mold is mounted on the platens. As the mold is opening, closing,
and ejector system running, you could literally strip the mold off the platens
and the mold could fall out of the press. Does this sound like the voice of
experience? Thats because it is and Ive seen it happen. The other problem
Ive seen that ends with the same result is using bolts that are too long.
Each platen hole has a finite depth, meaning that you can hit bottom if the
bolt is too long. The result of this if you dont notice is once again a loose
clamp and a dangerous situation, so pay attention these details and youll
never have a problem. Keep your platens holes in good condition too, as
this makes everyones job simpler and safer.
Other methods of clamping a mold to a press is using holes in the clamp
plates and bolting directly through them You will need to apply the same
calculation to determine bolt lengths for this method as well. This method is
easier and safer than clamps, but requires precise hole placement in the
molds to line up with your press platen holes. The last common method is
hydraulic clamping, which is the fastest, safest, and most expensive method

but well worth it if the investment is made as this is a great time saver,
saves wear and tear on the platens, and cuts down the risk of mistakes.
These are the types of financial decisions your company will have to make
for itself. Another less common and even more expensive clamping method
is magnetic platens or clamping plates that are added to your existing
platens and use extremely powerful magnets to hold the molds into place.
These are typically only used where time savings and quick mold change are
a way of life as their costs are tough to justify in many situations.
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.
SIX - A Basic Custom Plastic Injection Molding Machine Process
The Machine Controller
Machine Controls
This area or component of the custom injection molding process can become
quite expansive. There have been so many iterations of machine controls
over the last 25 years, that its difficult to know where to start. Due to the
fact that there are so many machines still in use today from this same time
span, I will only touch on the basics of the main changes in order to keep

this flowing and on topic as much as I can. The process of injection molding
in its basic sense has remained relatively unchanged since the beginning.
Molten plastic is injected under high pressure into a mold, creating a nonNewtonian flow condition, which is cooled, and then removed from the
mold. There are 100s of control mechanisms to create these conditions but
they all end with the same purpose in mind and that is to produce a plastic
injection molded part.
In the beginning, there were relays! Actually there were other things before
that too, but we will start there. Relays, limit switches, relays, and more
limit switches, were the flavor 25 to 30 years ago and Im not referring to
the newer solid state types, but the very large and now impractical
mechanical relays used in many molding machines for years. As with now,
these machines were provided to you with a hydraulic and electrical
schematic or ladder diagram showing line after line of relays, some open,
some closed, that all together made a required action occur. In many ways,
I felt troubleshooting these machines were much simpler in a lot ways than
with todays solid state control systems. If your clamp wouldnt close, you
just looked for that line in the ladder logic, started at the end of that circuit
which usually was a solenoid on a valve, activated the clamp close button
and checked for voltage at that point. If there was none present at the
solenoid, you back tracked to the next point along the circuit path which
might be a junction block. No voltage there and back you go again until you
found the first point where voltage was present, but not getting through to
the rest of the circuit. That point often would be a relay or relay contact that
had failed. Replace or re-build the relay and off you went again.
Now that is a simplistic approach to circuits of old, but they worked. There
werent any touch screens, or LED read-outs, or circuit boards. Everything
today is now touch screens, electronic control modules, programmable
controllers, and the like. Trouble shooting is now more often done to the
module level and then replaced if its not functioning properly with another.
I would say that todays machine controllers are much more reliable than
those of old, but they are also much more expensive to maintain. Instead of
replacing or rebuilding a burnt relay that cost a few bucks, you will likely
have to replace a $2000 module. This is one of the costs of progress.
In a nutshell, the controller is the brain of the injection molding machine. It
controls all of the functions of the injection molding machine and insures
that the machine does what it is programmed to do. In the case of the

newest machines, they are comprised of many sensors, such linear

measurement devices, thermocouples, proximity sensors, speed sensors and
many more. Think of these sensors as the nerves of your own body, or your
ears, eyes, nose, and tongue. You react to what your senses tell you, just
as with the machine. The controller allows you to input certain set points
into it, which tells the machine what to do during the injection molding
process. The sensors provide feedback to the machine controller so that it
knows whats going on and when, and what to do next based on a program
that tells the controller what to do with the information that it receives.
These set points that you have control over will be discussed more in a later
module on process setting and controls.
SIX - Basic Custom Plastic Injection Mold
The function of the mold or mould depending on which spelling you
subscribe to in the injection molding process, is simply to be the vessel
within which a plastic part is born. Think of the mold as the reverse image
of your finished part. What I mean by that is thisif I took a ball and I
covered the entire surface of the ball with plaster and let it harden, and I
then cut it exactly down the middle into two halves and removed the ball,
what I would be left with is the basis of an injection mold. It is a void or
space of some shape that is split into two sections so that we can inject
plastic into that space to create a plastic part when it is removed from this
mold. We refer to the halves of the mold as the cavity and core, or cover
and ejector. The cavity and core can be either the front or back half of a
mold depending on the design. Most molds will have the cavity or cover of
the mold mounted on the stationary platen and core or ejector of the mold
on the movable platen. In the case of molds that are built with cavity or
cover ejection this would be reversed, and then we often would use the core
pull system to run the ejectors forward. We will stick with the more common
configuration of the ejector half of the mold being located on the movable
platen and using the standard injection molding machine ejector system.
The ejector or ejection half of the mold is what will ultimately cause the
finished plastic part, to be ejected from the mold. It is comprised of a
number of components, some of which will be the ejector housing, ejector
plate, ejector pins, and water (cooling) lines. As design requires it, it may
also have slides, cores, lifters, and other moving components that make up
the the ejection system. It also is usually the core half of the mold. Besides
being a critical part of the molded part, its only other purpose in life is part
removal or ejection. Plastic shrinks to varying degrees, and because of
this we must build molds with sufficient draft to allow the part to easily slip
off of the core of the mold without damage to the parts plastic surfaces.

Draft needed for a given material or resin can vary greatly and you should
consult your material vendor for the specifications for the material you are
using for your specific application. Draft can be as little as a couple of
degrees, to something much more substantial depending the part design and
material requirements. When a part is molded and then cooled, the ejector
plate of the mold is moved forward causing the ejector pins and/or lifters to
push the part free of the mold, allow it to be removed by an operator or
robot, or to simply fall onto a chute or conveyor to be moved to its next
operation.
The cover or core of the mold, except when the part is cover ejected, does
not typically have any moving parts. It does however usually house the
entry channel for the plastic into the mold. This is done through a number
of different methods, such as a sprue bushing and sprue, or a hot runner
manifold. The channels of plastic flow can be directly into the part itself or
flow through a runner system, which is the most commonly used method.
The runner system can be part of the hot runner manifold or a cold runner
system that is cut into the surface of the mold itself. We need a separation
point between the part and the runner and this is called the gate. There
are many gate configurations and again, this all depends on your parts
design and requirements as how this will be performed. This half of the
mold will also require sufficient draft, as the part must release from the
cavity as the mold opens which separates the two halves prior to ejection,
with the part remaining on the ejector half of the mold. This half of the
mold the mold will also contain the horn pins which move any slides the
mold might have into place as the mold closes. The guide pins, which will
located in two up to all four corners of the mold, perform the task of keeping
the two halves aligned as the mold closes. When the two halves are closed
together, they create a void that will be filled with plastic to create the
finished molded part.
SEVEN Basic Plastic Injection Molding Machine Process
Injection Machine Controller Clamp & Ejectors Setting Descriptions
and Function
Clamp settings:
In the custom injection molding process, the clamp settings control the
distance the mold opens and closes to, where it slows down and speeds up,
and other miscellaneous settings where you might perform other actions
such as core pulling and ejection start points. Because of the large variety
of machine types, I will not attempt to cover every possible setting but only
the main ones that are common to most machines. Depending on the age

and abilities of your machine, these could be digital settings in the controller
interface on newer machines or limit switches on older ones, or in some
cases a combination of both..
Clamp open fast where you want to start opening the mold quickly
Clamp open slow where you want to start slowing down the clamp before
reaching full open.
Clamp full open - where you want the machine to clamp to stop after each
cycle
Eject start where you want to start your ejection movement if your
machine has eject on the fly capability, otherwise it will usually be at the
mold full open point.
Clamp close fast where you want to close the clamp at high speed
Clamp close slow where you want to slow down the clamp when closing
(usually before engaging the guide or leader pins)
Mold safe just before the mold halves first touch, usually a few
thousandths of an inch before zero. This is the safety feature to help protect
your mold from damage if it closes on a runner or part. The clamp is put
into a low pressure state at this set point to protect your mold. This setting
is one of the most critical to be set correctly and precisely.
Clamp fully closed this is the point where the mold halves make contact
and high pressure is applied to build full tonnage.
Clamp speeds and pressures most of the above functions also have a
speed and pressure setting. These will be set according to you needs and
will vary somewhat for each mold.
Ejector settings:
The ejector settings control the distance and speed of the ejector rods
during the part removal process from the mold. The settings are crucial to
your molding process as they help determine a number of things such as
whether or not the part is going to remain in place for robot or operator
removal, or be ejected completely into a bin or chute. They can in some
instances also help in determining part quality with how fast a part is
removed in some more sensitive parts and molds, or ensuring the cores
have been removed prior to ejection in order to protect the mold from
damage. As with the clamp settings, depending on the age and abilities of
your machine, these could be digital settings in the controller interface on
newer machines or limit switches on older ones, or in some cases a
combination of both.
Eject start position where the ejectors start their forward stroke.

Eject forward position the distance of travel the ejector rods will make
during each stroke of ejection.
Number of strokes the number of times the ejectors will make a an
entire ejection stroke each cycle, usually limited to not more than 5 repeats.
Ejector dwell time or eject forward hold time the length of time the
ejectors will be held forward after reaching its forward limit. Usually only
used with a single stroke condition.
Eject retract position the position the ejectors must be in prior to closing
the mold for the next cycle.
Eject speeds and pressures most of the above functions also have a
speed and pressure setting. These will be set according to you needs and
will vary somewhat for each mold.
Injection Settings
Injection Phase
High pressure | 1st Stage | Boost - Depending on the area in which you live,
you will hear a number of different terms used for this phase of the custom
injection molding cycle. No matter what it is referred to as in your plant, it
remains the same thing and serves the same purpose, and that is to inject
melted plastic into your injection mold. This in many ways is the most
important part of the basic injection molding cycle, as it has a great bearing
on the initial cosmetics and size of your finished plastic injection molded
product. You can control the hydraulic pressure and speed with which you
perform this phase, and on most newer machines the fill or injection
phase can be broken down into 10 segments or more to aide in precise
control of this part of your injection molding process. We will get deeper
into the profile settings, what they are, and what you can do with them in
the troubleshooting segment of this series. Under normal plastic processing
conditions we want to fill the part as close to the 95 -99% full cavity range
as we safely can, allowing for the natural resistance of the plastic to absorb
the remaining inertia of the screw. When we reach the injection transfer or
cut-off point setting, we are doing exactly what it sounds like and that is
transferring from fill or 1st stage pressure, to pack/hold or 2 nd stage
pressure.
The machine settings controlling these functions are:
Fill Pressure the pressure setting for fill or 1 st stage. In most processes
today, this would be set to the maximum of the machines ability which is
usually between 2000 and 2500 psi. The reason for setting this to
maximum, is so that you do not pressure limit this part of the process.
Fill Speed The speed control for the fill portion process. We want to
control the fill speed of our process and not the fill pressure.
Fill Speed Profile these are the fill segments we spoke of earlier. These
profiles can have as few as 2 steps or many as 15 or more. 5 to 10 steps

are usually more than sufficient to handle the processing conditions for most
processes.
Transfer, transition, or cut-off position The point of transfer from 1st to
2nd stage injection. This can be done on most newer machines by position
(most common), hydraulic pressure, time (least accurate and repeatable),
and cavity pressure.
Pack Pressure Phase
Pack or second stage pressure is used just as it implies. When used properly
its purpose is to pack out the injection molded part. Assuming you followed
the 95 to 99% fill rule, you will use the pack pressure to fill out the
remainder of your plastic part, until reaching the desired cavity pressure for
you process. Typically, there are only one or two segments for this function
but Ive seen up to five, and it will have independent time and pressure
settings for each. Pack pressure if used correctly, will finish filling and pack
your plastic into the cavity. Often the 1st step of this pressure will be equal
too or slightly greater than your transfer pressure so as to prevent the
screw from bouncing back at transfer. Again, if you follow the 95 to 99% fill
rule on the 1st stage filling process, you can even use a lower pressure pack
in many cases without creating a screw bounce situation. This bounce is
caused by two things, the first is overfilling the cavity in the 1 st stage of fill
and second, packing with too low of a pressure when the first condition
exists. If the inertia of the screw is fully expended before the cavity is fully
filled as should be, the likelihood of this happening is low.
Normal pack setting options, if your machine is so equipped are:
Pack time Typically, you will have one or two segments of time available if
your machine has the pack option installed. This time should coincide with
the amount of time to finish filling and pack the cavity to its peak pressure
for the desired dimensions.
Pack Pressure settings for the pressure of each segment.
Pack Speed this is not an option on all equipment but very useful if you
have it, especially if you are using your pack to finish filling and packing the
part. This will be a low speed option and on some machines its even limited
to 50% or less.
Hold Pressure Phase
The hold pressure phase of the process is meant to maintain the custom
injection mold process pressure inside of the cavity until the gate or gates
freeze off which then will be released, as pressure no longer need be applied
after that point. Once gate freeze off has been attained, no further pressure
can be added or removed from the plastic inside the injection mold cavity, as
the gates basically act as a cork after that point of the process. Once gate

freeze has occurred, and the hold pressure has been released from the
cavity, the cooling portion of the cycle may begin.
Hold pressure on most newer machines is also provided in segments with
individual time and pressure settings for each. There is typically only one
hold speed for the entire hold pressure phase. This again is usually a very
low speed of less than 30%, as we are not trying so much to move plastic at
this point of the injection molding process as we are maintaining that
pressure in the mold cavity until the gates have frozen preventing any
further pressure loss. If your particular machine is not equipped with a pack
pressure option, you can sometimes use the first one or two segments of
your hold pressure phase as pack pressure. This again will depend on the
abilities of your individual machine and controller capability. Most machines
built in the last 10 15 years have at least 5 and 10 segments of hold
pressure.
The machine settings controlling these functions are:
Hold Speed this is usually on one speed setting that covers all of the hold
segments.
Hold Pressure Profile each segment of hold will have an independent
pressure setting and can be ramped up or down for each segment change.
Hold Time - each segment of hold will have an independent time setting
and can be changed up or down for each segment change. Use as few of
these segments as necessary to provide a good molded product. Many
molders have a tendency to take the approach that if there are 10 segments
injection hold pressure, that we should use 10 segments of injection hold
pressure. In reality, most injection molding situations will require less than
2 pressures segments and rarely more than 5. Some exceptions to that
might be when you are using one or two segments as pack. Hold pressure
also will most commonly remain the same over the profile or reduce to lower
pressures in each phase when using multiple segments.
Screw Rotate and Back Pressure Phase
The screw rotate and back pressure portion of the process occurs during the
cooling phase of the injection molding portion of the cycle. Back pressure is
applied as a resistance pressure to the screw as it rotates, while developing
the shot for the next machine cycle. The purpose of the back pressure is to
aide in providing a consistent density of the shot size as the screw rotates
and conveys plastic resin towards the front of the screw. This is very
important for the injection molding process shot to shot consistency that is
required by todays high precision injection molding process requirements.
On most machines, back pressure is usually limited somewhere around the
25% mark of total system pressure. Back pressure in most cases is a very
important function of the molding process, but it also contributes the wear of

the screw and barrel components, thus keeping this as low as possible and
still able to produce a consistent and homogenous melt stream is very
desirable. Depending on the resin you are processing, this could be very low
in the range of 50 PSI or upwards of 300 PSI or more. Back pressure also
contributes mechanical heat to the melt stream and the higher the back
pressure is set, the more mechanical heat that will be added to the injection
molding process through its use.
The machine settings controlling these functions are:
Screw Speed This setting controls the RPMs that the screw turns at up to
the machine rated speed. This can be a few hundred RPMs on a smaller
machine, but typically will be less than 150 RPMs on larger machines
without special options. This setting also contributes to the time that it take
to get the screw from its forward position during the injection molding
process and the full shot size position. The ideal condition is to get the
screw back to its full shot size position just prior to the opening of the mold
at the end of the cycle, to prevent excessive idle residence time for the
plastic in the barrel.
Back Pressure Profile This function on most newer machines, is also
segmented with individual pressure and position settings for each segment.