CONTENTS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Introduction to injection molding Injection molding functions Clamping Injection Melting (Plasticizing) Cooling Ejection Other integrating parts of the machine

INTRODUCTION TO INJECTION MOULDING INJECTION MOULDING MACHINE

Typical Injection Moulding Machine A tool that is used to produce a three dimensional article is known as mould. Since the substance which constructs the articles is injected into it, then it is called injection mould.

INTRODUCTION TO INJECTION MOULDING

THE MOULDING CYCLE The basic moulding cycle is shown below. Mould Closes & Locks Injection unit advances. Injection of material & switch-over Holding pressure(s) and time phase. Cooling time and screw rotation / plasticisation. Injection unit retracts (sprue break). Mould opens. & ejection of the finished part
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CLAMPING UNIT

This is the part of the machine in which the mould is mounted. It provides the force to hold the mould closed, when molten plastic material is injected. In addition to this it must have a sufficient opening stroke for the finished component to be ejected. Machines are compared by their Lock or Clamp force.

CLAMPING FORCE Clamping force is an important attribute of the clamping unit of an IMM. It is the maximum force the machine is capable of to keep the mould closed against the cavity pressure during injection . Insufficient clamping force gives rise to flash at the mould parting line. Most IMMs today use their clamping force (in tonnes) in their model name, e.g. D-TECH 150-510

CLAMPING MECHANISM

COMPONENTS OF CLAMPING UNIT

1. End platen 2.Movable platen 3.Fixed platen 4.Tie bar 5.Toggle Links 6.Cross head 7.Ejector plate 8.Bushes 9.Sun wheel 10.Toogle pin 11.Roller bearing 12.Calmping and ejector cylinder

FUNCTIONS OF CU COMPONENTS: END PLATEN:

Transmit the force from hydraulic cylinder to moving platen through cross head and toggle links.

MOVING PLATEN:
To carry the half part of the mold and ejector unit and to built the required tonnage with mechanical 5 point twin toggle system.

FIXED PLATEN:
To carry the remaining half of the mold.

CROSS HEAD:
To transmit the force from hydraulic cylinder to moving platen through toggles.

PLATEN DETAILS
The nodular and spheroidal cast iron is also called ductile cast iron or high strength cast iron. It is obtained by adding small amount of magnesium(0.1 to 0.8 %) to the molten grey iron and it causes the graphite to take form of spheroidal or nodular instead of normal angular flakes. It has high machinability,weldabilty, castability,fluidity,tensile strength,toughness,wear resistance, pressure tightness . We are using SG 400/15 Ultimate tensile Strength in Mpa Minimum percentage elongation

TIE BAR:
It Guides the movement of movable platen and absorb the deflection during tonnage development. MATERIAL USED : 42CrMoV4 CHROME PLATED :0.02mm.

Tie bar neck takes the fatigue stress. Tie bar neck takes care of bending of fixed platen, which is unavoidable in any mechanism. Stress concentration is very low, due to tie bar neck.

TIEBAR NUT
Conical tie bar nut ensures uniform load distribution on all threads of tie bar and tie bar nut.

TIE BAR Thread burnishing is done on the threads of Tie Bar. LH and RH threads are used in Tie Bar for Locking Purpose Tie bar have rolled threads to achieve 200% increase in the heavily loaded root of the thread to avoid striations or produce imperfection. TECTYL compound is used on Tie Bar Necking. MoS2(molybdenum disulfide) coating are given on the thread of Tie Bars . Tie bar must be the first component to be designed in Toggle Clamping unit. It should take the Tonnage It plays a major roll in MOULD accommodation It plays a major roll in defining the Clamping unit specification

MHA using hydro motor and sun wheel gear arrangement: Automatic mold height adjustment by efficient sun and planetary gear system. This ensures no slippage during fast adjustment of mold height or during clamp force adjustment, which can occur in chain drive mechanism. Incorporate different mold sizes . Mold height adjustment can be accomplished by following ways: 1.By hydro motor with sun wheel arrangement. 2.By caliper cylinders (2 platen machines) .

This gear with nut can be used for MHA during hydro motor failure or other uncertain cases

GRAPHITE BUSHES: High tensile manganese bronze

It has a backing made of high tensile manganese bronze with a Special filling of prescription of solid lubricant inserted It is mainly Used for high load and moderate speed application.

DU BUSH :

These are steel backed bronze Impregnated bushes mainly

used for High Load application COMPOSITE MATERIAL WITH THREE LAYERS Low carbon steel(steel backing), Porous Bronze(90% Cu & 10% Sn) , Poly tetra fluro Ethylene(PTFE) and Lead

Steel Backing provides the underlying strength while porous

bronze sintered layer provides the strong mechanical bond for the impregnated PTFE/LEAD mixture

TOGGLE LINKS A type of clamping mechanism that exerts pressure by applying force on a knee joint. A toggle is used to close and exert pressure on a mold in a press. Material: A515 Forged Steel

ROLLER BEARING The load is transferred to the base and this prevents any vertical load on the tiebar. Heavier moulds can be loaded with ease and almost two third of the total weight can be loaded on the moving platen alone. The life of tie bar is taken care. If this support is not there, the entire load is transferred to the tie bar resulting in tie bar breakage

Injection Unit
The primary functions of the injection unit are: to accept the moulding material; to convert the moulding material into a melt; to inject the molten material into the mould; to apply sufficient hydraulic pressure to the melt to produce the finished moulding for the mould cavity.

COMPONENTS OF INJECTION UNIT

Plasticising Unit Injection cylinders Screw hydromotor Carriage assembly Material Feeding system

THE DIAGRAM REPRESENTS A TYPICAL INJECTION MOLDING PROCESS.

Mold Sprue Bushing Injection Nozzle Reciprocating Screw Press Clamp Unit

Reciprocating ydraulic Injection Unit

Screw Rotation Transmission

THE HOPPER LOADS THE PLASTIC COMPOUND IN THE HEATED BARREL WHICH HOUSES A SPECIALLY DESIGNED ROTATING SCREW. THE SCREW IS DESIGNED FOR THE PARTICULAR THERMOPLASTIC BEING EXTRUDED.

Hopper Loading System

Screw Movement

Material Plasticized In Barrel

THE HEATED PLASTIC MATERIAL IS TRANSPORTED INTO THE MOLD SITUATED BETWEEN THE STATIONARY AND MOVING PLATENS.

Stationary Platen Moving Platen

Screw Movement

AS THE DESIRED TIME IS REACHED FOR THE PLASTIC MATERIAL TO FLOW INTO AND COOL IN THE MOLD, THE MOVABLE PLATEN RETRACTS.

Mold Halves Platen Movement

THE MOLDED PART IS NOW SOLID AND COOL ENOUGH TO BE AUTOMATICALLY RELEASED.

Molded Part

THE HYDRAULIC EJECTOR PINS PUSH OUT THE FINISHED PRODUCT FROM THE MOLD.

Ejector Pins

THE MOVEABLE PLATEN RETURNS TO BEGIN THE INJECTION PROCESS CYCLE AGAIN.

Platen Movement

COMPONENTS OF PLASTICISING UNIT Barrel Screw Nozzle & Nozzle Adaptor Screw Tip Assembly Screw Traverse Cooling Plate

Barrel: The section of a molding machine that contains the feed screw, also the section where resin heating and mixing occurs. Types: Nitrided (non-filled non-abrasive materials). Bi-Metallic (Abrasive materials) (1) Chromium Carbide- 30% Glass Filled Material used (2) Tungsten Carbide- 60% Glass Filled Material used Base Material: BM63 EN41B (Chromium Aluminium Molybdenum Nitriding Steel)

NITRIDING PROCESS ON BARREL

The diffusion of nitrogen into the surface layers of low carbon steels at elevated temperature. The formation of nitrides in the surface layer creates increased mechanical properties.

Surface Hardening Temperature 505-515 deg Ammonia 3-5 m3/s 60 - 70 Rc Very thin layer 0.2 - 1.5mm

SCREW TYPE INJECTION PRESSES

Hopper Nozzle Band Heaters

Screw meters plastic, plunger provides pressure

Shooting Pot

Reciprocating Screw

Virtually ALL industrial presses are screw type presses Added benefits of screw 1) Larger throughput 2) Obtain a more homogeneous melt (better mix) 3) More consistent from shot to shot 4) Added heat to melt- from action of screw

INJECTION MOLDING SCREWS

Feed Section Draws material from hopper & starts movement into shooting pot Transition Section Compresses plastic melt Plasticization Decreasing channel depth Metering Section Precisely measures out the correct fill h D
Metering zone Compressionzone Effective Length Feeding zone

L/D RATIO:
Flight Length / Flight Diameter Higher Ratio(>20) :Good Homogeneity but degradation & length of unit increases Low Ratio (<20) : Size decreases but shot weight decreases. Medium Ratio(=20) : Better Homogeneity and required shot weight.

Injection (Cont.)
Injection Pressure & injection speed work together to inject plastic into the mould. They begin at the shot weight position and end at switchover position. It is vital that you have enough pressure to achieve the speeds you have set. Remember pressure affects speed. Ideally fill the mould as quickly as is possible without creating faults. This reduces cycle time and can in many circumstances improve the final properties. Ultimately the final settings for speed and pressure depend on the mould geometry, component shape, material and temperatures. These are established during moulding trials

HOLDING PRESSURE
Once the mould cavity is initially filled with molten material, maintenance of a hydraulic pressure on the molten material is necessary to counter act the shrinkage. To allow this subsequent addition of material a cushion or reserve of material is kept ahead of the screw.

PLASTICISING
Raising the temperature of the material to a point where it will flow under pressure. This is accomplished by simultaneously heating and churning the granular material until it forms a melt.
H PPER O

Check ring / valve. N ZZLE O SC EW R

BA R R EL

M aterial circles round the screw being forced forw ard and against cylinder w com all pressing and heating m aterial to forma m elt.

NOZZLE SEATING
The nozzle provides the mechanical and thermal connection from the hot injection cylinder to the mould. Nozzles are usually radiussed to provide a good seal against the sprue bush, the nozzle radius being slightly smaller.

COOLING TIME
As the material is injected it immediately begins cooling, even as it is filling. Even during the Holding phase the part is cooling down. However the cooling time is generally defined as the point at which holding pressure is released or the gate runner system has solidified. The mould is kept closed until the part has cooled sufficiently to allow ejection without causing damage. The cooling step is often the determining part of the moulding cycle, and is directly associated with the ability of the mould to act as a heat exchanger and the differenc e between melt and mould temperature.

OVERALL REQUIREMENTS FOR INJECTION MOLDING

Injection molding Machine

Auxiliary Equipment

Injection molded component

Mould

Material