INJECTION MOLDING MACHINE

An Injection molding machine, also known as an injection press, is a machine for

manufacturing plastic products by the injection molding process. It consists of two main parts,
an injection unit and a clamping unit

Injection molding machines can fasten the molds in either a horizontal or vertical position. The
majority of machines are horizontally oriented, but vertical machines are used in some niche
applications such as insert molding, allowing the machine to take advantage of gravity. There are
many ways to fasten the tools to the platens, the most common being manual clamps (both
halves are bolted to the platens); however hydraulic clamps (chocks are used to hold the tool in
place) and magnetic clamps are also used. The magnetic and hydraulic clamps are used where
fast tool changes are required.

Applications

Injection molding is used to create many things such as milk cartons, packaging, bottle caps,
automotive dashboards, pocket combs, and most other plastic products available today. Injection
molding is the most common method of part manufacturing. It is ideal for producing high volumes
of the same object.Some advantages of injection molding are high production rates, repeatable
high tolerances, the ability to use a wide range of materials, low labour cost, minimal scrap
losses, and little need to finish parts after molding. Some disadvantages of this process are
expensive equipment investment, potentially high running costs, and the need to design moldable
parts.

MATERIAL USED FOR MOULDING

Equipment

Injection molding machines consist of a material hopper, an injection ram or screw-type plunger,
and a heating unit.[11] They are also known as presses, they hold the molds in which the
components are shaped. Presses are rated by tonnage, which expresses the amount of clamping
force that the machine can exert. This force keeps the mold closed during the injection process.
Tonnage can vary from less than 5 tons to 6000 tons, with the higher figures used in
comparatively few manufacturing operations. The total clamp force needed is determined by the
projected area of the part being molded. This projected area is multiplied by a clamp force of from
2 to 8 tons for each square inch of the projected areas. As a rule of thumb, 4 or 5 tons/in 2 can be
used for most products. If the plastic material is very stiff, it will require more injection pressure to
fill the mold, thus more clamp tonnage to hold the mold closed. The required force can also be
determined by the material used and the size of the part, larger parts require higher clamping
force.

Mold

Mold or die are the common terms used to describe the tooling used to produce plastic parts in
molding.
Traditionally, molds have been expensive to manufacture. They were usually only used in mass
production where thousands of parts were being produced. Molds are typically constructed from
hardened steel, pre-hardened steel, aluminium, and/or beryllium-copper alloy.

Injection process

With Injection Molding, granular plastic is fed by gravity from a hopper into a heated barrel. As the
granules are slowly moved forward by a screw-type plunger, the plastic is forced into a heated

chamber, where it is melted. As the plunger advances, the melted plastic is forced through a
nozzle that rests against the mold, allowing it to enter the mold cavity through a gate and runner
system. The mold remains cold so the plastic solidifies almost as soon as the mold is filled.

Injection Molding Cycle

The sequence of events during the injection mold of a plastic part is called the injection molding
cycle. The cycle begins when the mold closes, followed by the injection of the polymer into the
mold cavity. Once the cavity is filled, a holding pressure is maintained to compensate for material
shrinkage. In the next step, the screw turns, feeding the next shot to the front screw.This causes
the screw to retract as the next shot is prepared. Once the part is sufficiently cool, the mold opens
and the part is ejected.

Time Function

The time it takes to make a product using injection molding can be calculated by adding:
Twice the Mold Open/Close Time (2M)
+
Injection Time (T)
+

Cooling Time (C)

+
Ejection Time (E)
Where T is found by dividing:
Mold Size (S) / Flow Rate (F)

Total time = 2M + T + C + E
T = V/R
V = Mold cavity size (in3)
R = Material flow rate (in3/min)

The total cycle time can be calculated using tcycle = tclosing + tcooling + tejection

The closing and ejection times, can last from a fraction of a second to a few seconds,
depending on the size of the mold and machine. The cooling times, which dominate the
process, depend on the maximum thickness of the part.

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 of a warmer mold and lengthier
cycle time.