Scalable injection molding systems

Abstract

Scalable injection molding systems comprise a molding press and at least one delivery system. Each delivery system comprises an injection unit and a manifold. The scalable injection molding system further comprises at least one molding face pair having a cavity face and an opposing core face. Each scalable injection molding system comprises at least one scalable system selected from the group consisting of a scalable face-number system with respect to numbers of active mold face pairs in the scalable injection molding system and a scalable cavitation system with respect to numbers of functional mold cavities on each mold face pair. Both the scalable face-number system and the scalable cavitation system allow the output of the scalable injection molding system to be increased or decreased according to needs of the operator, without requiring costly reconfiguration, retooling, replacement, or unnecessary duplication of standard mold components.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A scalable injection molding system comprising:
 a molding press having an A-side wall on an A-side of the molding press and a B-side wall on a B-side of the molding press, the B-side opposite the A-side;   at least one delivery system comprising an injection unit coupled to the molding press, the injection unit operable to deliver molten material to a manifold in fluid communication with the injection unit;   at least one molding face pair comprising a cavity face and an opposing core face; and   at least one scalable system selected from the group consisting of a scalable face-number system and a scalable cavitation system.   
     
     
         2 . The scalable injection molding system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one delivery system comprises:
 an A-side delivery system coupled to the A-side wall and having an A-side injection unit in fluid communication with an A-side manifold; and   a B-side delivery system coupled to a B-side wall and having a B-side injection unit in fluid communication with a B-side manifold,   
       wherein the at least one scalable system comprises a scalable face-number system. 
     
     
         3 . The scalable injection molding system of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one scalable system comprises a scalable face number system comprising:
 an A-side molding plate directly coupled to the A-side manifold and having an A-side molding face facing the B-side of the molding press;   a B-side molding plate directly coupled to the B-side manifold and having a B-side molding face facing the A-side of the molding press;   a rotatable intermediate assembly disposed between the A-side molding face and the B-side molding face, the rotatable intermediate assembly having at least two pairs of parallel molding faces, each pair of parallel molding faces comprising an A-side opposing molding face and a B-side opposing molding face,   
       the scalable injection molding system comprising a single-side stationary-intermediate configuration, a dual-side stationary-intermediate configuration, a single-side oscillating-intermediate configuration, and a dual-side oscillating-intermediate configuration. 
     
     
         4 . The scalable injection molding system of  claim 3 , wherein each rotatable intermediate assembly comprises exactly two pairs of opposing parallel faces, the exactly two pairs of opposing parallel faces defining exactly one active face pair and exactly one inactive face pair during each molding cycle. 
     
     
         5 . The scalable injection molding system of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one intermediate assembly further comprises at least one two-face intermediate assembly disposed between the A-side molding face and the rotatable intermediate assembly or between the B-side molding face and the rotatable intermediate assembly. 
     
     
         6 . The scalable injection molding system of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one intermediate assembly further comprises a second rotatable intermediate assembly disposed between the rotatable intermediate assembly and the A-side molding face. 
     
     
         7 . The scalable injection molding system of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one scalable system further comprises further comprises a first scalable cavitation system in fluid communication with the first manifold and a second scalable cavitation system in fluid communication with the second manifold. 
     
     
         8 . A method for scaling an operative cavitation in a scalable injection molding system according to  claim 3 , the method comprising:
 selecting a selected configuration selected from the group consisting of a single-side stationary-intermediate configuration, a dual-side stationary-intermediate configuration, a single-side oscillating-intermediate configuration, and a dual-side oscillating-intermediate configuration;   activating the A-side injection unit;   selecting an activation state of the B-side injection unit according to the selected configuration, such that in the single-side stationary-intermediate configuration the B-side injection unit is off, in the dual-side stationary-intermediate configuration the B-side injection unit is on, in the single-side oscillating-intermediate configuration the B-side injection unit is off, and in the a dual-side oscillating-intermediate configuration the B-side injection unit is on;   selecting an oscillation state of the rotatable intermediate assembly according to the selected configuration, the oscillation state selected from the group consisting of oscillating and stationary, such that that in the single-side stationary-intermediate configuration the oscillation state is stationary, in the dual-side stationary-intermediate configuration the oscillation state is stationary, in the single-side oscillating-intermediate configuration the oscillation state is oscillating, and in the a dual-side oscillating-intermediate configuration the oscillation state is oscillating.   
     
     
         9 . The method of claim  18 , wherein the reconfiguring comprises:
 selecting a selected cavity zone;   selecting a selected non-functional cavity position from among the non-functional cavity positions within the selected cavity zone;   coupling a cavity insert to the first molding face at the selected non-functional cavity position;   coupling a core insert to the second molding face at a core position opposing the selected non-functional cavity position to form a reconfigured functional mold position between the first molding face and the second molding face; and   coupling the reconfigured functional mold position to the interchangeable multi-gate feed system designated to the selected cavity zone.