Method of adjusting a dimension of a molded product

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method of adjusting a dimension of a molded product. The method includes generating a plurality of adjusted molding conditions comprising an adjusted velocity profile and an adjusted packing pressure profile; conducting, via an injection-molding apparatus, an actual molding to produce a molded product using the adjusted molding conditions if the adjusted molding condition is qualified; determining whether a dimension of the molded product needs to be adjusted; and updating at least one of the adjusted molding conditions if the dimension of the molded product needs to be adjusted.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of adjusting a dimension of a molded product, comprising:
 generating a plurality of adjusted molding conditions comprising an adjusted velocity profile and an adjusted packing pressure profile;   conducting, via an injection-molding apparatus, an actual molding to produce a molded product using the adjusted molding conditions if the adjusted molding conditions are qualified;   determining whether a dimension of the molded product needs to be adjusted; and   updating at least one of the adjusted molding conditions if the dimension of the molded product needs to be adjusted.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of adjusted molding conditions comprises:
 performing, via the computer-assisted engineering simulation software, a first simulation process to generate a plurality of molding conditions comprising a default injection velocity profile and a default packing pressure profile;   conducting, via the injection-molding apparatus, a trial molding to inject a molding material into a mold using the molding conditions and then sensing a plurality of in-mold pressures at different sites in a mold cavity of the mold during the trial molding;   conducting, via the injection-molding apparatus, an actual molding to produce the molded product using the molding conditions that were used for conducting the trial molding if a deviation of the in-mold pressures at an endpoint of a packing stage during the trial molding is less than a target pressure value at the endpoint of the packing stage;   generating, via the injection-molding apparatus, at least one adjusted molding condition if the deviation of the in-mold pressures at the endpoint of the packing stage during the trial molding is not less than the target pressure value at the endpoint of the packing stage; and   performing, via the computer-assisted engineering simulation software, a second simulation process to generate at least one simulated molding condition corresponding to the adjusted molding condition to ensure that the adjusted molding condition are qualified.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the performing of the first simulation process to generate the default molding conditions comprises:
 specifying a simulation domain comprising a model;   performing a first virtual molding to determine a velocity-to-pressure transfer point;   performing a plurality of second virtual moldings using varying injection velocities and a default start filling point derived from the velocity-to-pressure transfer point to determine a default injection velocity;   performing a plurality of third virtual moldings using the default injection velocity, the default start filling point and varying packing times to determine a period of a packing stage;   determining an initial packing pressure profile for the use during the packing stage by limiting a maximum injection pressure and to thereby define the default injection velocity profile;   performing a fourth virtual molding using the default injection velocity profile, the default start filling point, the period of the packing stage, and the initial packing pressure profile to obtain pressures at an endpoint of the packing stage from different sensing nodes of the model; and   determining the default packing pressure profile based on the initial packing pressure profile and a deviation of the pressures at the endpoint of the packing stage obtained from the sensing nodes.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first virtual molding is simulated to obtain a volume of the model, and the velocity-to-pressure transfer point occurs when the model is approximately full. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the default injection velocity is selected from peak pressures generated from the second virtual moldings. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein during the simulation of the third virtual moldings, pressures at different sites of the model are obtained, and the period of the packing stage is determined based on the pressures obtained near a gate node of the model, wherein the gate node of the model in the simulation domain corresponds to a gate inside a mold of the injection-molding apparatus. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the period of the packing stage is determined based on the pressures obtained at one of the sensing nodes on a plate connected to a columnar segment where the gate node is positioned, and the plate corresponds to a molding cavity inside the mold. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the determining of the default packing pressure profile comprises:
 generating an adjusted packing pressure profile in accordance with the initial packing pressure profile if the deviation of the pressures at the endpoint of the packing stage is not less than the target pressure value at the endpoint of the packing stage,   wherein the adjusted packing pressure profile functions as the default packing pressure profile   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the initial packing pressure profile functions as the default packing pressure profile for conducting the trial molding and the actual molding if the deviation of the obtained pressures is less than the target pressure value at the endpoint of the packing stage. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the initial packing pressure profile comprises a constant pressure, and the adjusted packing pressure profile comprises varying pressures. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the pressures in the adjusted packing pressure profile decrease over time. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the adjusted packing pressure profile is represented by a sloped waveform. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the adjusted packing pressure profile is represented by a stepped waveform. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein a maximum of the adjusted packing pressure profile is equal to the constant pressure of the initial packing pressure profile. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating, via the injection-molding apparatus, at least one adjusted molding condition if the deviation of the in-mold pressures at the endpoint of the packing stage is not less than the target value;   performing, via the computer-assisted engineering simulation software, a second simulation process to generate at least one simulated molding condition corresponding to the adjusted molding condition to ensure that the adjusted molding condition is qualified; and   conducting, via the injection-molding apparatus, the actual molding to produce the molded product using the adjusted molding conditions if the adjusted molding condition is qualified.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 selecting at least one of the plurality of molding conditions to be updated for adjusting the dimension of the molded product;   determining an average of the in-mold pressures at the endpoint of the packing stage based on an adjusted dimension of the molded product; and   updating the selected molding condition based on the average of the in-mold pressures obtained at the endpoint of the packing stage.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the dimension of the molded product is adjusted within a range defined by a controlling window determined using extrema of two of plurality of adjusted molding conditions comprising the selected molding condition. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the extrema are obtained by simulating a plurality of virtual molding iterations while keeping the deviation of the in-mold pressures below the target value. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of virtual molding conditions are generated using a plurality of virtual moldings. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of virtual molding conditions are generated using a plurality of virtual moldings and at least one trial molding.