Side actuated shooting pot
View Patent ↗An injection molding system having a shooting pot assembly is disclosed. In one embodiment, the shooting pot assembly is in fluid communication with a mold and has an actuation direction that is substantially perpendicular to an injection axis of material injected into a mold cavity. In another embodiment, a shooting pot actuation system is a mounted on a side of a hot runner. In certain embodiments, the shooting pot actuation system includes a linear actuator operatively coupled with the shooting pot assembly to actuate the shooting pot assembly.
1. An injection molding system, comprising:
a hot runner adapted to inject material into a mold along a mold injection axis;
a shooting pot assembly in fluid communication with the hot runner, wherein an actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly is substantially perpendicular to the injection axis; and
a shooting pot actuation system operatively coupled with the shooting pot assembly, wherein the shooting pot actuation system is disposed on the external side of the hot runner and wherein the actuation system comprises a linear actuator that is actuated in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly.
2. The molding system of claim 1 , wherein the external side is oriented substantially parallel to a mold opening direction.
3. The molding system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of shooting pot assemblies.
4. The molding system of claim 1 , wherein the actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly is substantially perpendicular to a mold opening direction.
5. The molding system of claim 1 , wherein the actuation system comprises a frame attached to the side of the hot runner, the frame having an access hole arranged and adapted to provide access to the shooting pot assembly, wherein the shooting pot assembly comprises a plunger, wherein the plunger is selectively removable from the shooting pot assembly through the access hole.
6. An injection molding system, comprising:
a shooting pot assembly adapted to inject material into a mold along a mold injection axis, wherein an actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly is substantially perpendicular to the injection axis; and
a shooting pot actuation system having a linear actuator operatively coupled with the shooting pot assembly, wherein the linear actuator actuates the shooting pot assembly and wherein the linear actuator is actuated in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly.
7. The molding system of claim 6 , wherein the actuation direction of the linear actuator is substantially perpendicular to the injection axis.
8. The molding system of claim 6 , wherein the shooting pot actuation system further comprising a camming interface that transfers motion from the linear actuator to the shooting pot assembly.
9. The molding system of claim 8 , wherein the camming interface comprises at least one of a linear and a nonlinear camming profile.
10. The molding system of claim 6 , further comprising a camming member operatively coupled with the linear actuator and an actuation member operatively coupled with the shooting pot assembly, wherein the actuation member is displaced in the actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly when the camming member is displaced in an actuation direction of the linear actuator.
11. The molding system of claim 10 , wherein the shooting pot assembly comprises a plunger operatively coupled with the actuation member, wherein actuation of the actuation member actuates the plunger.
12. The molding system of claim 10 , wherein the actuation member is adapted to actuate a plurality of shooting pot assemblies.
13. The molding system of claim 6 , further comprising a hot runner, wherein the shooting pot assembly is disposed on a side of the hot runner oriented substantially parallel to an opening direction of the hot runner.
14. An injection molding system, comprising:
a hot runner adapted to inject material into a mold, the hot runner having a front surface arranged to face the mold, a rear surface opposite the front surface, and external sides;
a shooting pot assembly in fluid communication with the hot runner; and
a shooting pot actuation system configured to actuate the shooting pot assembly, wherein the shooting pot actuation system is disposed on at least one external side of the hot runner, and wherein the shooting pot actuation system comprises a linear actuator disposed on at least one external side of the hot runner and wherein the linear actuator actuates in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly.
15. The molding system of claim 14 , wherein the hot runner is adapted to inject material into a mold along a mold injection axis, and wherein an actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly is substantially perpendicular to the injection axis.
16. An injection molding system, comprising:
a shooting pot assembly adapted to inject material into a mold along a mold injection axis, wherein an actuation direction of the shooting pot assembly is substantially perpendicular to the injection axis; and
a shooting pot actuation system having a linear actuator operatively coupled with the shooting pot assembly, wherein the linear actuator actuates the shooting pot assembly,
wherein the shooting pot actuation system further comprises a camming interface that transfers motion from the linear actuator to the shooting pot assembly, and wherein the camming interface comprises a cam roller and a slot.