Injection molding machines and methods for accounting for changes in material properties during injection molding runs

1. A method of automatically adjusting a step time for an injection molding cycle in an injection molding run to adapt for variations in the flowability of a molten plastic material, the method comprising:

(a) during a first molding cycle of an injection molding run, injecting a first shot of molten plastic material into a mold cavity and removing injection pressure from the first shot of molten plastic material so that the first molding cycle has a first step time wherein the step time is the time from initiation of injection of molten plastic material to just before the mold is opened for ejection;

(b) during the first molding cycle, measuring a first time for the molten plastic material to reach a flow front sensor that is configured to sense the presence of a flow front of the molten plastic material at a particular location in the mold cavity;

(c) a first comparing of the first time to a predetermined time to determine a first comparison result;

(d) determining a second step time, based, at least in part, on the first comparison result; and

(e) during a second molding cycle of the injection molding run, subsequent to the first molding cycle, injecting a second shot of molten plastic material into the mold cavity and removing injection pressure from the second shot of molten plastic material so that the second molding cycle has the second step time.

2. The method of claim 1 , including determining the predetermined time, based, at least in part, on a time for a shot of molten plastic material, having known flowability, to reach the flow front sensor.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring includes measuring the first time from a start of the first molding cycle until the flow front sensor detects arrival of the flow front of the molten plastic material.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparing includes determining whether the first time is greater than or less than the predetermined time.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first comparing includes comparing the first time to the predetermined time to determine a first comparison result, which is a time difference between the first time and the predetermined time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first comparing includes determining that the first time is greater that the predetermined time; and

the removing includes removing injection pressure from the second shot of molten plastic material so that the second molding cycle has a second step time, which is greater than the first step time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first comparing includes determining that the first time is less than the predetermined time; and

the removing includes removing injection pressure from the second shot of molten plastic material so that the second molding cycle has a second step time, which is less than the first step time.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the first molding cycle, the measuring includes measuring the first time for the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor, which is a transducer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the first molding cycle, the measuring includes measuring the first time for the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor, which is located within 30% of an end of the mold cavity.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the first molding cycle, the measuring includes measuring the first time for the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor, which is located within 20% of an end of the mold cavity.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the first molding cycle, the measuring includes measuring the first time for the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor, which is located within 10% of an end of the mold cavity.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein during the first molding cycle, the measuring includes measuring the first time for the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor, which is a sensor configured to directly sense a presence of a flow front of the molten plastic material within the mold cavity.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow front sensor is selected from the group consisting of:

a temperature sensor,

an optical sensor,

an electrical sensor,

a mechanical sensor,

an ultrasonic sensor,

a hydraulic sensor, and

a pneumatic sensor.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(f) during the second molding cycle, measuring a second time for the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor; and

(g) a second comparing of the second time to the predetermined time, to determine a second comparison result;

(h) determining a third step time, based at least in part, on the second comparison result; and

(i) during a third molding cycle of the injection molding run, subsequent to the second molding cycle, injecting a third shot of molten plastic material into the mold cavity and removing injection pressure from the third shot of molten plastic material so that the third molding cycle has the third step time.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second comparing includes averaging the first time and the second time to calculate an average time, and comparing the average time to the predetermined time, to determine the second comparison result.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second molding cycle immediately follows the first molding cycle, in the injection molding run.

17. The method of claim 1 , including for each molding cycle in the injection molding run, automatically adjusting its step time based on a comparison that uses the predetermined time.

18. The method of claim 1 , including, for each molding cycle in the injection molding run, automatically adjusting its step time, based on a comparison result that uses a time, in a prior molding cycle, for a shot of the molten plastic material to reach the flow front sensor.